There was an article in the C&M (Cleaning and Maintenance) this month, which drew attention to an issue that is undoubtedly affecting most businesses this winter.  Emma Murray who wrote the article commented on the issue of sickness in the workplace, and the amount of money lost by the businesses when members of staff call in sick.

The article discussed many ways in which the health and well-being of employees can be improved, by the addition of more hygienic measures and practises within the office itself.  This is due, in short, to the number of instances during the working day, especially within an office, when employees can be exposed to germs and bacteria which will make them unwell.

There are a number of items in the office where germs, bacteria and other nasty micro-organisms  can hide, which is especially concerning, with the knowledge that they can survive outside the body for up to two days.  Then, all that’s needed is for the hands to come into contact with them,  then to touch the face and eyes, and the germs easily reach the individual’s system.

Tea cups (for that much sought-after cup of coffee in the morning), pens, and mobile phones are all touched a number of times during the day, often by more than one person at a time.  Pens in particular can be a hotbed for bacteria, as staff can often put them in their mouths as they work, without giving thought to where they had been previously, or who else would use them after.

Another hidden harbourer of nasties is the office keyboard- an essential item in every office in the country.  A study by ‘Which?’ states that there are more germs in an office keyboard, than the average toilet.  This is an eye-opening revelation, especially when a number of members of staff eat their lunch at their desk.

On top of all of that, at this cold time of year, you’re likely to have the heating on high, to make sure staff are warm and toasty while they work.  Unfortunately, the warm office where a lot of people are crammed into one space is the perfect breeding ground for germs.

Finally (and potentially the most worryingly), it has been reported by the Federation of Food and Drink, that one third of grown adults do not wash their hands after going to the toilet.  So using that statistic, up to one third of the workforce could be spreading germs and bacteria that their hands have picked up in the toilet.

So how do we prevent this from happening?

Firstly, as most germs are passed from person to person through the hands, and enter the body through the nose and eyes, so it could be worth drawing employees’ attention to this fact.  Making them aware that touching their eyes and noses  in the workplace could lead to making them ill, could help to prevent them from doing so going forward.

At the same time, it could also be worth identifying the importance of regular hand washing during the working day.  Pointing out the common items which could carry germs may make them more aware that they need to wash their hands more often.  It may also be beneficial to aid them by supplying hand sanitising solutions on their desk, so they can freshen their hands and kill any bacteria on them.

To prevent bacteria from being picked up in the office, stopping staff from eating their lunch at their desks may be something worth considering.  Finding another room in your premises where staff can go to eat will prevent the germs from the office keyboard from touching their fingers, and their food.  Additionally, it will give your staff somewhere to chat and interact in a different environment to the office, helping to build and develop employee relationships too.

To encourage cleanliness and correct hand washing after staff have used to toilet, installing automatic soap dispensers into the office toilets, will be one way to show your employees that you are taking hygiene in the workplace seriously.  Operated by infra-red technology, the user does not need to touch the device, so their hands can be cleaned without spreading bacteria onto the dispenser.  Similarly, investing in a hygienic hand drying system may be worthwhile.  There are a number of hand towel dispensers and automatic hand dryers on the market, that will help your employees to dry their hands and remain germ-free.

Finally, as the winter dies away, keep the central heating on at a minimum and open the windows.  This will help to keep fresh air circulating, so unhealthy microorganisms aren’t spread in the atmosphere.

So if you’re a business owner reading this, investing in office cleanliness is an investment that will pay for itself.  You don’t have to lose any of the business’s valuable funds by handing out sick pay, or suffer a drop in productivity; instead hygienic products and an increased awareness will help to keep staff fit, healthy and in work during winter.

If you would like an office deep clean, we can advise you and provide you with office cleaning services.

Diverging slightly from the usually quite serious topics on our blog, an article appeared on the BBC News website which warranted a mention.
It drew attention to one particular cleaner, who in a bid to do a thorough job, had ended up making a very valuable mistake.  Whilst cleaning the Dortmund’s Ostwall Museum , the cleaner damaged a piece of modern artwork, in an attempt to make (what they thought) was the area surrounding the piece, clean and tidy.

The artwork, named “Wenn’s anfaengt durch die Decke zu tropfen”, which when translated means, ‘When It Starts Dripping From the Ceiling’, was created by late German Modern Artist Martin Kippenberger.
When looking at the piece, it’s not hard to understand how the cleaner made a mistake.  The sculpture is composed of strips of wood, nailed together to make an unsteady structure.  Beneath that is a trough-like dish, which had been hand-painted with a patina effect.  The term ‘pantina’ describes a distressed, dusty and dirty appearance, which had been applied to inside the bottom of the bucket.  This looked, as the artist had intended it, like the marks left from rain water that had collected there, and then evaporated.

It was this patina effect painted on the trough that the cleaner had mistaken for dirt.  They then proceeded to scrub this effect off the dish, in order to remove the unsightly blemish.

Unfortunately, by striving for cleanliness, the cleaner made a very costly mistake.  The piece was worth an excess of £624,000, in other words, over $1m.

Due to the death of the artist Kippenberger in 1997, the artwork cannot be restored to its original form, or appear exactly as the artist intended it.  However, the collector who had loaned the piece to the museum is willing to keep the artwork there, in its slightly altered state, until a decision can be made about the way to proceed.
This expensive error by the cleaner appears to be in breach of the instructions they were given prior to commencing work at the museum.  The daily cleaners, provided by a contractor, had been told strictly to remain 20cm away from the pieces in the showrooms.  The staff, according to the report, had been working in the Ostwall Museum since last October, so explanations for why this incident happened are still being searched for.

So as a cleaning contractor, what does this incident say to us at Newlife Cleaning Systems?

Firstly, it’s excellent that the cleaner was leaving no stone unturned, but this story shows that being thorough isn’t always the best thing…

Secondly, the incident seems to have occurred because the cleaner hadn’t followed instructions, or had missed out on an essential briefing.  So this story emphasises the importance of communication within such an organisation.

Finally, it’s a testament to artist Martin Kippenberger that his patina was so convincing that a cleaner felt the need to clean it!

For a daily cleaning service that won’t ruin any highly valuable goods, Newlife Cleaning Systems can offer all types of cleaning service, from specialist cleaning services to daily office cleaning services.  If you would like any more information about us, please contact us on 0800 018 9909.

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

In last weeks post we discussed the National Minimum Wage (NMW) and asked the question whether it actually provided a “living wage” for a cleaning operative, especially doing daily cleaning work, given the difficulty of stringing enough part time jobs together to be the equivalent of a normal full time position.

The situation for our lower paid staff is even more dire than I realised at that time. Consider the following facts as reported in The Daily Telegraph.

• A family with two children is just £30 per week better off working for the NMW than not working.
• A single person on the NMW would be £3 per week better off than someone on the higher level of incapacity benefit.
• A single person on the NMW of £193 per week who is aged under 25 would only be £10 per day better off than a non-working person.
• If you have a family and only one of you is the breadwinner on the NMW you would be slightly worse off than the same family if they were receiving the maximum Incapacity Benefit.
• Did you realise a family with one working member and two kids gets £79.50 per week Working Tax Credit. However after means testing they might keep only £6.77?

As part of a company that employs many hundreds of people performing necessary, difficult and often downright unpleasant cleaning duties this situation makes me weep.

I weep for the loss of human potential, weep with anger that this is where 10 years of New Labour has actually taken us to and weep for the frustration that anyone needing an entry level job must feel at trying to better themselves through their own efforts.

I have no answers or suggestions other than you should carefully question everyone who applies for work with your company. A brief look under the surface may show you the true price someone is willing to pay just to get a chance to get a foot on the first rung of the ladder and out of this Groundhog Day of a benefits system.

Would you be willing to do the same? Are you the person to give them that chance?

Columbus Dixon

Can you remember the fear and consternation that the National Minimum Wage created in most contractors’ minds when it was first introduced? It was almost as bad as TUPE as everyone had their own bête-noires ranging from worrying about customer’s willingness to pay above inflation increases or would they cut service levels to balance their books, to wondering whether other contractors would stick to the rules and actually pay the going rate? And then would higher paid workers argue or strike to retain a differential?

In the main all these worries and troubles proved unfounded. Indeed here at Newlife even though we operate nationally, the North east of England and parts of Scotland were the only areas, which didn’t already have base cleaning wages well above the new set level. In fact we have many geographic locations where market forces dictate that wages are 30 – 50% above the NMW. In these areas if you aren’t willing to pay the going rate you may attract a cleaner for a week or two but then they will be off to the better paying site down the road. Gossip about rates travels faster than Concorde!

Why is it though that we and probably many other contractors are almost scared to ask for a proper financial return for our services? How many times have we had to present a case to garner the smallest of increases probably from a client representative who if asked to live on the National Minimum Wage would think that their employer was insulting them? Could you bring your family up on just over £11,000 pa? And that’s if your lucky enough to be able to string enough part time jobs together to give you ‘full time’ employment.

The National Minimum Wage is just that – a minimum. It is not a living wage and a sole provider couldn’t bring a family up on it. So although the NMW has helped raise wage rates within the cleaning industry, somehow, if we are to earn respect for our staff who perform a difficult and unpleasant job and one that so many other people almost look down on, we have to fight for a Living Wage.

How do we do that? Quite simply we have to get away from the notion of charging for so many of our services by time and move to specifications so we are charging the client for outputs, what we have done not the time it took to do it. When we charge this way it then makes sense for the company to invest in more efficient equipment, materials and modern processes. For the actual cleaning operative it now also makes personal sense to be continually updating his or her own practical skills so that they know how to and are able to maximise the benefit (time saved!) that this new equipment and materials brings.

It doesn’t matter whether it’s a standard one cleaner DCS job, carpet cleaning or a void clearance. If we specify what the finished job is going to look like and how we are going to do it and the customer is happy enough to give us the order that then puts the onus firmly on us to do the work as quickly and efficiently as possible. As the customer is paying for results not time, they have absolutely no interest in how long the actual work takes to complete (within reason).

The effect on both wages and the company’s financial performance should be immediate and positive. If work is completed more quickly we can do more of it. This means that instead of saving a few pounds from the wages bill it is better for the company to share that extra income then use the time saved to do more chargeable work. For the cleaning Operatives, because they have completed the work in a shorter time they can argue the case for an increase in wages or a bonus based on the labour saved on the job and actually do extra work in the time saved which earns them even more money.

It all sounds so easy so why don’t we do it? Well we do actually but with only a handful of niche services. One of these is carpet cleaning and we had the perfect example, which proves my point this month. Two sales consultants both estimated similar but different jobs. One estimated at a great hourly chargeout rate of £24 / man hour while the other charged out on a unit basis of so much a square foot of carpeting. The profit from the unit-based method of costing was double the £24 man-hour rate!!

The challenge I believe is to introduce this methodology into Daily Cleaning Service, which is the lowest profit generator of all our services and steadily getting tighter and tighter. But if a sales consultants took a ‘brave pill’ and instead of selling the job in terms of cleaning hours actually fully specified what we were going to clean, how often and what it would look like when it was cleaned without any mention of cleaning times. I think they would get a shock at the positive results they achieved not just for the customer, not just in their own commission earnings but on the effect unfettering the cleaner will have on both their earnings potential and the standards achieved on the job.

Are you that DCS sales consultant? Talk to me and I will show you how.

Columbus Dixon.

Or how to make your life easier and your operative’s safer

The first time you’re asked to produce a Method Statement on the work you are doing you probably took a double take. What’s a Method Statement? What’s it for? Does it have to be complex? Am I giving commercial secrets away? How do I do one?

All a Method Statement does is enable you to help your staff and the main contractor understand and manage the extent of the risks involved in the work you are about to do so that you can ensure the resources necessary to do it safely are to hand and that everyone knows what to do in an emergency situation.

This enables both you and the main contractor to comply with Health and Safety and CDM regulations but more importantly it helps you both run a safer site by ensuring everyone is aware of areas of risk where accidents, if they are going to happen, will happen.

The Ten Point Rule was a simple ‘memory jogger’ that one of our clients, Bovis Lend Lease used with their staff on their BBC Headquarters site at Pacific Quays in Glasgow. I have found that whenever a Method Statement has to be produced this is an excellent tool to ensure I have captured all the relevant information so I can get it right first time. There are no second chances with Health and Safety!

Rule 1. Company, package, title, revision number & date
Rule 2. Description of the works to include

* Time
* Duration
* Sequence
* Location

Rule 3. Resources required

* Personnel
* Supervision
* Plant & equipment
* Materials

Rule 4. Assessment of significant risks for all tasks, including

* Access / egress
* Place of work
* Others at risk (i.e. the public)
* COSHH, noise, manual handling etc

Rule 5. Control measures to be used, including

* Permits
* Security
* Special training

Rule 6. Personal protective equipment requirements
Rule 7. Emergency arrangements, including

* Rescue
* Special First Aid

Rule 8. Temporary amended systems

* Fire / security systems / access

Rule 9. To whom the information has / will be submitted, including

* Checking, review and update provision
* Change requirements
* Confirmation of Operatives briefing

Rule 10. Monitoring and compliance

Please feel free to copy or pass this safety article on to anyone who could find it useful.

Phil Dixon, Managing Director
Newlife Cleaning Systems Ltd

Update: We have now uploaded a wide selection of sample cleaning method statements to our site to download for FREE. Documents are blank formatted so they can be easily tailored to your company and circumstances and are available as pdf or Word document download.

Hope these help.

Phil D

Astute individuals, businesses and government agencies know that clean plus green equals good. More than just a trend, implementing a green cleaning programme is now recognised as a wise business move. The much touted benefits of creating a healthier workplace include increased productivity and reduced costs. Green cleaning has also become a key component in obtaining certification against the environmental standard ISO14001.

If you understand the advantages of green cleaning and have decided to implement a programme, how do you go about choosing the right one? What elements separate superior green cleaning plans from the rest? Below are some features to carefully consider when evaluating a programme prior to implementation.

1. A Holistic Approach

When it comes to maintaining a healthy facility, all areas – from entranceways to toilet areas to HVAC systems – affect the indoor environment. In choosing a green cleaning programme, make sure that the provider looks at your building holistically, considering the building’s purpose and uses.

Because entranceways serve as gateways for pollutants entering the building, a good programme will begin there. While traditional cleaning methods attempt to control this dirt after it enters and spreads throughout the building, effective green cleaning focuses on trapping and removing contaminants at this point of entry. Cleaning chemicals, processes and equipment, ventilation systems, waste removal, and even occupant habits are other areas that a holistic green cleaning programme will address.

2. A Beyond-the-Surface Focus

The primary intent of most cleaning programs is to leave surfaces looking spotless and dirt free. Green cleaning programs should go far beyond this, however. Dirt, bacteria, mould and other pollutants may not be seen, but they can certainly affect the indoor air quality. Green cleaning programmes aim to remove harmful particles from the air, not add to the problem by using harsh chemicals.

Although it may be difficult to judge how well a green cleaning programme has removed unseen particles, you can ask about equipment used to make sure that it is efficient and well maintained. Steps that facility maintenance providers can take to demonstrate a beyond-the-surface focus include emptying vacuum bags when half full and the use of Hepa filters to reduce particulate emissions into the work atmosphere. Even something as simple as a dusting cloth can make a difference: A microfibre cloth captures dust, rather than just moving it around. These small measures ensure that the equipment and processes contribute to, rather than counteract, the effectiveness of your programme.

3. Products and Services Offered

The products used in green cleaning play a vital role in the programme’s success. Products should qualify for third-party certification by organisations such as Green Seal. Unlike traditional cleaning products, these certified chemicals and equipment are designed to work effectively, while minimising environmental impact and decreasing risks to health and safety.  Here at Newlife HQ we both minimise water usage and avoid the use of harsh acidic products when cleaning urinals by the use of microbiological toilet blocks. (Refer to earlier Blogs to determine the water and financial savings possible which are most attract to heavy users such as hotels, schools and colleges)

4. Knowledgeable Employees

Employees who will be designing and implementing your green cleaning programme must understand the objectives of green cleaning, as well as their own role in the process. Cleaning staff should know each product’s designated use, green cleaning processes and equipment maintenance procedures. Regular inspections and quality control programs ensure that employees’ work meets high standards. The best facilities maintenance providers also continually train their employees on the best practices in green cleaning.

5. Educational and Communication Programmes

A truly professional green cleaning provider goes beyond the tactical implementation of cleaning strategies to become your partner in creating a healthier environment. Most successful programmes include regular communications so that building occupants and facility stakeholders understand the importance of green cleaning and what they can do to make a difference. For example, improper care of live plants can increase contamination levels and require strong pesticides that counteract the green cleaning programme. When occupants know of such risks, they can become a true part of the green cleaning process.

Small actions, including minimising clutter and eating only in designated areas, can go a long way in ensuring a healthy environment. Facility users and tenants should also know whom to contact and how to react to a spill or contamination. The faster such situations are dealt with, the less harm they do to your facility.

Communicating your green programme to the community and building occupants helps you reap the benefits of being a socially conscience facility or business. You will attract the growing numbers of people who care about protecting the earth’s resources and improving indoor air quality.

These five features of effective green cleaning programs may apply to your facility in different ways. Each facility has unique goals, and each maintenance provider will bring its own set of expertise to a project. The provider you choose should recognise your goals and offer customised services and products that ensure your programme’s success.

By Mark Warner on behalf of ISSA

It seems we can’t go a day without more press coverage of methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), or the superbug.  Infectious disease control has long been the concern of infection control departments in hospitals and nursing homes but rarely has it been the focus of cleaning staff in schools, colleges, day care centres offices, government buildings or large industrial plants. Now, because of recent deaths, we know that many more pathogenic bacteria have become more deadly than ever – and are cropping up in more places than ever. In fact, beyond MRSA, there are other more horrific diseases on the horizon, things like multi-drug resistant Acinetobacter and others that you may hear about in the future.

The cleaning industry has been fighting the MRSA superbug for years. Stories about MRSA and other “flesh-eating bacteria” appeared in many of the broadsheets 15 years ago. To deal with MRSA and other superbugs, it is extremely important we understand what the threat level is so we can adjust our cleaning programme accordingly. What we need to do and when are totally dependent on the environmental degree of danger and on having a complete understanding of the different types of contagious pathogens that we need to confront.

The Degree of Danger

To assess the environmental degree of danger, we have to understand how to identify the degree of threat levels and adjust the procedures, chemistries and tools to fit the situation. To better explain this philosophy; let’s use the DEFCON ranking system

DEFCON 1: No Threat

Normal, everyday cleaning procedures can best be described as a DEFCON 1 threat level-no threat. Although there are minor adjustments that can be made, most of these adjustments are related to the facility’s appearance. One can assume that the existing cleaning programme is adequate if the facility looks and smells clean. Regular neutral floor cleaners or half ounce per gallon disinfectant cleaners are usually preferred to keep end use costs minimised. The biggest concern is not to allow any used cleaning solution to sit in a mop bucket or the recovery tank of a machine. Bacteria can thrive and multiply around moisture on ex[posed bucket or recovery tank surfaces. If the used solution is a disinfectant solution yet is highly soiled, it’s disinfections capabilities can be severely compromised, allowing a massive explosion of the growth of bacteria in the used solution itself!

• Everyday housekeeping procedures may not need to change, assuming that all the proper procedures are already in place.

DEFCON 2 Threat in the Community

The most important time to ramp up the game is when there is a threat in our community (DEFCON 2). At this point, normal procedures need to be more aggressive. Basic chemical disinfectants need to be replaced with hospital grade disinfectants that are specific to the pathogenic threat. It is generally preferred to use a disinfectant cleaner concentrate with a rich mixture ratio such as 2 ounces per gallon to increase the cleaning efficacy of the disinfectant. Hard floor cleaning procedures need to be exemplary. Traditional mop buckets need to be monitored in regard to frequent and consistent solution changes. Disinfectant solutions lose their killing efficacy, as they are loaded with bacteria and soil picked up from the floors. Even solution that looks clean can be overloaded with bacteria. There are several answers to this dilemma, including the use of auto scrubber driers and pressurised self-contained flat mop systems. Both focus on the use of clean, fresh solution being applied to the floor, without the danger of used solution being introduced to the clean solution.. In addition different chemistries are needed for soft, porous surfaces such as carpeting and upholstery. Because carpets and upholstery are porous they can’t be disinfected like hard non-porous surfaces, but using a carpet sanitiser can help. Try to use low moisture systems. The goal is to have the carpets or fabrics dry within two hours to greatly minimise the chances of the formation of bacteria colonies or mould or mildew.. Tools and equipment may need to be upgraded, but more importantly, all the tools and equipment need to be disinfected on a daily basis. Also supply carts, storage areas and the housekeeping offices need to be completely cleaned and disinfected, since they are at the hub of activities that reach into all areas of the facility.

• Speciality disinfectants, disinfected cleaning equipment, and more aggressive procedures need to be implemented.

DEFCON 3 Threat in The Facility

When there is an outbreak in the facility (DEFCON 3), we need to use the strongest disinfectants possible, preferably a tuberculocidal-rated disinfectant. It is critical to use the appropriate procedure for different types of contamination. We may be facing contaminated blood or body fluids, as well as contaminated surfaces and substrate.

Since few people are trained to properly identify body fluids, cleaning personnel should assume that all fluids are potentially infectious and treat them accordingly. To clean up blood or bodily fluid it is recommended that the fluid be saturated with disinfectant cleaner to re-emulsify any dried material and to reduce the viscosity of any thickened fluid. This procedure creates a safer environment for the cleaning person, as well as reducing the possibility of surface-to-surface cross contamination on the soles of the cleaner’s shoes. After absorbing the material, and putting it into a yellow biohazard bag disinfect the surface and allow the disinfectant 10 minutes dwell time.

For general surface disinfection, it is critically important to focus on all the largest environmental reservoirs of bacteria. Obviously, most people are preoccupied with touch points. Although they are important to disinfect, the largest reservoirs of bacteria tend to be the largest horizontal surfaces in a facility: floors, desks and countertops.

In addition, the use of bio-remediation technology can eliminate disease causing bacteria or viruses in the air and inside floor grout lines, concrete and wood floors, under carpeting or vinyl tile or inside the walls. These bacteriological and bio-enzymatic products consume the food sources that the pathogenic bacteria need to survive. In this way, the pathogenic bacteria are displaced with safe, non-pathogenic bacteria that die when the food source is completely gone.

For the air in contaminated buildings, a popular and effective tool is the use of wall mounted or floor standing lamp units that produce UVA or UVC light in a protected vent chamber or tube. These units will sterilise all the air passing through them. Over time they will greatly reduce the airborne bacteria counts to levels less likely to cause infection, literally sanitising the air. Ozone is an effective way to treat the air during times when a room isn’t occupied. It oxidises organic molecules and bacteria in the air by corroding them.

• A three-dimensional approach needs to be used so that the surface, sub-surface and air borne bacteria are addressed effectively, as well as strict adherence to proper procedures for blood and body fluid cleanup.

DEFCON 4: Weapons grade Pathogens in a Facility

The most extreme level is DEFCON 4. There may be a time when we need to completely decontaminate a facility exposed to bio-terrorism or weapons grade pathogens. Keep in mind, any contagious pathogen that has been determined to be lethal to 85% or more of its hosts needs to be handled at this level and there have been naturally occurring diseases that meet this criterion. A good example of this was the Ebola outbreak in Zaire in 1998, with a 90% kill rate.

This decontamination operation is performed on an unoccupied (or evacuated) building. The most common approach for this operation is the use of radiation with Alpha or Beta particle sources or the use of gases and free-radical technology. These technologies are very dangerous and some are explosive, so knowledge and experience are critical.

• This level of decontamination requires special protective equipment, tools and training. It should only be performed by professionals who are experienced in this kind of procedure.

In summary, the most important message is that we need the proper chemistries, the proper tools and the procedural knowledge to have any chance of being successful. Also, we need to have some way to verify or validate that we have accomplished what we wanted to accomplish – the elimination of the disease-causing bacteria or viruses. Equipment like ATP- hygiene monitoring devices and swab cultures may be necessary.

Keep in mind, when the threat is high and the cost of failure is high, we need to clean everything! The enemy in this case is invisible, so we need to assume that what looks clean may not be actually clean. In this day and age, we really can’t be too vigilant. Fore-warned is forearmed.

This article, re-produced with kind permission, is written by Max Warner, international director of disinfection and decontamination certification for Airx Laboratories and appeared in www.ISSA.com

Most sectors of the cleaning industry have been rather scathing about the government’s ‘quick fix’ of throwing £50,000,000+ at the current hygiene problems within the NHS.

Equally vocal have been the usual trades union demands that the funds be spent on introducing more in-house cleaning staff and ‘good old fashioned Matrons’ instead of the work going to the dreaded private sector.

Against this backdrop, every cleaning trade magazine is bursting with articles about the latest gizmos, chemicals or Heath Robinson contraptions, which will save patient’s lives by eradicating every bug and virus known to man.

Where is the voice of reason and common sense amongst all this discordant background noise? New Labour has pumped more money into the NHS over the last 10 years than it’s founder Bevin could possibly ever imagine. Why does it appear to have gone so horribly wrong?

Newlife’s experiences’ travelling around the country carrying out hospital deep cleans for primary care trusts have been shocking and horrifying. Basic standards of day-to-day cleanliness vary dramatically from site to site. Each authority has a different interpretation of the work specification they want achieved to obtain the results they desire under the same Deep Clean programme. In some cases the ultimate cleaning objective appears to have morphed from decontamination to having “clean shiny floors” or simple wall washing with no attention being paid to soft furnishings, fixtures and fittings.

Is this simply Trusts trying to get extra cleaning works completed under the guise of decontaminating their premises or is it a simple fundamental lack of cleaning knowledge?

Surely common Best Practice methods could be adopted by following the methodology of our European neighbours who already have proven lower levels of infection.

Simple screening of incoming patients, staff and other workers would identify carriers and allow isolation and specialist cleaning to be directed more cost effectively straight to where it is most needed.

Further education of patients would allow them to gently dissuade their own casual visitors and empower them to remonstrate with hospital staff and visitors that are not adhering to basic personal hygiene standards.

We believe that seemingly simple steps such as these would reduce bacterial infections to an acceptable level leaving “one-off” deep cleaning budgets free to be focussed on emergency requirements as they arise.

Columbus Dixon

In earlier blogs we discussed the methodology your facility cleaning service provider has probably used to make up their charge for providing your cleaning services.

One of the reasons for doing this was to enable users to realise the competitive pressures the marketplace has put so many contractors under which in turn is reflected in net profit margins of less than 4% on average within the cleaning industry.

‘So what?’ you may think, at least I know someone isn’t making a fortune out of only cleaning my offices for me. But low margins such as this are not conducive to good service.

When margins are so low, profit has to be generated from other areas – reducing area management levels, cutting either the quality or the quantity of materials delivered to site or in the worst cases both, chiselling staff by not paying accrued holidays when they leave, charging you when there are ‘no-shows’ of staff and myriad other ways.

The common denominator of these is reduction of service standards, your service standards.

In our Vision Statement we make specific reference to ‘morals and ethics’ so behaviour such as this is anathema to us, indeed in a recent reverse online auction for the cleaning of retail premises with a national store chain, we pulled the plug on our bids when we realised certain sales consultants were willing to earn their commission by buying market share for their employer at zero profit. (I would love to know what their Operations manager who actually has to try and run the contracts thinks!)

Yes, the purchasing department probably celebrated what they assumed was a massive saving on their cleaning budget. But one night’s celebration for them has so far turned into 4 months of headaches for their store managers, their service and supplies department and the actual cleaning staff doing the work on the shop floor, because that winning bid didn’t have enough direct costs* built in to allow them to meet the work specification in the first place.

What is the moral of the story? Just like anything in life, you only get what you pay for. If you are asking for cleaning bids, make sure everyone is quoting against the same specification. If you want a high level of daily supervision, write it into the spec. If you want to be able to talk to a manager 24/7, write it into the spec. Whatever you want, you must write it into the specification.

When you have all your quotes in, you should then break the costs down into the various headings suggested in my earlier post. If you can’t do this easily yourself from their documentation, get a representative in from the company and ask him to do it in front of you. It is only by drilling down like this that you can discover whether the deal being offered is what it appears to be and whether it actually really does meet your specification.

* Direct Costs – direct costs are the costs incurred only in doing the job. So it covers labour, equipment, materials, consumables, Nic, supervision, training, holiday pay etc