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CLEANROOM LABORATORY
Not all companies are the same and some companies and organization need higher indoor quality and more importantly better indoor air quality for their operations. Research, scientific processes, manufacturing, chemical processes, etc. often need very sterile and safe environment and this is why companies need cleanrooms. Countries like Malaysia, where the economy is heavily dependent on manufacturing industries, there are numerous companies that need safe and clean environment to create their products. This is why cleanrooms are so essential for companies in Malaysia.
WHAT IS A CLEANROOM?
In simple terms, a cleanroom is a space that has a controlled environment to support the production of very sensitive products. There are certain products that can be completely ruined even by the tiniest dust particle or microbe and this can be avoided with the use of cleanrooms. In a cleanroom, the number or concentration of airborne particles and microbes is kept to a minimum. Most airborne particles at the sub micron level are produced by people, equipment, facilities and processes of a company and these are controlled strictly in cleanrooms.
A cleanroom is kept clean with air flow direction and rate control, pressure control as well as pressurization, sophisticated filtration, temperature control and humidity control. Most offices have poor indoor air quality where the indoor air can contain about 1,000,000 airborne particles per cubic foot. On the other hand, a cleanroom has less than 100 airborne particles per cubic foot. This is necessary because a sensitive product or manufacturing process can be ruined with even the smallest airborne particle and this can lead to increased production costs and longer downtime.
Cleanrooms have to be built according to strict guidelines and can only be built by experts. Often times in places like Malaysia where cleanroom experts are not many in number, they need to be flown in from other countries.
HOW CLEANROOMS ARE MAINTAINED
A cleanroom must have High Efficiency Particulate Air Filters or HEPA, which can remove particles that are as tiny as 0.3 microns with high efficiency. Moreover, the architecture of a cleanroom is also very specific so that the air flow in the space is uniform and laminar. This reduces turbulence and is important as turbulence causes particles to dislodge and move around. Apart from HEPA filers, cleanrooms also have additional filters to remove harmful gases and liquids. To further reduce contaminants in cleanrooms, the personnel working in cleanrooms must also wear sterile garments made from materials that do not accumulate pollutants very easily.
Cleanrooms are expensive to build and maintain but are highly necessary for some companies that would not be able to conduct research and certain manufacturing processes without them. Specialists are required to not only build these cleanrooms but also to maintain them. Companies in Malaysia that have and use cleanrooms must be aware that maintenance of cleanrooms is also a specialized task that only a few can perform. Companies in Malaysia must also make sure that their cleaning staff and employees know how to maintain cleanrooms to avoid contaminating and damaging cleanrooms.
CLEANING AND MAINTAINING CLEANROOMS
A detailed cleaning schedule is highly important for cleanrooms. Strict guidelines as well as procedures must be followed for cleaning and maintaining cleanrooms. There are many industry level cleanroom standards and procedures in place but companies also need to maintain internal cleanroom standards. If companies in Malaysia want to gain an edge over their competitors, they need to have sophisticated internal cleanroom maintenance standards in place.
First and foremost, only those products that have been approved for cleanroom cleaning must be used. You must make sure that the cleaning products from your vendors are approved before using them in your cleanroom. Disinfecting solutions, cleaning products, mops, vacuums, wipers, mop buckets, wringers, etc. must all be made specially to be used in cleanrooms. Approved cleaning products and equipment for cleaning cleanrooms ensure that the cleaning fluids and equipment do not add to the particulates already in the air thereby negating the effects of cleaning the cleanrooms.
IMPLEMENTING CORRECT CLEANING PROCEDURES
Moreover, apart from using the right cleaning products, companies must also make sure that correct cleaning procedures are being used. It is very important that all the waste products are removed thoroughly. Also, only sterilized waste collection bins must be used to replace the used ones. Waste removal should be done as frequently as possible. Moreover, it helps to have only covered waste collection bins and trash cans inside cleanrooms. These waste bins should also be constructed in a way that prevents trash from being exposed to the air as the trash in cleanrooms can often be quite sensitive and toxic.
All work surfaces must also be cleaned properly to remove all residue that can lower the indoor air quality. Vacuuming must be avoided as much as possible because it can dislodge particulate matter. Moreover, doors, locks, lockers and door frames must also be cleaned thoroughly.
CRITICAL ENVIRONMENT

As economies are growing, say in countries like Malaysia, companies are getting more and more sophisticated and specialized. This means that there is now a high demand for specialized construction or critical environment construction in developing nations like Malaysia. Not all construction companies or contractors can take up critical environment construction projects and companies can end up with a really bad deal if they get a critical environment constructed by an inexperienced company. This is why companies in Malaysia must conduct thorough research about critical environment construction companies in the nation and settle on one only after they are satisfied with the expertise and experience.
WHAT IT IS?
Critical environment construction is needed in commercial projects to create specialized environments for highly sensitive and technical work as well as business processes. Without critical environment construction, such highly technical and sensitive processes and tasks would be impossible to complete. Some examples where critical environment construction is needed are hospitals, data centers for servers, switch rooms in telecommunications industries, research facilities, cleanrooms, etc.
Many times, critical environment construction also involves the creation and implementation of highly specialized structural and civil engineering solutions for high end HVAC systems, plumbing systems and electrical systems. For large scale construction projects like warehouses, factories, research facilities, etc. critical environment construction is a must.
MANY FACTORS TO TAKE INTO CONSIDERATION
Most critical environment construction projects often involve the creation of environment where many factors are to be combined. So construction companies and contractors must be highly knowledgeable in this area. This is why critical construction projects do not come cheap and take quite a long time to complete. As critical environment projects are also hard to maintain and most companies do not have the resources or cleaning crew to take care of the environment, many critical environment construction companies also provide cleaning and maintenance services of critical environments.
It is a wise decision to stick to cleaning services from such critical environment construction companies to maintain and clean your critical environment structures. They have years of experience in building and maintaining critical environment and know what exactly to do . Moreover, in-house cleaning teams cannot possibly handle the highly technical and tricky task of cleaning and maintaining critical environment structures. Companies that want to put this burden on in-house cleaning teams and administration departments must conduct necessary and thorough training programs before doing it. Often times, sourcing the cleaning materials for such critical environment can also be tough as well as expensive but critical environment construction companies can source them easily.
Critical environment and structures are often the places where companies have their most valuable products and processes. As companies in developing nations like Malaysia are growing and becoming more aware and sophisticated, they have realized that critical environment management is of extreme importance. When it comes to critical environment management, a little bit of paranoia is necessary. After all, sensitive information, trade secrets, new products and high end research are often conducted or housed in a critical environment.
Companies in Malaysia should consider what would happen if damages were to occur or unauthorized personnel who were to enter their data centers, server rooms, cleanrooms, disaster recovery sites, information storage centers, etc. As companies in Malaysia are realizing that they need stronger critical environment management, the demand for critical environment management service providers is increasing.
CRITICAL ENVIRONMENT MANAGEMENT TASKS
There are a lot of tasks involved in critical environment management and it is best left to companies specializing in this domain to handle such tasks for you. Not only will they provide personnel, equipment and support required to clean such critical environment, but will also help you keep such environment safe, secure and free from unwanted intrusions. They will also make sure that necessary information back-ups are done so that critical and sensitive information is never lost .
The most important tasks under critical environment management include guaranteeing that only authorized personnel are allowed, verifying their identities, updating and checking critical entry point machines like card readers, locks, etc. Critical environment management force also need to make sure that authorized personnel moving in and out of critical environment do not have recording machines or other gadgets with them, if this is the company policy and that they don’t have any sensitive information or products on them when leaving.
WHAT DO THEY NEED TO ENSURE?
Companies that provide critical environment management services also ensure that all the assets in the critical environment are monitored and that appropriate measures are taken to repair, guard and replace assets when required. They also make sure to test assets regularly and analyze their results and provide detailed reports to companies that own the critical environment. As they are experts in critical environment management, they can work closely with all stakeholders to create emergency contingency plans for all critical environments and assets. Back up plans and recovery plans are also created carefully and all emergency plans are updated consistently.