ECJ EUROPEAN Cleaning Journal

EFCI - the voice of the European cleaning and facility services industry in Europe - is launching a pan-European campaign today, taking place over the next two weeks.

The campaign takes its motto from ANIP-Confindustria’s Italian campaign (#InBuoneMani) and goes European to give wider visibility to the paramount role cleaning operatives and companies are playing and voice the specific needs and concerns of the industry in the context of the current crisis.

It starts today on social media (#InGoodHands) and EFCI is inviting all stakeholders to become involved. Follow on Twitter @_EFCI_ and LinkedIn.

The initiative intends to raise awareness amongst European and national policymakers of the crucial importance of cleaning, disinfection and sanitisation services during and beyond the Covid-19 pandemic.

Cleaning operatives and companies need urgent responses to their needs and difficulties in order to persevere in their commitment to keep Europe “in good hands”. In order to ensure the continuity in the provision of sanitisation and cleaning services, national authorities and the European institutions must recognise them as essential activities and provide cleaning staff with the necessary supply of personal protective equipment to contain the spread of the disease.

The cleaning sector is directly hit by the temporary closure of offices, leisure and school’s facilities, which together represent more than 54 per cent of the sector’s market segments. On the other hand, their services are as relevant as ever in hospitals and industrial sites – which represented in 2016 at least 16.8 per cent of its overall operations.

Safeguarding the future of cleaning companies is paramount in the current context but even more so when taking into account the relevance cleaning, hygiene and disinfection operations will have immediately after the crisis, when public and private buildings and infrastructures, including schools, will reopen.

Juan Díez de los Ríos, EFCI president said: “The cleaning sector is essential now and will be even more so in the aftermath of the crisis. European and national authorities must ensure cleaning companies make it through the crisis in order for them to be ready to work as soon as buildings and infrastructures reopen."

www.efci.eu