Clean Audit Program

What is a clean audit program?

A clean audit program means taking our already high standards for daily inpatient room and terminal cleaning to a higher standard, and to ensure that standard is consistently reached throughout the province. A clean audit program consists of various types of audits including:

  • Observational audits – directly observing the cleaning to ensure the work standards are followed.
  • Visual audits – inspecting a room/area visually to ensure it looks clean and tidy.
  • Fluorescent marking (FM) audits – utilizing an invisible marking agent on a surface prior to cleaning, followed by an inspection after cleaning with an ultraviolet light to determine if the marking agent was removed. This indicates good mechanical action was utilized during the cleaning process.

The clean audit vendor is Westech Cleaning Auditing Systems. The Westech Clean Audit program uses a cloud based reporting system that can operate on existing ISO hardware. Westech has been operating in British Columbia since 2005 (183 sites), Alberta since 2016 (160 sites), and Ontario since 2007 (17 sites). 

Why implement a clean audit program?

In March of 2019, an inpatient room, clean audit program was identified as a strategic priority for Environmental Services (EVS). Cleanliness of a facility, and more specifically an inpatient room, is one of the most important factors of a patient's experience in a healthcare facility.

The Saskatchewan Health Quality Council released the “Acute Care Patient Experiences Survey" in 2012. It stated that  a patient is two times more like to rate their hospital stay as 10 out of 10 when their room and bathroom were always kept clean. Moreover, evidence is increasing that the health-care environment is an important source in the transmission of Healthcare Acquired Infections (HAI); we must clean and disinfect our environments to ensure the chain of infection is broken (Rutala and Weber, 2013). Health care-associated infections are infections that occur within any setting where health care is delivered. Health care-associated infections affect 4% to 10% of patients and result in significant harm to patients/residents/clients. Current estimates predicted up to 10 million global deaths annually by 2050. To reduce the risk of transmission of microorganisms from the environment requires the cleaning and disinfection of all surfaces and items in the health care setting on a regular basis. This is a shared responsibility by both healthcare workers and Environmental Services.

Maintaining a safe, clean and hygienic environment and minimizing microbial contamination of surfaces, items and equipment within the health care environment is increasingly recognized as an essential approach to reducing the risk of health care-associated infections for all patients/residents/clients, visitors and staff within health care settings. Environmental Services takes this responsibility seriously and therefore is implementing a provincial clean audit program.