• “When ‘Clean Enough’ Isn’t Enough — The Childcare Health Crisis”

In our last blog post, Behind the Playtime: The Alarming Health Risks for Childcare Staff we established the clear link between improved cleaning practices and reduced infection rates. The evidence is undeniable: when surfaces are properly disinfected, illness rates drop — as shown in research published in the American Journal of Infection Control. But the conversation doesn’t end there. The real question is — what happens inside your centre when infection rates go down?

The Flow‑On Benefits of Reducing Infection Rates

• Less sick staff = less disruption. Daily routines run smoothly when educators are present and engaged, rather than scrambling to cover absences.

• Less stress on workers. Staff can focus on planned activities instead of constantly reorganising schedules or chasing relief staff.

• Less sick children = less conflict with parents. Families feel reassured when their children are healthier, reducing tension and complaints.

• More stability overall. With fewer illnesses, centres experience less chaos, stronger relationships, and a calmer environment for both staff and children — a benefit confirmed by the CLEEN Study in NSW, which demonstrated measurable reductions in infection rates through enhanced cleaning.

Visibly Clean Does Not Mean Surface Is Clean

From a compliance standpoint, cleaning visibly dirty surfaces is the benchmark — and I have no doubt staff already meet this requirement with ease. This is not about non‑compliance. The issue lies in the unseen pathogens that linger on “clean‑looking” surfaces, silently contributing to illness rates. Studies show that harmful microbes can persist even after routine cleaning, highlighting the need for higher standards (APIC report).

Improving cleaning standards beyond the visible benchmark is not about questioning staff commitment. It’s about creating better working conditions that directly influence staff retention.

Why Staff Health Matters for Retention

Staff illness has a major influence on job satisfaction. While other factors also contribute to the current exodus from the childcare industry, reducing the amount of time staff are off sick will have a positive impact:

• Less sick days = more hands on deck.

• More hands on deck = less burnout.

• Less burnout = higher job satisfaction.

When educators are healthy, they can do what they love — caring for and educating children — without the constant stress of illness and disruption. Evidence from the Hunter Medical Research Institute’s CLEEN study shows that improved cleaning can reduce infection rates by up to 34%, underscoring the impact on staff wellbeing and centre stability

Cleaning for Infection Control: Whose Responsibility Is It?

Cleaning for infection control is not the role of a childcare educator. Their expertise lies in teaching, nurturing, and supporting children — not in managing complex infection‑control protocols. It is, however, 100% the responsibility of your cleaning contractor.

If they are offering “professional” childcare cleaning services, then that is exactly what you should be getting. Anything less places unnecessary risk on staff, children, and families.

The challenge, of course, is defining what professional childcare cleaning actually looks like. What standards should contractors be held to? What practices go beyond “visibly clean” to truly reduce infection risks?

That deeper discussion deserves its own space — and we’ll explore it in a separate post. For now, the key takeaway is clear: infection control is not an added duty for educators. It is a core responsibility of your cleaning provider.

Stay Tuned In our next article, we’ll break down exactly what professional childcare cleaning should look like. From infection‑control standards to compliance benchmarks, we’ll explore how to separate true sector‑aligned cleaning services from those that simply claim the title.

Further Reading

For those who want to dive deeper into the research and evidence behind improved cleaning standards, here are some trusted resources:

• American Journal of Infection Control – Study on improved cleaning reducing healthcare-associated infections

• NSW Agency for Clinical Innovation – CLEEN Study results

• APIC Report – Hospital surfaces can harbor harmful microbes even after routine disinfection

• Hunter Medical Research Institute – CLEEN study drives 34% drop in hospital-acquired infections

• Care Plus Case Study – Childcare cleaning and infection control