Our cleaning services - commercial to industrial - are already extensive. From daily office cleaning to deep cleaning, sanitising procedures to event cleaning, stadia cleaning to supportive FM services, we have built a reputation for being one of the most reliable, responsive and comprehensive contractors in Wales and the south west of England. 

And now we are going even further, developing our expertise in the extremely specialist area of cleanrooms. 

We have an exciting new contract in the medical sector, building on the services we deliver for an existing client that we cover multiple sites for, and we are getting ready to undertake this detailed and important work.

What are cleanrooms?

Cleanrooms are a controlled, contaminate-free environment, typically used for scientific research or manufacturing, and therefore have to be 100% sterile with absolutely no foreign bodies or bacteria present, and must adhere to industry-specific and international standards.

Cleanrooms are classifed according to the number and size of particles found in the laboratory’s air and assigned a rating by the International Standards Organization (ISO). Standards range from class 1 to class 9; class 1 being the ‘cleanest’ cleanroom and class 9 being the ‘dirtiest’. 

Vital training

Training, then, is key. It is vital to get it right and the process is complex. Currently, our client’s teams are cleaning the rooms themselves after weekly production, which means they have less time to do their important work. We will be taking over those duties soon - but not before our teams have completed the training and are competent enough to ensure the rooms are completely sterile environments. 

The training

We are undertaking a number of training days over six weeks. A team of specialist operatives - a mix of new and current staff - clean with the production team for a number of hours every week, training on the job, and at the end of every shift the areas are swabbed to make sure they are bacteria-free.

A crucial part of the training is the work that goes into understanding the cleaning chemicals that are used, too. The solutions are dependent on the individual cleanroom standards, with different materials requiring different solutions. The solutions need to be changed at regular intervals because bacteria can change and adapt to certain chemicals. They therefore need to be changed at different intervals: on a weekly basis, we’ll change one element, and then we’ll change another every month.

There is a lot to understand when tackling cleanrooms; the cleaning needs depend on the specific requirements, the ISO rating and the frequency of use of the cleanroom. At AQS, we have experience in cleanroom cleaning and fully understand what is required — but as with every highly-skilled service, each environment is different, and that difference is vital to acknowledge. Therefore, training has to be specific for every cleanroom environment and grade because we aim to create an audit-ready space every time.

The challenges of specialised training

The challenges are great. The teams have to wear hazmat suits and PPE while cleaning, which can be uncomfortable and physically demanding, and means the number of operatives prepared to work a five-hour shift can be limited.

The training is also so specific that if one of the operatives went off sick, replacing that person would not be straightforward. The replacement would not only have to be trained, but trained for that particular facility and the specifics of their cleanroom. 

Standard cleanroom protocol means that all personal items such as watches, jewelry and wallets must be removed and left outside the cleanroom to reduce the potential for contamination. There must be no eating or drinking, and no cosmetics of any kind can be worn, including make-up, nail varnish, perfume, and aftershave.

In addition, before every session, each operative needs to sign a medical declaration; there are many health issues that could mean our teams are denied access to the cleanroom. For instance, an eye infection, asthma sufferers, or certain types of cancers, could mean there is a risk of polluting the sterile environment. 

More than your average job

This is not an average, straightforward, cleaning job. There is much work and planning involved to safeguard us, the company and the end-user of the products. Once AQS take over full responsibility, the job will not be complete until one of our client’s supervisors has conducted a quality inspection to assess the cleaning standards and signed it off. On each and every occasion. 

If bacteria were found, the facility would have to close for an entire day whilst the situation was rectified, losing the client valuable production time. 

It is really exciting for us at AQS to continuing building on this specialism: the disciplines and the work itself is obviously incredibly important. Kate Parkhouse, our Contracts Manager, explains: “The training standards, the cleaning standards, the end-result standards are high for very good reason; this job takes our responsibility up to another level.”

Alan Gibbon, Regional Operations Director comments: “We’re always delighted when an existing client asks us to expand our service offering for them, in this case our client has seen how we operate and knows the level of care and attention that our teams will bring to the work. We’re thrilled to have been afforded the opportunity to further learn and develop our skills.”

To find out more about the specialist services we offer, get in touch with the team on 01443 217000 or email info@aqualityservice.co.uk