A daily cleaning schedule for childcare rooms

The principle

Routine cleaning with detergent and water, then rinsing and drying, removes most germs from hard surfaces. Staying healthy sets out how often different surfaces should be cleaned; your service's own schedule is built on it, so use that schedule and sign it off as your service requires.

Straight away

• Any spill of urine, faeces, vomit, blood or breastmilk — clean, then disinfect.
• Anything visibly dirty.
• Toys a child has mouthed, before another child uses them.
• The nappy change mat after each change.

Every day

• Tables, benchtops, taps and other surfaces children touch often.
• Door handles and light switches.
• Bathrooms: toilets, tap handles and doorknobs — and check them during the day.
• Kitchen and nappy change areas, which are wet areas where germs thrive.
• Floors.
• Toys, especially in rooms with babies and toddlers.

Weekly and when dirty

• Beds, cots, linen and mattress covers, unless they're shared between children, in which case they need cleaning more often.
• Low shelves and other surfaces children rarely touch.
• Sofas, cushions and beanbags, regularly and whenever they're soiled.

Doing it properly

1. Wear gloves suited to the task and the product.
2. Wash with detergent and warm water, scrubbing to lift the dirt.
3. Rinse with clean water and dry.
4. Disinfect only where your policy says — mainly after body fluid spills or during an outbreak — and always after cleaning, following the label's dilution and contact time.

Store chemicals out of children's reach and never use kitchen products like vinegar as a disinfectant. During an outbreak, your local public health unit may advise more intense cleaning; follow your service's outbreak plan.