In January of last year, Regina resident Nolan Janssen decided he wanted to start a commercial cleaning company.
Little did he know that months later, he would be disinfecting places where people had been exposed to COVID-19.
“At the start it was very tense. I was very like ‘Oh my god, what did I get myself into,'” said the 31-year-old owner and operator of Eco Safe Zone Cleaning.
However, Janssen takes comfort in the fact that he and his workers are kitted out in hazmat suits, masks and gloves when on the job.
“The more we would go in and do places and realize that we’re safe if we’re fully protected by the PPE (personal protective equipment), and we’re smart about it and we’re methodical about it, then it’s just another job really,” said Janssen.
Dianne Beauchamp, the co-owner and manager of PuroClean Restoration Regina, said she and her husband Greg Stephenson have no regrets about opening their business in the midst of the pandemic.
“In our case, I think it’s the best thing that we did. I’m glad that we did start when we did, honestly,” said Beauchamp.
The work of companies in the business of handling COVID-19 decontamination is divided up into preventive cleaning, and disinfection following an exposure or outbreak.
Janssen’s company has ongoing contracts with gyms and credit unions to do preventive cleaning. He has also done work at places that have had exposures such as restaurants, churches, office buildings and care homes. The work has taken him outside of Regina to Moose Jaw, Tisdale and Langbank. The biggest job Eco Safe Zone has done was disinfecting a 20,000-square-foot warehouse. Janssen and his employees are on call 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
The company has also done disinfections for residential homes where someone diagnosed with COVID-19 has finished their mandatory isolation period.
Janssen employs 17 people. Five work on the disinfection side, and 12 work as commercial cleaners. All of the cleaning solutions that Eco Safe Zone uses are certified by Health Canada, and its technicians are certified by the Global Biorisk Advisory Council (GBAC).
PuroClean is a disaster restoration and renovation company that has franchises throughout North America. It handles cleaning up after incidents such as fires, water damage or sewer backups. However, the company has also been busy with preventive disinfection services during the pandemic. PuroClean has a contract with a company at the Global Transportation Hub, where it disinfects semi trucks when drivers are between shifts.
By the time Beauchamp and Stephenson opened in April of 2020, they had already spent a year getting prepared. This included travelling to Florida to get a certification from the Institute of Inspection Cleaning and Restoration (IIRC).
The pace of business for disinfections has mimicked the rise and fall of COVID-19 cases in Saskatchewan. Janssen said things were busy in March and April during the initial lockdowns, and then quieted down in the summer. With the second wave and rising tide of infections in the fall, business picked up again.
Eco Safe Zone’s method of disinfection involves using an electrostatic sprayer that disperses a fine mist of electrically charged disinfectant solution. Because the solution is electrically charged, it wraps around objects, ensuring 100 per cent of the surface is covered.
Janssen didn’t wish to say how much the equipment costs, but a search online showed prices for electrostatic sprayers starting at approximately $1,200.
PuroClean’s disinfection process involves dispersing the disinfectant with a fogging machine and also hand-spraying disinfectant on high-touch surfaces. Afterwards, a protective product called Aegis is applied.
“The cool thing about this stuff is that you put it onto a hard surface and wipe it on to this hard surface and it actively keeps the biological load down. It attracts and then kills the microbes,” said Beauchamp.
Formerly a youth care worker, Janssen was inspired to start a cleaning company by a mentor and former co-worker who founded a commercial cleaning company in Calgary some years ago. COVID-19 wasn’t on Janssen’s mind back then. He just wanted to be an entrepreneur.
Janssen realizes some would see it as good timing, but he’s been far too occupied to dwell on that.
“Amidst all the headaches and the busyness and two hours of sleep a night because we’re on call, it’s been a really cool experience so far,” said Janssen.
Before getting involved with PuroClean, Beauchamp was a stay-at-home mom and had also previously worked as an executive assistant for the Schizophrenia Society of Saskatchewan. Stephenson was an engineer. The couple had been looking for franchises or businesses they could start. They decided on disaster restoration because it suited each of their skill sets.
There is no shortage of companies offering COVID-19 related disinfection services, and Beauchamp called the level of competition “huge.”
“A lot of cleaning companies that were in existence in terms of window washing companies or other cleaning companies had to survive, frankly. So in order to survive they did a quick pivot, and I can’t speak to what education they got, but picked up a fogging machine and some disinfectant and then started offering services. So the competition is there for sure,” said Beauchamp.
Beauchamp said setting up a cleaning company is not complex, as long as the proper regulations are followed. COVID-19 materials protocols are set by Health Canada.
With vaccinations now underway, the day may come when COVID-19 disinfection and prevention is not as big business as it is now. Janssen isn’t concerned. He’s just focused on meeting the demand happening today, and even when the pandemic does end, there will still be a need for regular cleaning services.
“That’s kind of our mentality. If we’re needed, we’re right there. But we also have our commercial cleaning and our residential cleaning side that is very busy, and it kind of helps keep both sides afloat business-wise,” said Janssen.
