What is colour coded cleaning and why is it important?
22 April 2020
5min read time
Guide
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Implementing a colour coding system is a simple and effective hygiene approach that more companies use.
The importance of a colour-coding system in reducing the risk of cross-contamination cannot be overstated, as it ensures that every work area has its own importance of colour-coded commercial cleaning equipment, which isn’t supposed to be used in other facility areas. This method effectively prevents cross-contamination, aiming to avoid the high risk of cross-contamination and bacterial contamination and infection control between different colours of work areas and the colour of equipment.
What do the different colours mean?
The British Institute of Cleaning (BICSc), a leading commercial cleaning industry body, developed a system of colour coding and codes for cleaning practices in the 1990s. In the BICSc's colour-coded system, every major work area has a designated colour-coding system and code. The system has five colour codes: red, yellow, blue, green, and white.
- Code Red – red is for toilets and bathrooms
- Code Yellow – yellow is for infectious areas, e.g. hospitals or medical centres
- Code Blue – blue is for general areas and general cleaning
- Code Green – green is for kitchen and food prep
- Code White – white is for operating theatres
A good starting point for a commercial colour-coded cleaning system is the mop and bucket cleaning science below: using a red-coloured mop and bucket to clean food preparation areas in the toilets and a yellow-coloured mop and bucket to clean food preparation areas in the kitchen. It’s very much about what colour-coded cleaning is, why it is important for the specific colour-coded cleaning practices and guidelines, and why it is important not to swap assigning colours and specific colours of the mop cleaning cloths and buckets around. However, the importance of assigning colours and colour coding cleaning practices can be applied to all reusable and cleaning equipment and products.
What are the benefits of commercial colour-coded cleaning to prevent cross-contamination?
Commercial colour coding and coded cleaning are extremely important in general cleaning and beneficial in industrial cleaning scenarios. Colour coding has many practical benefits, including the importance of colour coding and cleaning equipment in the healthcare industry, the cleaning industry, and cleaning science and equipment in many different areas.
- Inexpensive – colour-coded commercial cleaning products cost about the same as “standard” cleaning products without colours
- Improved employee health, safety, and productivity - means less chance of cross-contamination leading to staff illness and absence.
- Lower likelihood of patrons or customers falling ill – due to cross-contamination bacteria.
How does a company implement commercial colour-coded cleaning?
Commercial colour-coded cleaning is relatively easy to implement. At Abco, we recommend the following 3-stage approach to start with.
1. Train your cleaning staff on the various colours and work areas. (If any staff member is colour-blind, a simple numbering system can be used alongside the colour system.)
2. Place coloured stickers, labels or tags on all existing commercial cleaning equipment and chemicals.
3. In the future, purchase only colour-coded commercial cleaning products.
4. Hold colour-coded cleaning refresher training courses with your staff every 6 months.
As you’re probably starting to realise, the benefits of commercial colour-coded cleaning equipment and the importance of using only colour-coded cleaning guidelines and cleaning supplies are hard to ignore. Abco, your local supplier of commercial colour-coded cleaning equipment and cleaning supplies in Adelaide, Brisbane, Melbourne, Perth, and Sydney, can help you transition to using colour-coded cleaning products. We stock various coloured buckets, microfibre cloths, brushes, and brooms. For further information and assistance with our colour-coded system, please call 1800 177 399.
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