Medical office cleaning checklist: daily, weekly and monthly tasks for contract cleaners

Daily cleaning checklist for a doctor or dental office

Every cleaning visit covers the areas patients and staff walk through: the entrance, waiting room, reception, restrooms, offices, break room and floors. In exam rooms and dental operatories, the crew does only what the written scope assigns, which is usually floors, regular trash and dispenser refills after clinical staff have finished.

Most practices are cleaned in the evening after the last patient leaves, or early in the morning before the first one arrives. The list below is grouped by area so a cleaner can work through the suite in one loop. Cross off what the practice handles itself and add anything specific to the site, such as a lab, an X-ray room or a locked records room you must not enter.

Two rules matter more here than in a normal office. First, empty only regular trash. Anything in a red bag, a sharps container or a container marked with the biohazard symbol stays where it is, even if it is full. Second, do not move charts, papers, specimens or equipment to clean under them. Clean around what is there, and leave a note if something is in the way.

Much of this list overlaps with our office cleaning checklist, which covers general offices in more detail. The difference in a medical office is the line between the areas you clean and the clinical areas the practice cleans, covered below.

Weekly and monthly clinic cleaning tasks

Weekly tasks cover what builds up slowly: dust on high and low surfaces, glass, wall marks and scale in restrooms. Monthly and quarterly tasks cover vents, blinds, windows and floor care, which take more time or equipment.

Spread the weekly tasks across the week so each shift stays about the same length. One night can take the waiting room glass and chairs, another the offices and hallways, another the restroom descaling. Schedule floor work like carpet extraction and floor refinishing on days the practice is closed, since floors need time to dry and chemical smells should be gone before patients arrive.

The CDC’s environmental services recommendations for healthcare facilities say carpet cleaning should be done on a regular basis set by internal policy, and that carpet that stays damp should be removed, ideally within 72 hours. So when you extract carpet, use fans and enough dry time, and tell the practice if a spot stays wet.

What does a contract cleaner clean in a medical office, and what does staff clean?

A contract cleaner usually handles environmental cleaning of the general areas. The practice’s own trained staff usually handle clinical surfaces and medical equipment under the practice’s infection control program, because those steps happen between patients and depend on clinical training.

The CDC draws a similar line. Its dental guidance on environmental infection prevention separates clinical contact surfaces, such as light handles, bracket trays, dental unit switches and computer equipment, from housekeeping surfaces such as floors, walls and sinks, which do not come into contact with patients or the devices used in procedures. Housekeeping surfaces can be cleaned with soap and water, and cleaned and disinfected if visibly contaminated with blood.

Every practice draws this line a little differently, so write it down. The CDC’s Guide to Infection Prevention for Outpatient Settings says responsibility for routine cleaning and disinfection of environmental surfaces should be assigned to appropriately trained personnel, and its checklist asks facilities to name the people responsible in written policies. It also notes that when a contract company does the cleaning, the facility should check that the company provides the training. Expect the office manager or infection control lead to ask how you train your crew.

How to clean and disinfect a medical office the right way

Clean first, then disinfect. Wipe away dirt with a detergent, then apply an EPA-registered disinfectant to high-touch surfaces and leave it on for the contact time printed on the label.

The CDC sources above give a few rules a crew can follow every night:

• Cleaning always comes before disinfecting. The CDC outpatient guide says cleaning removes large numbers of germs and must always come before disinfection.
• High-touch surfaces get more attention. The CDC environmental services recommendations say surfaces like doorknobs and light switches should be cleaned or disinfected more often than surfaces with little hand contact.
• Floors need regular cleaning, not extraordinary disinfection. The same CDC page says disinfecting floors offers no advantage over regular detergent and water cleaning, though a practice may still choose a disinfectant for floors.
• Fresh solution, clean tools. Make fresh solution for each day’s cleaning and throw out what is left, and launder cloths and mop heads and let them dry before reuse. The CDC dental page says the same.
• No fogging. The CDC does not recommend disinfectant fogging for general infection control in routine patient-care areas.

Pick products with the practice

The CDC outpatient guide calls for EPA-registered disinfectants or detergent and disinfectant products with label claims for use in healthcare, used as the manufacturer says for amount, dilution, contact time, safe use and disposal. The EPA keeps lists of registered disinfectants by the germs they are tested against, including List S for HIV, hepatitis B and hepatitis C, and List B for tuberculosis. The EPA says the only accurate way to identify a product is its EPA registration number, and that users must read and understand the label.

Many practices already use a specific disinfectant for their clinical staff and want the crew to use the same one, or one they approve. Ask before your first shift, write the product names into the scope, and keep the safety data sheets on the cart.

Medical waste, sharps and blood spills: what the cleaning crew must not touch

A contract cleaning crew should never handle regulated medical waste or sharps. That work is for the practice’s trained staff and a licensed medical waste hauler.

OSHA’s Bloodborne Pathogens standard defines regulated waste to include liquid or semi-liquid blood or other potentially infectious materials, contaminated sharps, and certain pathological and microbiological wastes. Contaminated sharps include needles, scalpels, broken glass, broken capillary tubes and exposed ends of dental wires. The standard says reusable sharps containers must not be opened, emptied or cleaned by hand in a way that puts workers at risk of a needlestick, and that regulated waste must be disposed of under federal, state and local rules. The EPA’s medical waste page explains that medical waste is mainly regulated by state environmental and health departments, so the rules vary by state and the practice is responsible for following them.

Give your crew simple rules they can follow without judgment calls:

• Do not empty, move, open or compact red bags, sharps containers or anything with a biohazard label.
• Do not reach into any trash can by hand or push trash down to make room. Lift the liner out by the top.
• If a sharp is lying loose, on the floor or in regular trash, do not pick it up. Stop, keep others away and tell the practice right away.
• If a sharps container is full or overflowing, leave it and report it.
• If you find blood or body fluids, keep people away from the area and report it to the practice, unless your written scope and training cover spill cleanup.

Blood spills need prompt cleanup and disinfection, and the CDC notes that OSHA requires it. Who does it is a choice the practice and your company make in writing. If your crew is assigned spill cleanup, they need bloodborne pathogens training, gloves and other protective equipment, and a disinfectant with the right label claims. The CDC environmental guideline describes removing visible material with absorbent material first, then cleaning and decontaminating. The OSHA standard also says broken glass that may be contaminated must not be picked up by hand; use a brush and dustpan, tongs or forceps. If the scope does not assign spills to you, report them and let staff handle them.

Training and PPE for a medical cleaning crew

If your cleaners can reasonably be expected to contact blood or other potentially infectious materials on the job, OSHA’s Bloodborne Pathogens standard applies to your company as their employer. That means a written exposure control plan, training, protective equipment at no cost to the worker, and the hepatitis B vaccine offered at no cost.

The parts of the standard (29 CFR 1910.1030) a cleaning company owner should know:

• Exposure control plan. A written plan designed to eliminate or minimize exposure, including a list of the job classifications with exposure. Review and update it at least once a year.
• Training. At the time of first assignment to tasks where exposure may happen, and at least once a year after that.
• Protective equipment. The employer provides appropriate PPE, such as gloves, at no cost to the employee.
• Hepatitis B vaccine. Made available at no cost to employees with occupational exposure, within 10 working days of their first assignment, subject to the exceptions the standard lists.

Your crew also works with cleaning chemicals, so OSHA’s Hazard Communication standard applies too: employers with hazardous chemicals must have labels and safety data sheets for their workers and train them to handle the chemicals safely.

Rules differ by state plan and by situation, and this page is not legal advice. If you are unsure whether the standard covers your crew, ask OSHA or your state plan, or a safety consultant, before you bid. Write down each training session with the date and the names of the people trained, because the practice may ask to see it. Our guide on how to start a commercial cleaning business covers insurance, keys and hiring for this kind of work.

How to write a cleaning scope of work with the practice

Put the checklist, the frequencies and the line between your work and the staff’s work in writing, and get the practice to sign it. In a medical office, the scope is what keeps both sides clear on who cleans what.

1. Walk the suite with the office manager. Count restrooms, exam rooms, operatories and offices. Note floor types, locked rooms and any area you must not enter.
2. Mark each area as yours, theirs or shared. Use the table above as a starting point. For shared areas such as exam rooms, write exactly which tasks are yours, for example floors, regular trash and dispensers.
3. Write a frequency for each task and the days and hours you will be in the building.
4. Name the products the practice wants you to use, and who buys paper, soap and liners.
5. Write the exclusions plainly: regulated medical waste, sharps containers, clinical surfaces and equipment, and blood spills unless trained and assigned.
6. Agree how to report problems, such as a full sharps container or a spill, and who to call after hours.

Attach the scope to your agreement. The cleaning proposal template helps you present it, the cleaning contract template gives you an agreement to attach it to, and our guide on winning commercial cleaning contracts covers the walkthrough and the bid. Practices often ask about insurance too; see our cleaning business insurance guide. A restroom cleaning log posted on each restroom door shows patients and staff when it was last checked.

How to price medical and dental office cleaning

Price from labor hours, the same way as any commercial account, but expect a medical or dental office to take longer per square foot than a general office. More restrooms, more high-touch surfaces and careful work around clinical areas all add time.

Our commercial cleaning prices guide builds a monthly price from production rates, wages, supplies, overhead and margin, and it uses a slower planning rate for medical and dental offices than for general offices. Run your own numbers in the commercial cleaning calculator, which has a medical or dental office option.

Add the costs that are specific to this work:

• Bloodborne pathogens training time, refreshed every year, and the record keeping.
• Gloves and other protective equipment, which you provide at no cost to your crew.
• Any healthcare disinfectant the practice asks for, if you supply it.
• Floor care and carpet extraction, priced as separate line items.

Time your crew on the first few visits and adjust. A scope that grows without a price change is the most common way a medical account stops paying for itself.

Is BroomBook a good fit for a medical office cleaning company?

Probably not, and we make BroomBook. It is built for residential cleaning businesses: houses, apartments, move-outs and Airbnb turnovers, not commercial janitorial or medical accounts.

Its checklists match the type of home clean booked (standard, deep, move-out or Airbnb turnover), not a medical scope with clinical exclusions and nightly, weekly and quarterly tasks. Pick something else if you run commercial or healthcare contracts, need QuickBooks sync or want an app your crew installs from an app store, since BroomBook is not built for any of those.

If you also clean homes, here is what BroomBook does for that side of the business. Each cleaner gets a private crew link with nothing to download. Room-by-room checklists come with photos, each photo is checked against its checklist item, and the ones that need a look are flagged to the owner. Cleaners clock in and out from the phone, and job notes are translated into Spanish, French or Portuguese for each cleaner. See the features or try the live demo.