Disinfecting and Connecting
On the Front Lines:
UMB Champions of Excellence:
Environmental Services Team
Office of Administration and Finance
The 网红爆料, Baltimore鈥檚 (UMB) Environmental Services (EVS) team has discovered that reinvention can be a roller coaster.
At the same time government agencies encouraged people to stay home during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in March, the act of cleaning and disinfecting surfaces moved to the top of the to-do list. That鈥檚 a challenge when you are required to not only come to work and it鈥檚 your job to clean and disinfect, but when you also have to relearn your job with new protocols 鈥� just like the heroic EVS workers did.
That鈥檚 a huge undertaking emotionally and physically. But through the past several months, EVS staff members never lost sight of their mission.
鈥淭hey鈥檙e a very driven group of people who take pride in what they do,鈥� EVS associate director Denise J. Meyer said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a challenge for anyone psychologically to accept that they鈥檙e on the front lines of this pandemic and exposing themselves to risk of infection more than most other employees.鈥�
During the first two weeks of the stay-at-home order, the nearly 200-person team worked tirelessly five days a week to deep-clean every UMB campus building during the day and evening hours. EVS also has three workers at the Maryland Psychiatric Research Center in Catonsville.
The hard work has brought EVS together.
鈥淭hey鈥檝e embraced a more collaborative, family-oriented approach,鈥� Meyer said. 鈥淲e鈥檙e seeing staff really pull together to help one another out. They鈥檙e backing each other up more, and they鈥檙e working together more seamlessly.鈥�
EVS technicians are now equipped with color-coded microfiber rags to avoid cross-contamination and new equipment to spray chemicals that are approved by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for COVID-19 cleaning purposes. They also had to learn a new routine for surface cleaning, concentrating on frequently touched areas and adjusting to new 鈥渄well times,鈥� which the EPA defines as how long a sanitizer or disinfectant must be in contact with a surface and remain wet to achieve the product鈥檚 advertised kill rate. And they did it all while keeping a safe physical distance from passersby.
Adjustments continue as more employees and students return to campus. The focus is on quality control and increasing the frequency of the enhanced cleaning procedures to counter the stepped-up foot traffic.
One of the latest creations is a point-of-use cleaning cart, complete with supplies for students, faculty, and staff to do their part in disinfecting high-touchpoint shared spaces.
鈥淎ll of this is in addition to our pre-COVID work,鈥� Meyer said. 鈥淲e鈥檙e still doing our job. We鈥檙e providing all of the services we did before, and we鈥檝e added more services.鈥�
How did EVS become the star of the sanitizing show at UMB? By holding each other to a high standard for cleanliness, hygiene, and respect.
鈥淭hey really are the stewards of campus,鈥� said Meyer, who added that EVS has effectively championed its mission through the UMB core value of collaboration and the concept of shared responsibility. 鈥淭his effort is truly a partnership. While we have our part to do on the service end, it truly comes down to everybody doing their part to keep the campus safe and our community healthy.鈥�
鈥� Charles Schelle
