Tampa turns to technology in quest for cleanliness

In an era of increased cleanliness, airports have been reviewing their hygiene practices and increasingly are turning to new technological solutions to aid their efforts. In the case of Tampa International Airport in Florida, it has harnessed a variety of new equipment to minimize the labor needed to sanitize its facilities.

For example, the airport stated that its escalator handrails are now being sanitized, in record time, with minimal manpower needed through the deployment of a dedicated handrail cleaning system from supplier Thomsen.

In its restrooms, staff now use Kaivac, a touchless cleaning system for floors and large surfaces that uses a pressure washing method. There are also plans to install a ‘smart restroom’ software system from TRAX Analytics, which will provide staff insight into restroom cleanliness by monitoring traffic flow in and out of facilities.

Meanwhile, the airport has acquired a number of Karcher misters to evenly spray surfaces with disinfectant, which enables the treatment of large areas in a short timeframe. In a similar vein, it is using electrostatic sprayers from Victory, which utilize positively charged particles of disinfectant to adhere to touchpoint surfaces such as elevator buttons and tabletops.

Further reducing the workload on its sanitation workers, the airport has also rolled out T7 Autonomous auto scrubbers, which can wash floors without the need for a driver, freeing up employees to perform other duties that cannot be automated.