Updated Cleaning Requirements for Daycares

Insuring daycare businesses with janitorial insurance and more has always involved making sure clients meet safety and hygiene standards, but COVID-19 has caused many daycares to reconsider their cleaning standards and change their requirements. Handling a daycare and coronavirus can seem challenging, but you can help guide your clients towards updating their cleaning requirements with this advice.

Ensure the Daycare Is Complying With All Local and State COVID Cleaning Regulations

The first and most crucial requirement your clients should ensure they’re meeting is complying with all relevant local and state cleaning regulations. Many localities may have taken steps to address the coronavirus and updated their business cleanliness, hygiene, and safety standards since COVID-19, and failing to comply could lead to legal problems and potentially higher insurance premiums. Before adding in extra cleaning steps, help your client check that they’ve met minimum requirements for their area.

Have Standard and Thorough Guidelines in Place for Staff

An essential step your clients should take when updating their facility cleaning requirements is to ensure staff are following thorough guidelines. These guidelines should be clear, standardized if your client is operating multiple locations, posted in staff-accessible areas, and enforced by managers. The more consistent staff is with following new cleaning guidelines, the safer the children and staff will be. Examples of cleaning tips your clients could implement include:

• Schedule cleanings multiple times a day or more, depending on how many children are in attendance and how small or large the facility is
• Wipe down all surfaces and empty trashcans throughout the day
• Mop the floors and vacuum carpets frequently
• Use virus-attacking disinfectants whenever possible
• Disinfect personal items such as games, playground equipment, toys, and more
• Wash bedding and other naptime cloth materials like pillows
• Clean off small items throughout the facility, including sinks, doorknobs, kids’ cubbies, computer mouses and keyboards, light switches, and more

Consider Providing Each Child With Wipes, Gloves, and Extra Clean-Up Guidelines

Although your client may not have provided children in their care with disinfectant wipes and other supplies before the pandemic, to help kids protect themselves, they may want to consider providing each kid with particular supplies. For instance, plastic gloves, face masks, and wipes can all be part of a helpful toolkit. Additionally, your clients should ensure that kids are familiar with updated safety guidelines they can follow, such as washing their hands often or wiping down their play station and chair before and after use.

If you continue to insure daycare businesses that you worked with before COVID-19, they may need to update their cleaning requirements to comply with relevant regulations, ensure the safety of children and employees, and avoid legal problems that could cause their janitorial insurance premiums to go up. Discuss these updated requirements and tips at your next meeting to help your client bring their business cleaning regimen up to speed.

About Tangram Insurance Services

Located across the Golden Gate Bridge, just outside of San Francisco, Tangram Insurance Services is a full-service Managing General Underwriter and Program Manager offering specialty programs. We focus on industry-relevant coverage, competitive pricing, and practical business and risk management solutions for your clients. Since we are not all things to all people, we make sure to create outstanding custom-built solutions that matter to those businesses, and the brokers who serve those industries. Contact us at (888) 744-9810.