Why your sluice room layout might be breaking infection control rules

In the fight against infections in care homes and hospitals, every detail matters. Ensuring that you have a sluice room dedicated to human waste disposal is essential, but equally as important yet so often overlooked, is the implication of a compliant layout. Neglecting the design of your sluice room can lead to a higher risk of infections and lower infection control standards.

Is your sluice room causing an infection risk? Here are a few critical areas that could be impacting your infection control procedures:

• No sluice room process – The sluice room process is vital, whether you’re entering the room to dispose of waste or to retrieve clean utensils, the clean must always be kept away from the dirty. Sluice rooms can be all shapes and sizes and ensuring that it is laid out correctly to stop cross-contamination is crucial, especially in compacted areas where risk is higher. You can view our sluice room process below:

• Incorrect equipment or placement – Placement of equipment, especially handwashing facilities is paramount in stopping the spread of infection. They should be located as close to the exit as possible to ensure thorough cleaning before leaving the room. All sluice rooms should contain a handwash basin, soap and hand towel dispenser, bedpan washer disinfector and a drying rack for reusable utensils.

• Insufficient ventilation – There are airborne pathogens and unpleasant odours to deal with in a sluice room, therefore, it’s important to have adequate ventilation. The installation of an extractor fan will eradicate offensive odours and prevent them from entering other areas of the building and causing upset to patients or residents. Air sterilisers are a great way to combat airborne pollutants and harmful pathogens. 

• Incorrect materials – The materials used to cover the walls of a sluice room should be wipeable and free from joins, cracks or crevices which could harbour bacteria and allow a breeding ground to develop. Stainless steel is an ideal material for sluice room surfaces and fixtures. It’s strong, easy to clean and disinfect, and resistant to corrosion.

Ensuring you have a well designed sluice room layout will significantly reduce the risk of infections, keeping your staff, residents and visitors safe. Integrating best practices in layout, ventilation, and workflow into the design of these areas is essential to maintaining high standards of cleanliness and infection prevention in care homes, and healthcare settings. 

Contact us today to book a free site survey, we’re here to help you ensure your sluice room layout meets the highest infection control efforts.