Proper cleaning and hygiene are a top priority in healthcare settings such as hospitals and nursing homes to protect vulnerable patients and prevent the spread of infection among staff, visitors, or other patients. And they are equally important in upholding public health in the community.
Upholding peace of mind as well as health
Cleaning offers important benefits for human wellbeing. Everyone loves to come back to a hotel room that looks and smells clean, to have fresh clothes to wear, and to wrap themselves in a soft, fluffy towel after a bath. Similarly, clean and hygienic workplaces, schools and hospitals are reassuring and give people peace of mind. Cleanliness and hygiene in public spaces including offices, shops, public transport, and schools is important to European citizens too.
A.I.S.E. research shows that people are eager to learn more about professional cleaning standards. It reveals that three-quarters of EU citizens agree that the cleaning and hygiene industry protects our health and keeps our public places clean and hygienic, while 83% regard cleanliness and hygiene as important when taking public transport. In restaurants, our research finds that 94% of EU citizens regard clean dishes as equally important as food quality when eating out.
A.I.S.E. research summary
An essential sector in the fight against Covid-19
Our industry found itself centre stage during the Covid-19 pandemic as we worked to ensure that adequate cleaning and disinfection products were available to uphold hygiene across our society.
Core cleaning products, disinfectants and hydroalcoholic gels were in high demand across Europe and our industry worked closely with EU and national authorities to keep its value chain open and secure the fast availability and delivery of key supplies to shops, institutions, factories, public transport. Despite a raft of challenges – including critical raw materials being in short supply, understaffing in factories and unprecedented logistical challenges in moving supplies and products across borders – we are proud to have kept supply lines open and ensured that European citizens and strategic industries were supplied and safe.
This included working as part of a cross-industry alliance alongside Biocides for Europe and FECC (the European Association of Chemical Distributors), developing guidance to help companies comply with their obligations under the Biocidal Products Regulation (BPR) and equivalent national laws. The cooperation of EU authorities in ensuring priority access to raw materials and packaging and providing logistical support for the free movement of key professionals was crucial in enabling the industry to maintain supply. So too was the regular contact with the professional cleaners’ association EFCI (the European Facilities & Cleaning Services Industry), without whom our products could not be applied.
The critical role of disinfectants
The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the essential need for products such as hand and surface disinfectants to keep our working and living environments safe and clean. Disinfectants are products that contain active biocidal substances with antimicrobial properties. The safe and sustainable use of disinfectants is controlled by the rigorous European biocide legislation – these products are essential in our everyday lives to protect our health by preventing the spread of harmful microbes.
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