Connection between floorsand walls
In the past,it was mandatory in Franceto havea rounded angle between floors
and walls.For this purpose, rounded anglepiecesweresometime just stuckat
the connectionbetweenfloorsand walls.Mostof the timehumidity and soil
wereableto reachthe backpart of suchpieces, whichrapidly becamehighly
contaminated.Nowit is necessary to havecleanable sealedjunctionsbetween
floorsand walls.For resin-based flooringor polymercementitious systems,it is
possible to construct a rounded anglewiththe samematerialas the one usedfor
the flooring. In addition,ceramicroundedbaseboardsmay be used;they mustbe
sealedin the walland in the floor in the samewaytiles are sealed,usinga
correctjointingmaterial.
Cleaningand disinfection of floors
Efficientand frequentcleaningand disinfectionoperationsare necessaryto
preventmicrobial contaminationreachinga highlevel.Betweentwo hygiene
operations, the floors should be, if possible,maintainedin a dry state.Coldis a
commonwayto decreasegrowthrate of bacteria,but dryness is alsoa good
measure. All the ways usedto decreaserelative humidity, waterspills, water
dropand condensationare good.For instance, flooringmustbe slopedproperly
to allowwaterto drainout; the slopesof the floors must be around 1.5±2%
depending on the lengthof fall. It is also advisableto havecleanable stainless
steeldrainsin the middle of the rooms, so the distancefor waterto drainis short.
The waterusedfor the cleaning and disinfectionoperationsmaybe highly
contaminated with, for instance, Pseudomonas species. Microorganisms
transported frominertsurfacesof the foodprocessingareamaycontaminate
endsof the ductsusedfor cleaning(spraynozzle,hose).It has beenshownthat a
Pseudomonasputidaorganism was ableto spread by 40 cm within8 days,i.e.
5 cm per day, upwardsin a fixedand straight up duct (Gagnie¡reet al., 2004).To
preventsucha contamination the end of the waterducts should be immersedin a
disinfectantsolutionbetween two hygieneoperations.
Floorand jointingmaterial suppliers mustgiveinformation to the end-users
aboutthe compatibility of theirproductswithdetergentsand disinfectants.For
instance, acrylic modifiedcementitious systemsdo not tolerate any acidic
products. Acidic productsattack thoseflooringsso that theyreturnto the colour
of the newonesbut withformation of crevices that are uncleanable. It is also
necessary to haveinformationon the compatibilitybetween chemicalproducts
that mayaccidentally spillon the floor, suchas peraceticacidor hydrogen
peroxide, whichare highlycorrosive products.
As flooringmaterials mustbe roughto increase theirslip resistancetheyare,
of course, not as easy to clean as really smooth materials. An efficient
mechanical actionis necessary. Usinga squeegeecannotbe considered as a
mechanical action; furthermore,squeegeesmaybe highlycontaminatedand if
theyare usedto removeexcess water, theymustbe immersed in a disinfecting
solutionafteruse. Scrubber brushesor pressure waterjets (the use of the latteris
no longerrecommended becausetheyproduce morecontaminatedaerosols and
Improving the design of floors 177