“We want residents and visitors to the borough to be able to enjoy their food safe in the knowledge that it has been produced, stored and prepared in a hygienic manner.”

This was spoken to the Government’s News Distribution Service after Mr Chitta R. Das, owner of frozen food company Euroversal International released a statement last week which assured the public that his produce was safe to consume. This came after his factory was exposed for being unhygienic earlier this month. The Food Standards Agency discovered a mouse infestation in the factory and traces of mouse droppings were found inside food packaging, on shelves and in the food itself. The company was charged with six food hygiene offences, fined £5,730 and had their ‘Mithaighar’ yoghurt product recalled.

In areas where food is prepared, packaged and distributed to the public, the hygiene and cleanliness of the building and the staff who work in it must be impeccable.  Any dangerous bacteria must be removed from all surfaces, even if they are not in direct contact with food; harmful bacteria can cause food-related illnesses such as salmonella, listeria and E. coli.

It is the responsibility of business directors who run food factories to adhere to constantly updated rules, regulations and legislations which are monitored by a number of official bodies.  Firstly, the Food Standards Agency, an independent Government department, was set up to monitor food production in the interest of the consumer’s health.  They set guidelines for food preparation, which they monitor and enforce frequently. The BRC, British Retail Consortium also sets a standardised level of hygiene that retailers expect from their suppliers.  They modify the rules frequently and a sixth edition of their regulations is due in 2012.

With all of these pressures on owners of food production factories, it can quickly become impossible for them to keep up. With so many other aspects of running a business to think about, the easiest way to make sure it is done properly, and with minimum fuss, is to get a cleaning contractor to do it for you.

Cleaning contractors are often highly experienced when it comes to working in industry. They are subject to stringent hygiene, safety and cleanliness regulations as part of their job; making it important for them to be knowledgeable in the latest food hygiene and cleanliness laws.

They will have specially-trained teams to set to work, who will be very experienced at working in industrial units.  The contractor will be responsible for staffing issues, including ensuring that staff are up to date will all legislations. The procurement of any specialist equipment and supplies will also become the responsibility of the contractor.

Another issue for owners of food production factories is the time constraints against them; to maximise the company’s productivity they need to be open for business for long periods of time. Some specialist cleaning processes require time and potentially an emptied factory, which could clash with production times. A cleaning contractor will fit in with the company’s schedule and requirements to make it as convenient as possible.

Alongside daily cleaning, there are some special services that a contract cleaning company can offer.  Firstly, there is high level cleaning, which requires experienced staff cleaning hard-to-reach areas, making every surface spotlessly clean. They will also be trained in machinery and process parts cleaning, an essential process that removes the residue of bacteria and it keeps the machines working efficiently; dirty machines break down which makes the factory lose money. Many insurers now also want ventilation and duct cleaning and testing to be undertaken by professional contractors, which they will also be able to help with.

Hiring a cleaning contractor to do your food factory cleaning can therefore ensure that the factory maintains the highest standards, will remove the stresses from a business owner and will undertake regular daily cleaning as well as specialist tasks.

If you would like to know how hiring a contract cleaner can help your business, Newlife Cleaning Systems welcome your enquires on 0800 018 9099, or visit www.newlifecleaning.com.

First published 5 years ago Crisis in Cleaning by Scott Young is an invaluable tool for any cleaning contractor or manager with responsibility for premises cleaning especially where hard floors are involved.

In it he willingly shares 56 years experience in the industry with a career spanning window cleaning to building cleaning contractor then on into manufacturing of cleaning equipment based and designed on his many years of practice in the field.

What this book is about is one mans quest to explain the importance of professional cleaning.

It is mandatory reading for all Newlife Cleaning Systems Area Managers which is the highest endorsement we can give.

It doesn’t matter whether you have just started your first commercial contract or you’re a facility manager with a ‘slip and trip’ problem in your client’s kitchens. The answer is in this personal journey to excellence.

A limited number of copies are available, P+P free, to the first 50 readers who register their interest.

please email sales.national@newlifecleaning.com with your postage and contact details

Columbus Dixon Aug 2010

Giving your age away by referencing a Gerry Anderson cartoon character from the 50’s could make you appear a Saddo but anyone of a certain age will remember Twizzle with fondness. With his extending arms and legs he constantly went from one high level escapade to another. www.televisionheaven.co.uk/twizzle.htm

The cleaning industry was exactly the same not that long ago. I remember the days when we used to have a squad undertaking high level cleaning works in a crisp factory every Saturday, cleaning factory overheads contaminated with grease from the fryers from one stage of the cooking process to encrustations of ‘flavourings’ at the other. The disappointed at discovering that all those favourite tastes on my Tudor Crisps were simply powders sprinkled onto the cooked potato has never left me.

Just like Twizzle our squad could perform seemingly superhuman acts, accessing the shadowy voids above the lights over the production floor like acrobats in a Big Top.

The deceptively simple act of slinging 24 foot Newman boards between greasy purloins to access the ceilings 35 feet above the still hot fryers was only surpassed by the choreography of 5 men working in tandem. Standing on the board which twisted and dipped keeping time with their movements as they reached as high above themselves as they could to spray and scrub the roof panels, coated with layer after layer of greasy gunk. All the time being serviced by a ‘gopher’ on the factory floor that would be rinsing and throwing back the wipes which they constantly threw at him as they got clogged up with grease.

Fond memories of a good hard-working team of people but how lucky we were. It’s hard to imagine in this day and age when “high level” means anything higher than you can reach from floor level what it was like.

Five of you working from a greasy, slippery plank, 18″ wide that moved like a ship bobbing in a stormy sea. No side rails and only wimps clipped on their safety belts, which would have disembowelled you if you had fallen anyway. Working away, covered in degreasant which matted your hair and slowly worked its way down your arms and through your overalls so you were constantly damp from sweat and chemical.

How we never had an accident I will never know but that was the way it was done in those days. Customers weren’t interested in the factory cleaning process, only in the result and the cost. So, perhaps, on reflection, those good old days weren’t as good as they appear.

Fast-forward to 2010 and while some things haven’t changed, as customers still want the lowest cost possible but what has changed is how ‘elf ‘nd safety has improved the lot of our industry.

Not only has it heightened the requirement for planned maintenance cleaning in every industry as the skills aren’t available to do it inhouse now, which has grown the cleaning market, but it also dictates that cleaning is carried out in a far more planned and professional manner.

This can only be of benefit to our staff, our customers and the cleaning industry itself.

For our customers it simply means a more professional job. “Duty of care” imposes a lot of responsibility on their shoulders and yes, they do want value for money but they also want Method Statements, Risk Assessments, COSHH sheets on the products being used (can you really use this cleaning product in a food factory?), training records and a thorough knowledge of ‘pedigree’ a s a company so that they can have peace of mind that they are getting a pukka job which they don’t have to worry about.

For our cleaning staff the changes within the industry mean that they can be recognised as being professionally competent. What I mean by that is that they are no longer just the cleaners. Competency in my eyes means that elusive combination of practical experience combined with formal training to recognised standards, which in turn further reinforces their practical experience. A win-win situation!

This means an experienced “hand” will have had time and money invested in them to equip them with both the practical skills to do the job but also formal training to prove their competency in doing the job. This could range from PASMA training to even be allowed to build an access tower to IPAF certification to use “cherry-pickers” then there is the multitude of testing to prove competency to work in confined space, use high pressure washing equipment, then the knowledge of what to do if there actually was an accident so first aid training. The list is endless and from the operatives point of view can show the regard that their employer actually holds them in as all this training is ‘portable’ i.e. it’s in the workman’s name NOT the company’s name.

So yes it would be nice to employ a few Twizzles but in reality the ‘good old days’ of the cleaning industry weren’t as good as our memory would have us believe. Through Health & Safety legislation lives have been saved and injuries minimised but also the marketplace has greater barriers to entry put in position as the need for professionalism within the cleaning workforce has increased which in turn leads to a better job for our clients. All in all I believe this can only be for the greater good.

Columbus Dixon March 2010.