Infection Control and Outbreak Cleaning
Outbreak cleaning for childcare centres, kinders and OSHC programs in Melbourne when gastro, hand, foot and mouth disease, flu or a bodily fluid incident moves through your rooms. We follow the NHMRC's Staying Healthy guidance and the Victorian Department of Health's advice, disinfect every surface the illness could reach, and leave a signed outbreak log. This is one of several cleaning services for early learning providers.
An outbreak is stressful enough without wondering whether the cleaning was done properly. The aim of this service is simple: stop the second wave, and give you a record that answers every question afterwards.
- Toilets and change areas
- Eating tables and high chairs
- Touch points and handles
- Toys and play surfaces
- Floors, last and towards the exit
- WWCC checkedEvery outbreak crew member
- Police checkedCleared before any callout
- $20M insuredPublic liability in place
- Outbreak logProduct, dilution and contact time
What should a centre do first when an outbreak hits?
Report it, exclude the sick children and staff, tell families, and book the outbreak cleaning. Those four steps together are what stop an illness moving from one room to the next, and none of them works well on its own. Cleaning is the part we take off your hands.
- Step 1Notify health
Gastro outbreaks in children's services are reported to the Department of Health or your local public health unit, whose guide sets out the next steps.
- Step 2Exclude cases
Children and staff with symptoms stay home for the period set in Victoria's exclusion table, which differs from one illness to the next.
- Step 3Tell families
Regulation 88 asks the approved provider to notify a parent or emergency contact of every child as soon as practicable.
- Step 4Book the clean
Tell us the rooms affected and the illness, if known, and we plan a disinfection of every area the sick children used.
The legal side matters as much as the cleaning. Regulation 88 of the national regulations requires the approved provider to take reasonable steps to prevent an infectious disease spreading at the service, and a documented outbreak clean is one of the clearest steps you can point to. The Department of Health's guide for children's centres covers reporting, exclusion and cleaning in detail, including the chlorine dilutions it recommends for gastro.
Childcare outbreak cleaning works best when it starts early, before the illness has had a chance to settle into a routine of its own. The first two cases are the moment to act, not the tenth, because the virus is already on shared toys, tap handles and eating tables by the time a second child is sent home.
How fast can we respond to an outbreak?
A request that reaches us during the day is usually cleaned that evening, after the last child has gone. Later requests are cleaned before the next session starts, overnight or early morning, and weekend requests are handled on the weekend so Monday starts clean.
- Request during the daySame evening
The crew starts when the last family has left and the rooms are empty.
- Request after closeBefore next session
Overnight or early morning, finished before the first family walks in.
- Friday or weekendOver the weekend
Saturday or Sunday, so Monday opens with every room done.
Speed is only useful if the right things are done. Before the crew arrives we ask which rooms had cases, what the illness is if the doctor or the health unit has said, and whether any spills happened today that are not yet cleaned up. That short conversation decides the product, the order of rooms and whether soft furnishings need to be bagged. It also tells us whether one extra person is needed so the whole centre can be finished in a single night.
If you already use us for nightly cleaning, the outbreak clean simply replaces that night's visit, done by your regular team with the outbreak scope added. If you do not, we can still come; we will need someone to meet the crew on the first visit to hand over access and point out the affected rooms.
What does childcare outbreak cleaning cover?
Every hard surface a child or educator could have touched in the affected rooms, washed with detergent first and then disinfected with a product matched to the illness. Toilets and change areas come first, floors come last, and cloths and mop heads never move from one room to the next.
| Illness | How it spreads in a room | Where we focus | Victorian exclusion |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gastroenteritis | Vomit and faeces, then hands, taps and shared surfaces | Toilets, change areas, eating tables, floors, with a chlorine-based disinfectant | 48 hours after the last vomit or loose bowel motion, in an outbreak |
| Hand, foot and mouth disease | Saliva, blister fluid and faeces, often on mouthed toys | Every toy, play surface, high chair and touch point in the room | Until all blisters have dried |
| Influenza and similar | Droplets that settle on tables and are picked up by hands | Tables, door handles, switches, taps and shared equipment | Until well |
Exclusion periods from the Victorian school and children's services exclusion table. Your public health unit may give more specific advice.
Detergent first is not a formality. Staying Healthy explains that disinfectants work poorly on surfaces that still carry dirt or organic matter, so every surface is washed with detergent and water before any disinfectant goes on, and the disinfectant is given its full contact time, as printed on the label, before it is wiped or allowed to dry.
Norovirus, the usual cause of gastro outbreaks in childcare, is one of the toughest viruses to kill, which is why the Department of Health recommends a chlorine-based product for it. We mix it fresh on site at the strength the department's guide sets out, keep it well away from anything used for food, and rinse surfaces children eat from afterwards.
Soft items cannot be disinfected where they sit. Cushions, soft toys, dress-ups and fabric books from affected rooms are bagged, labelled and left for a hot wash, and cot linen goes straight to your laundry. Mouthed hard toys are washed and disinfected, then left to air-dry before they go back on the shelf.
Bodily fluid spills are handled with a spill kit, gloves and disposable cloths, and the waste is double-bagged. Our older biohazard cleaning service now sits here, so anything from a blood spill to a vomiting incident on the bus steps is covered by the same process.
What records do you get for the regulator and the health unit?
A signed outbreak log listing every room and surface cleaned, the products used with their dilution and contact time, the start and finish times, the names of the cleaners and how waste was removed. It is written to be handed to a public health officer or an authorised officer as it is.
Public health units often ask what was cleaned and with what, and the answer needs to be more than "everything". The outbreak log gives the exact product and strength, which matters most for gastro, where the chlorine concentration is what the guidance cares about.
The log is also useful inside your own service. It shows the approved provider took reasonable steps, it gives your educators a clear picture of what has been done, and it becomes part of the incident file if a family asks questions later.
For the wider picture of cleaning during illness, including what educators can do between our visits, read our infection control cleaning guide for childcare.
- Illness
- Gastroenteritis, two confirmed cases, Room 2
- Rooms
- Room 2, shared bathroom, dining area
- Product
- Chlorine-based disinfectant, mixed on site
- Dilution
- As set in the department's guide
- Contact time
- Per label, before wiping or air-drying
- Soft items
- Bagged and labelled for hot wash
- Toys
- Hard toys washed and disinfected, air-dried
- Touch points
- Handles, switches, taps, gates, sign-in screen
- Waste
- Double-bagged, removed from site
- Handed back
- Time each room was ready for use again
- Follow-up
- Repeat clean booked if new cases appear
- Signed
- Two cleaners, with start and finish times
Sample layout. The real log records the actual products, strengths and times on the night, and any areas we could not reach, with the reason.
How do you book an outbreak clean right now?
Send the form marked urgent with your centre's suburb, the rooms affected and the illness if you know it. A coordinator replies straight away to confirm the time and price, and the crew is booked for that evening or before your next session.
Outbreak cleans are priced by how many rooms are involved and which disinfectant the illness needs, and you get the figure before anyone arrives. If you would like to be ready before the next one, ask for an outbreak plan with your regular quote, so the scope and price are agreed in advance. How we look after centres day to day is explained on our childcare cleaning Melbourne page.
- 1Send it marked urgentSuburb, rooms, illness and any spills still to clean.
- 2Time and price confirmedBefore the crew leaves, in writing.
- 3Clean and logSigned outbreak log in your folder that night.
What do directors ask during an outbreak?
Three questions come up in almost every outbreak call. Your public health unit is the right place for medical questions; these are about the cleaning.
01How fast can you come?
02Do we need to close?
03Do you provide records?
Two cases today? Stop the third one tonight.
Send an urgent request and the clean is booked for this evening where we can.