Disinfecting Your Altus Worksurface Against COVID-19

The disinfecting and sanitization process for computer workstations can be tiring. Making sure each worksurface has been properly cleaned using the disinfectant list the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) made to fight against SARS-CoV-2 can take a lot of extra time healthcare workers don’t have.

Altus gathered all of the EPA-approved disinfectants for our computer workstations that have shown they can be safely and repeatedly used on the worksurfaces. Below is a complete guide to the process of disinfecting and how to properly clean your workstations.

Disinfecting your worksurface against COVID-19

As a manufacturer of medical sit-to-stand workstations, Altus is doing everything we can to help support our customers in combating the virus. Our seamless worksurfaces not only mitigate the buildup of potential contaminants and are easy to clean but can be disinfected without diminishing the surface.

Prevent the spread of the virus in your hospital with this guide to disinfect your Altus worksurface with EPA-approved COVID-19 disinfectants.

EPA’s criteria

Since SARS-CoV-2 is a new virus, it’s not yet readily available for commercial laboratory testing. It’s good to consider how the EPA regulates the list. The EPA determines disinfectants to kill the virus when one of the two needs are met:

1. The disinfectant demonstrates effectiveness against a harder-to-kill virus.

2. The disinfectant demonstrates effectiveness against another type of human coronavirus akin to SARS-CoV-2.

Altus approved disinfectants for use against COVID-19

Before using any type of disinfectant on your hospital’s fleet of computer workstations, check to be sure they’re an approved cleaner to keep the worksurface in a workable condition. Below are some of the approved disinfectants that have shown to have no discoloration or damage to the finish on Altus 3D laminate worksurfaces.

• Agar™ Powerquat

• Bleach 1:5 (20% bleach)

• Clorox® Healthcare Bleach Germicidal Wipes

• Lysol® Disinfectant Spray

A full list of approved disinfectants to be used on Altus workstations can be found here.

The differences between cleaning, sanitizing, and disinfecting

While they’re used as synonyms, cleaning, sanitizing, and disinfecting don’t all mean the same thing. Being able to differentiate between the three is important, especially when trying to protect your hospital from COVID-19 and any other contagious pathogen.

Cleaning: Refers to removing foreign matter that is easily visible to the naked eye, such as dirt. Cleaning wipes the surface off but does not eliminate the presence of bacteria. It can be performed using manual processes such as wiping, brushing, flushing, and soaking. It can also be performed by adding water or detergent to remove any visible dirt.

Sanitizing: Sanitizing is the process of using heat or a chemical concentration that reduces the bacterial count, including pathogens. These agents destroy 99.999% of bacteria in 30 seconds. It reduces the occurrence and growth of bacteria, but there are some spores and viruses that it does not eliminate.

Disinfecting: This uses hospital-grade chemicals to eliminate and destroy spores and viruses. Many times this process happens within 10 minutes. Disinfecting happens after the worksurface is cleaned and free from visible debris. In a hospital setting, it’s more important to kill all germs even if it takes longer.

The disinfecting process

Since disinfecting is one of the most important parts of protecting a hospital against COVID-19, making sure you’re disinfecting your floor’s workstations on wheels correctly is paramount. To disinfect correctly, it’s a three-step process.

1. Perform hand hygiene. This includes washing hands before patient contact, before aseptic tasks, after bodily fluid exposure, after patient contact, and after contact with patient surroundings.

2. Clean – with a new wipe or cloth, use a rub or scrub motion to remove dust, soil, food, feces, blood, sputum, or any other foreign matter. Immediately go to step 2.

3. Disinfect – with a new wipe or cloth, use a rub or scrub motion. To fully disinfect, the object must be wet for 1-15 minutes depending on which disinfectant solution you use, and then air-dried.

When performing this process, use a new wipe in between cleaning, disinfecting, and when moving to another surface. This keeps the surfaces clean and keeps the chances for cross-contamination lower, by keeping bacteria from transferring to the different surfaces or the person who is holding the wipe.

Cleaning considerations

For any new disinfectant or sanitizer, read and follow the worksurface manufacturer’s direction to ensure the computer workstation lasts as long as possible. After that, the best practices include testing it before use. Even if it is hospital-grade approved, test it on a small, inconspicuous area to ensure the surface is not harmed. In addition, never use steel wool or other abrasive materials that will damage the surface finish when disinfecting.

COVID-19: Altus is here to help

Altus is more than a medical workstation manufacturer. We strive to help hospitals improve their workflows. With increased disinfecting expectations hospitals are experiencing, Altus uses materials that are easy for clinicians to sanitize and disinfect. Along with the different solutions that are approved to use on the worksurfaces, disinfecting our computer workstation against COVID-19 and any other bacteria is easier for any healthcare worker.

Our team is working hard on engineering new workflow solutions. Contact us to talk more about our workflow solutions or the best ways to disinfect Altus computer workstations.