The different considerations needed when providing regular cleaning in the post COVID-19 landscape

In recent years, there has been a strong focus in the UK to improve the health and safety of workers, and it has been great to see a rise in the uptake of providing safe and clean work environments. The coronavirus pandemic brought with it new challenges of keeping workspaces safe, and while all industries have had to endure an extremely difficult and unprecedented period, one positive is that we will be better prepared for such events in the future. Indeed, the pandemic has put a stronger need for stringent infection control in every sector. The pharmaceutical sector is renowned for having strict hygiene and cleanliness requirements, and COVID-19 has only heightened the need to maintain such a high level of health and safety in the industry, especially with the production of consumable synthetic and organic substances.

Standard cleanrooms, prevalent in pharmaceutical facilities, already offer a high level of protection to both workers and the products they produce, but can more be done? In short, yes.

Centralised vacuum systems, which can be tailored to fit a client's requirements, ensure clean products are ready for delivery to the next stage in the manufacturing process by eliminating dust, liquid, or smoke at the source, and can also be used for efficient general cleaning. So, imagine a cleanroom with an outlet in the wall which could be closed with a flap valve or shutter that connects to a pipped system. It would extract dust or other harmful material out of the room without risk of contamination. A hose is fitted to the outlet avoiding the need for mobile vacuum equipment to be transported in and out the room, which can increase cleaning costs and contamination risk. It is important that the hose offers flexibility, being tough enough to withstand the abrasion created when transporting any extracted material. Considerations should also be given to chemical and heat resistance as well as conductivity to static electricity.

Cleaning tools, suction casings and special nozzles are the components that actually capture the contaminant. The design and effectiveness of these will determine the efficiency and acceptance of the entire system. Of course, such a comprehensive offering demands a varied and complete assortment of specially designed products. For instance, the spring-loaded flap valves that connect to the centralised vacuum system in a pharmaceutical cleanroom need to meet the requirements for cleanroom applications. The valve body is typically antistatic whilst the exposed surfaces of the valve are brushed stainless steel of hygienic design, and specially developed for the industry. Inductive sensors provide automatic start/stop functionality.

The system itself can be controlled by system control panels that operate both the vacuum producers and cleaning of the filter. A variety of other control functions can be installed as required and intelligent features can be included, such as the control of the motor speed according to the number of users, and thereby reduce energy consumption.

In this COVID landscape we find ourselves in, it is also important to consider adding high-efficiency particulate air (HEPA) filtration to the centralised vacuum system to contain and remove coronavirus particles. Indeed, the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control suggests placing HEPA filters over vents and exhausts in workspaces to reduce the spread of the virus, by capturing and removing it from the room. HEPA-13 filtration has been tested to capture at least 99.95 per cent of particles between 0.15 to 0.3 micrometres.

An example of the benefits of installing a centralised vacuum system is Finnish pharmaceutical company Orion-Pharma, whose clientele consists of healthcare service providers and professionals, such as doctors, pharmacies, hospitals, healthcare centres, clinics, and laboratories. To ensure a high level of cleanliness on both surfaces and in the air, the company was in need of an effective suction system to guarantee the quality and capacity of its production, as well as improve workers' health.

A central vacuum system along with piping and accessories were installed to help Orion-Pharma reach and sustain their high level of cleanliness through the system's efficiency, reliability in service, and longevity, providing a superior total economic solution.

It is important to note, however, that while centralised vacuum systems are the most effective way of ensuring ultimate cleanliness in pharmaceutical cleanrooms, mobile vacuum equipment can also be used.

While they are a secondary option to centralised vacuum systems due to the risk of contamination when manoeuvring the equipment in and out the room, unless they permanently stay in the room, there are products available that are suited to the sector's stringent requirements of cleanliness.

Our DC 1800 EX stainless steel industrial vacuum, for example, is cyclone-based with HEPA-13 filtration, making it the ideal solution for ATEX Zone 22 settings and the high hygienic demands within the pharmaceutical and food industries. Having a high resistance to acids, with its stainless steel design enabling use of alkaline wash solutions, and a brushless motor, this piece of kit is suitable for operation in environments with potentially combustible dust, being non-conductive.

In addition to industrial mobile vacuums, there is equipment on the market, such as our GFF range, that have been specifically developed to help offer a comprehensive range of accessories and fixed equipment, built to high standards.

Accessories such as flap valves, suction brushes, flat nozzles, hose connectors, full stainless tubing system, joints, pre-separator, automatic shutter valves, and stainless steel filter units, offer increased safety, hygiene and cost-efficiency in production. These accessories are typically antistatic and ESD certified, which means they can also be used in ATEX Zone 22, where dust explosions can occur. The brushes and nozzles are also approved for surface contact with pharmaceutical products and the system for pharmaceutical transport, being both FDA compliant and the European equivalent. In addition, their material composition makes them detectable via metal detector as well as being autoclavable up to 121 degrees Celsius, allowing for high-pressure saturated steam cleaning. Ultimately, they combine to provide a flexible system where all parts are approved for contact with the compounds being developed and produced.

Overall, there are many considerations to take into account when looking to improve the cleanliness and safety of pharmaceutical cleanrooms and similar working environments. Due to the stringent hygiene protocols of developing and producing drugs and other medications, cleaning must be at the highest standard to remove dust and airborne virus particles, thereby avoiding the contamination of products and being inhaled by workers. Centralised vacuum systems are the most effective way of removing fine and harmful particles from a cleanroom at its source, via a simple flap valve in the wall with a hose connected to capture the particles at source. Through this method, along with the use of high quality accessories, HEPA-13 filtration and complementary industrial vacuum cleaners, pharmaceutical companies can operate with the reassurance that their product is of the highest quality, and their workers are safe from developing respiratory illness onsite.

At Dustcontrol UK, we have a complete solution for centralised vacuum systems for the pharmaceutical industry via a flexible modular system. We offer a complete range of different cleaning equipment, hoses, connections and nozzles which can easily be connected to the system, both in the cleanroom and other locations.

We have many years of experience in manufacturing systems built to the high standards required in cleanroom environments. The systems are based on proven techniques including source extraction and can be entirely customised according to the client´s specifications. The aforementioned project with Orion-Pharma is just one of many pharmaceutical companies we have installed centralised vacuum systems for to help ensure high levels of cleanliness on both surfaces and in the air.

In regards to COVID-19 and other airborne viruses, a further and comprehensive guide on how cleaning equipment can be used to help limit the spread of viral particles can be found in the COVID-19 Guidance report, put together by ASHRAE Technical Committee for Healthcare, and ANSI/ASHRAE/ASHE Standard 170 Committee. It addresses isolation rooms, negative air machines, layered approaches to eliminating infections, and practical facility and room diagrams that show how and where to use infection control equipment.