If you are running a business, you have a duty of care to your employees and will need to ensure you provide a safe and hygienic work environment. Someone within your office, whether your Office Manager or Facilities Manager, should be in charge of health and safety, ensuring that the correct systems are in place, such as risk assessments and method statements, which are required to help reduce risk. The necessary health and safety standards will have to be retained by your commercial cleaning company but how do you ensure you get what you need? Your team will have to be mindful of the quality of work they offer, involving reviews and meetings to keep abreast of their standards and service. Offices need to be cleaned to high standards not only to maintain a professional image but to prevent the spread of germs and illness, therefore you have to be able to rely that the legal requirements as well as the standards you have set, are achieved.
Set Clear Boundaries
It may sound obvious but if you want to get the most out of your commercial cleaning service then you must offer clear instruction. They need to know what you expect from them and every member of the cleaning team that will be working in your office needs to understand the ground rules. Creating a cleaning schedule document that covers every area of your office from meeting rooms to the loos, will be a guide for any cleaning contractor that may be on site to do the job. This means that when the regular team are on holiday or off sick, the guide can be reviewed and following by temporary staff that may be in place. When creating the cleaning schedule, ensure items such as kitchen cloths and sponges are replaced on a regular basis and that other germ hotspots such as desks are given attention. Telephones, keyboard, light switches and door handles can often be overlooked but should be included on your schedule. This document will offer clear guidelines encouraging understanding between both parties maintaining the high standards required. Don’t forget the washing up! Washing the cups is always an issue in offices as well as the tea towels, bins and the purchasing of loo rolls and hand towels. All these services can be provided by your cleaning contractor so be sure to review these and add them to your schedule to avoid office politics and washing up wars!
Checklists Save Valuable Time
Knowing what has been done and what tasks are outstanding is essential and that’s why you should ask your cleaning company to provide a checklist of services. It should outline the tasks and the timing and regularity of each item. Daily, weekly and monthly tasks should be set so there is a system in place and an understanding that vacuuming and surfaces are a daily task, window and floor polishing a weekly task and monthly cleaning could include air vents, chairs and carpet cleaning of high traffic areas for example.
Why this Work is Essential!
Research has shown there are higher levels of illness in work places that have poor hygiene standards. Germs thrive in dirty areas and can encourage the spread of infection and illness. High cleaning and hygiene standards can help prevent the spread of germs and as a result, keep your staff well and at work! Studies reveal that there are 49 germs on every square inch of a toilet seat compared to 25,000 germs on every square inch of a telephone! An astonishing 60% of time taken off work is associated with dirty offices! This loss of productivity can only have a negative effect on the profit margins of any business so good cleaning standards are essential!
