BetterWays to Clean
Employers should note recent advances in safe
cleaning practices and the availability of modern
cleaning equipment that minimizes the use of
chemicals. Practices and equipment to consider
include:
• Walk-off mats placed inside and outside of entryways
(to prevent dirt from being tracked into the
building);
• Microfiber mops, cloths and dusters;
• High-filtration HEPA vacuums;
• Walk-behind hard floor auto-scrubbers;
• Hands-free mops; and
• Chemical-free cleaning systems.
Building owners and planners should take
building cleaning into consideration when
designing new buildings, remodeling old buildings
and choosing materials, such as flooring. See
NIOSH’s Prevention through Design (PtD) program
(http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/topics/PtD) and EPA’s
Design for the Environment (DfE) (http://www.epa.
gov/dfe) for more information.
Resources
The Occupational Safety and Health
Administration (OSHA) provides additional
information on the webpage “OSHA Assistance for
the Cleaning Industry” (http://www.osha.gov/dcsp/
products/topics/cleaningindustry/index.html).
OSHA’s Safety and Health Topics webpage
“Hazard Communication” (http://www.osha.gov/
dsg/hazcom/index.html) has information on
OSHA’s Hazard Communication standard. OSHA’s
guidance document, Chemical Hazard
Communication (http://www.osha.gov/
Publications/osha3084.pdf), provides information
on putting together a comprehensive chemical
hazard communication program. OSHA has
guidance on personal protective equipment
(http://www.osha.gov/Publications/osha3151.html),
including the types of gloves recommended for
exposures to different chemicals.
The National Institute for Occupational Safety and
Health (NIOSH) leads a national initiative called
Prevention through Design (PtD) (http://www.cdc.
gov/niosh/topics/PtD) that addresses workplace
safety and health during the design and planning
of workplaces, materials and equipment in order to
prevent or minimize hazards and risks.
The Environmental ProtectionAgency (EPA) has
standards for safer cleaning products under the
EPA’s Design for the Environment (DfE) Safer
Product Labeling Program(http://www.epa.gov/dfe).
A DfE label on a cleaner indicates that the cleaner
meets the EPA’s safety standards.
• The DfE Safer Product Labeling Program’s list of
certified products (http://www.epa.gov/dfe/pubs/
projects/formulat/formpart.htm)
Other EPA resources:
• Cleaning (http://www.epa.gov/epp/pubs/products/
cleaning.htm)
• Greening Your Purchase of Cleaning Products: A
Guide for Federal Purchasers
(http://www.epa.gov/epp/pubs/cleaning.htm)
• What Are Antimicrobial Pesticides?
(http://www.epa.gov/oppad001/ad_info.htm)
Independent organizations that certify green
cleaners:
• Green Seal (www.greenseal.org)
• Ecologo (www.ecologo.org)
Other helpful resources:
• See the New Jersey Department of Health and
Senior Services’ Controlling Chemical Exposure
Industrial Hygiene Fact Sheets (http://www.nj.gov/
health/surv/documents/ihfs.pdf) for more
information on worker safety when working with
chemicals.
• The Department of Health and Human Services
provides an online Household Products
Database (http://hpd.nlm.nih.gov/index.htm)
containing health and safety information on
many household products, including cleaners.
• The Janitorial Products Pollution Prevention
Project (http://wsppn.org/studies/janitorial/
fact-sheets) has fact sheets on specific cleaning
tasks, such as carpet cleaning, metal cleaning
and toilet cleaning and has a cleaning fact sheet
in Spanish.
• Informed Green Solutions (http://www.
informedgreensolutions.org) has a number of
fact sheets and publications on safe cleaning
practices.
• A 2002 report entitled “Cleaning for Health:
Products and Practices for a Safer Indoor
Environment” (http://www.informinc.org/
cleanforhealth.php) published by INFORM also
provides good information.