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Top cleaning resolutions for the new year

4th of February 2014 Article by Dr Ilham Kadri

Dr Ilham Kadri, president of the Sealed Air Diversey Care business, writes her latest blog for ECJ. She has a list of New Year's resolutions for the industry.

New Year's resolutions not your thing? Feeling defeated because of the goals you've already abandoned?

Resolutions for the cleaning industry don't have to be difficult, and they can help employees tackle new risks, maintain customer satisfaction and improve productivity and sustainability. Check out the top resolutions for 2014 from Diversey Care president, Dr. Ilham Kadri.

• Use time and money-saving solutions
Solutions that reduce waste and improve productivity have a positive impact on the bottom line. Organisations should look for chemical dispensers that use dilution control so that employees don't have to 'guesstimate' when pouring chemicals, which leads to unnecessary waste.

Additionally, floor care machines should have a working width that best accommodates the facility and excellent water pickup to eliminate the need to take a second pass. Cleaning carts should be customisable so that components and accessories can be arranged according to the employee's preferences. This flexibility improves productivity and reduces strain.

• Incorporate day cleaning when possible
Day cleaning allows janitorial staff to clean at hours when others are present, lowering energy use and allowing employees to interact with cleaning staff to solve cleaning issues more quickly.

It also eliminates or reduces less desirable nighttime hours to improve employee morale. For large operations, such as shopping malls and airports, day cleaning also demonstrates to customers that cleaning is a priority.

• Choose safe disinfectants
Not every common disinfectant has a low hazard rating. Thus, organisations should carefully select disinfectants that can be used without personal protection equipment such as masks and gloves to ensure employee safety.

Disinfectants should also be able to kill a majority of pathogens in a short period of time so that contact times do not slow workers from completing their cleaning routes.

• Create an infection control plan
Every organisation, whether it's an educational institution, retail outlet or hospital, should have an infection control plan in place. This plan outlines the main risks to building patrons, including but not limited to influenza, MRSA and rhinoviruses.

It also includes information about the tools, chemicals and machines that will best maintain a clean and safe environment. Additionally, the plan provides steps to follow in case an outbreak occurs so that future outbreaks can be prevented or minimised.

• Invest in an online training platform
Cleaning staff must be properly trained to ensure a clean and healthy environment. However it's usually not feasible to train all employees at one time and in one place. Interactive online programs that can be accessed at any time are ideal for educating employees in multiple languages.

The platform should enable organisations to offer courses on a wide variety of topics that are tailored to their needs and store course results for each worker.

• Monitor performance
Organisations can validate cleaning by using a secure auditing platform that collects, analyses and reports data in real time. This allows continuous improvement by identifying where cleaning programs need to be refined and where retraining needs to occur.

Reports detail data such as the waste generated, water utilised, gloss level of floors, procedures being performed and whether the appropriate products are being used. Reports can also be used for operation action plans, executive reports and yearly goal planning.

Without reflection and proactive planning, employees may get stuck in a cleaning rut. By establishing good cleaning resolutions at the beginning of the year, businesses can ensure every surface is sparkling, keeping customers and employees both safe and happy.