The Caretakers' Website strongly advises School Caretakers NOT to use bleach in their Schools!
Bleach can be very dangerous. Sodium Hypochlorite is the active ingredient in chlorine bleach, if bleach is mixed with other cleaning products, a chemical reaction takes place, toxic gases called chloramines are produced. Exposure to chloramine gases can cause:
- Coughing.
- Nausea.
- Shortness of breath.
- Watery eyes.
- Chest pain.
- Irritation to the throat, nose, and eyes.
- Wheezing.
- Pneumonia and fluid in the lungs.
Here are a few other reasons why you should not use bleach in your school:
- Bleach does not clean lime scale - It whitens lime scale which makes you think it's cleaned it
- Bleach rots mops and cloth which reduces the life of your equipment
- Bleach makes floors porous which makes surfaces harder to clean the older they get
- Bleach often comes in clear white bottles which can be mistaken for some drinks. Kids wouldn't know the difference.
The DTI say there are 30,000 accidents involving Infants & Toddlers every year. 60% are due to accidents involving medicines and 20% chemicals such as bleach or lavatory cleaner.
Please, don't store bleach in your school - Do not use it at all! Be safe and keep others safe!
There are many safer modern alternatives to bleach.