While a familiar issue for seasoned estates and facilities managers, the problem of dirt and dust in ducting, and the potential consequences of insufficient cleaning of hospital ductwork, are in danger of being ignored due to a lack of available funds for proper maintenance within ever diminishing healthcare estate budgets.
So says Ian Wall, sales director at Midlands-based ductwork cleaning specialist Ductbusters, who told HEJ editor Jonathan Baillie that putting off duct cleaning, however tempting this may be given numerous competing maintenance priorities, can result in a serious threat to the health of patients, staff, and visitors.
Established in 1996 by current managing director Dermott Quinn, who, while working for a local ductwork manufacturer, recognised an as yet unfilled niche for specialist companies able to thoroughly clean, service, and maintain ductwork in public buildings, Ductbusters is, the company’s sales director, Ian Wall, told me, recognised today as one of the UK’s “top five” ductwork cleaning specialists. Headquartered in Halesowen, it employs around 30 staff, 20 of them full-time cleaning operatives – with many having “come up through the ranks” – and offers duct cleaning services to what it says are “all the required standards”, including HVCA TR19, CIBSE TM26, and HTM 03-01. Ductbusters is a member of the Association of Ductwork Contractors and Allied Services, the UK Heating and Ventilating Contractors’ Association (HVCA), the Safecontractor scheme, the Institute of Infection Control, and of the European Ventilation Hygiene Association, and is also registered with the Environment Agency as a Certified Waste Carrier and Broker. Ian Wall said of such credentials’ importance: “Inevitably, as with any specialist sector, there are some players, whatever they may claim, without the necessary expertise or knowledge to do a thorough job, particularly within a sterile environment such as a hospital operating suite. Membership of, and accreditation by, such well-recognised bodies provides our clients with added assurance that we possess the expertise and experience to undertake duct cleaning to a really high standard, including carrying out sterilisation of internal ductwork surfaces to allow microbiological testing to establish the precise level of cleanliness in a particular facility.”
Sizeable healthcare client base
Log in or register FREE to read the rest
This story is Premium Content and is only available to registered users. Please log in at the top of the page to view the full text.
If you don't already have an account, please register with us completely free of charge.
