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Designing Child Care Centers for Ease of Cleaning

Anyone who has spent the day with young children can testify that child care centers are potential breeding grounds for all sorts of bacteria. You have only to spend a day with toddlers with colds to see this principle in action, and that's not even to mention the potential for germ transmission when diapers are changed. Illnesses may be spread in a variety of ways, such as by coughing, sneezing, direct skin-to-skin contact or through touching a contaminated object or surface. Respiratory tract secretions that contain viruses can contaminate environmental surfaces and remain infectious for variable periods of time.

Regular and thorough cleaning of rooms prevents the transmission of diseases. Many communicable diseases can be prevented through appropriate hygiene and sanitation procedures. The National Health and Safety Performance Standards have an excellent standard chart for how frequently various surfaces should be cleaned and sanitized in child care centers. The standards also thoroughly discuss the best practices for health and hygiene in child carecenters. More information about these standards can be viewed online at nrc.uchsc.edu/CFOC/

What the set of standards do not discuss, however, is how designers can make it easier to clean child care centers. These suggestions were found in the September ‘05 newsletter called Environmental Building News. I have added some ideas from our design team, as well.

Designing for Clean Childcare Centers

Entryways

• Select plant materials that will not be tracked into the building.
• Provide an exterior grate or an indoor system for getting debris off shoes.
• Provide a drain outside the entryway.
• Provide electrical outlets in the entryways.

Restrooms

• Use a solid sink counter to eliminate seams that hold dirt.
• Use sinks with electric eyes that are handle free, especially for the diaper changing areas.
• Do not use gooseneck sinks for children, they splash too much dirty water.
• With tile walls, make sure that the grout is sealed.
• Avoid toilet partitions that don't rise at least 12” for easier floor cleaning.
• Hide plumbing inside walls -- this is also a safety feature as children can get their arms and heads caught in pipes.
• Install faucets and soap dispensers for easy access and cleaning. Children have short arms and miss the dispenser, so plan for this.
• Protect adjacent sink walls with tiles.
• Use a bathroom floor system that can be run up the walls for 6” such as sheet vinyl or epoxy poured floor.
• Include a floor drain with sloping floors.
• Provide large and easily accessible trash containers.

General

• Make sure that wall finishes, paint and laminates are selected to hide things like paint and food stains.
• All interior finish selections should hold up to cleaning with bleach water. Test before you buy any equipment, furniture or wall finishes.
• Minimize the number of dissimilar floors in a space.
• Install carpet tile rather than wall to wall for easier replacement.
• Use moisture protection on all classroom carpets.
• Consider the cleanability of lights when selecting fixtures.
• Include a teacher sink with a gooseneck faucet in the classroom for easy clean up after painting or eating.
• Provide large, conveniently located janitorial closets on each floor.
• Add floor sinks in the storage closets of infant and toddler rooms for easy clean up after eating.
• Provide a floor drain with sloping floor in the water/art area of the classroom.
• Provide adequate outlets for all cleaning that uses power.
• Provide a cleaning and sanitizing schedule to match your center's needs.
  

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