How do I implement and manage colour coding in my establishment?

Colour coding is essential in any building to avoid cross-contamination. How do you prevent cleaners from using the same cloth for the washroom and kitchen without a proper colour coding system?

The most important part of a colour coding programme is that everyone is aware of the programme, and it is well promoted. It’s also essential to keep it as simple as possible, ideally using colours which naturally link with the areas you’re cleaning; for example, red may be used for washroom areas as these can be seen as the most dangerous in terms of contamination levels. If there are other colours in use around the facility, consider trying to tie into these colours, but remember to keep to the four common colours in the industry – Blue, Green, Red and Yellow. If other colours are chosen, it could be difficult to source cleaning items.

Once the colour scheme is determined, create some simple posters to educate your team. It’s also a good idea to put coloured stickers on the walls in the different areas. When users become familiar with the colour selections, the colours will become second nature.

Also just remember that 1 in 12 men and 1 in 200 women are colour-blind! One way to overcome this is to include numbers with your colours, so Blue is One, Green is two and so on. If you do have team members who are colour-blind, it’s worth including them in the development of your colour-coding cleaning programme.