How Can Drivers Clean, Sanitize and Disinfect a School Bus?

If there’s any age equipped to deal with a  pandemic, it’s this one where the internet reigns supreme. We are in a unique position in history where our digital capabilities can help us keep the world and our future generations safe.

It’s been a few months since Covid-19 disrupted our lives and brought the world to its knees. Now, schools and offices across the globe are slowly getting back on track and it’s never going to be the same again. Fortunately, humans are resilient and history has proved that we always find a way to survive. 

The novel coronavirus has not yet met its end at the hands of science so it is crucial for us to take stringent measures to keep everyone safe.  

Protecting school-going children is a huge challenge. They are at an age where they are learning to perceive their environment and navigate it. 

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Traveling to school from home and vice versa on a school bus is the most popular way of traveling. Unfortunately, that also makes it the most vulnerable time for a child to be exposed to the virus. Thankfully this internet age helps us take special measures to keep our children safe. Today, we can easily track and monitor a school bus even from a remote location to ensure that proper social distancing protocols are followed.

Parents and teachers educate the children about proper safety measures but if educated adults cannot maintain the rules, what are the chances that children will?

That’s why it is important to protect our children in every way possible. Technology, parents, and schools must do their part to shield them but drivers too must do their part in sanitizing and disinfecting the bus before and after every ride. 

First, we identify the high-risk areas of a school bus based on how frequently children are likely to come in contact with certain surfaces like stability bars in the middle of the bus, handlebars on the back of the seat, windows, window ledges, seats, headrests, seatbelts, luggage racks, door handles, and armrests. These must be cleaned, sanitized, and disinfected regularly. Different surfaces are made of different materials and the period of time that the virus can stay on a particular surface varies with the properties of the material.

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Cleaning, Sanitizing, and Disinfecting are not synonyms and each term denotes a specific action. Cleaning involves using a cloth to clean surfaces. This does not kill germs but it wipes away dirt and stains where germs fester. Sanitizing involves using chemicals to make cleaning surfaces easier and lowering the level of germs and thus, the risk of infection. Disinfecting involves using chemicals that may not make surfaces cleaner but are definitely effective at killing these germs. Cleaning and sanitizing first and then disinfecting is the ideal way of making school buses safe. 

Here are some tips drivers can follow:

• Follow safety instructions without fail. Lives depend upon it. 
• Do not mix chemicals unless relevant authorities advise it in writing.
• Use the necessary personal protective equipment to avoid coming in contact with the chemicals.
• Always use clean towels that are free of oils, dirt, debris, or residue from other chemicals.
• Ensure your ventilation facilities are in accordance with prescribed guidelines.
• Always clean surfaces with a dry, standard paper towel or cloth, prior to disinfecting.
• If your cleaner is Ready To Use, it can be directly applied to a surface.
• If not, it should be applied to a new, clean towel instead of directly on the surface.
• Never soak or saturate towels with chemicals, or leave puddles of chemicals behind. 
• Always check a small, unnoticeable area before proceeding to ensure no discoloration occurs.

This pandemic is a different kind of battlefield and every one of us can fight it in our own ways. Fleet owners, parents, and school authorities can resourcefully wield IoT enabled tech to ensure that the safety protocols are followed to the last letter. You, Reader, can fight by sharing this article to spread the word and save the world.