The Polish Cleaning Association has won valuable funding for the improvement of training in the cleaning sector, explains its president, Marek Kowalski.
The Polish Cleaning Association, together with TUV Rheinland, has won a competition for acquiring European structural funds under the section ‘upgrading skills and employee qualifications’.
The project, aimed at making the cleaning industry more competitive through upgrading employee competence, will allow for the running of a series of specialist training sessions for 1,000 employees from cleaning companies in positions ranging from cleaning operators, supervisors and managers through to health and safety specialists and executives.
This marks another step on the way to upgrading cleaning business employees’ qualifications in Poland, as well as improving their social and financial status. Over the last two years the accredited training system made it possible for 2,150 employees to upgrade their qualifications.
Employee training is just one component of the quality training programme developed by Polish Cleaning Association together with TUV Rheinland, the aim being to improve quality in cleaning services. In more than six months of running the programme, 23 cleaning service companies have successfully undergone assessment by TUV Rheinland and eventually were awarded with the coveted Cleanliness and Hygiene Warrant.
Cleaning day
The Polish Cleaning Association and the sector as a whole were due to celebrate Polish National Cleanliness Days at the end of April. This is the fourth time the cleaning sector has organised such an event. As usual, it started with a football tournament where, beside teams from Ecolab, JohnsonDiversey, Hako, Duopol, Kärcher and many others, a joint team of PSC, ISSA and RAI took part.
On the second day the programme included a number of conferences, presentations and meetings of producers and distributors with representatives of cleaning companies and facility administrators. Members of the Polish Cleaning Association were presenting their products and services on the area of 2,400 square meters. At the conferences and during presentations, the latest inventions in the field of cleaning services were on display.
This year’s theme was Premieres of 2006. Among the most important conferences was one devoted to the theme of public tenders, organised by the Polish Cleaning Association together with the editors of Facility Manager – a magazine for facility managers. Sponsorship for this conference was provided by the president of the Polish Public Tenders Office. Also, Mark Armitage – ISSA Europe director and a great friend of the Polish cleaning business – announced his support for the Polish National Cleanliness Days as usual. It is worth remembering that in 2003 Armitage was the first person to be awarded with the Polish Cleaning Association’s Golden Broom Award, which is presented to individuals specially appreciated by the Polish cleaning business.
The Polish National Cleanliness Days also created an opportunity for a meeting of the ISSA director with the organisations’ members in Poland. |
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