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BCC launches strategic framework
2nd of February 2026 Article by Lynn Webster
ECJ reporter in the UK Lynn Webster on some new guidance issued by the British Cleaning Council on hand hygiene.
Following the recent release of the World Health Organization global handwashing standard the British Cleaning Council has taken a leading role by publishing a special report covering a Strategic Framework for Achieving Cleanliness and Hygiene in Public Environments. The WHO standards serve as a foundation for the provision of healthy facilities and the promotion of consistent best practice hygiene protocols across all sectors of the cleaning industry and range of public spaces.
The BCC suggests that improved standards in both workplace and public spaces, along with the WHO recommended hand hygiene measures, are the best way forward. This will then reduce the risks of spreading infections and provide greater protection against any future pandemic.
The BCC framework offers a structured route for consistency in cleaning where organisations can develop their own policies from the guidance whilst aligning themselves with national standards. Businesses, both as clients and as service providers, are then able to reinforce their commitment to cleanliness, along with enhancing public confidence in healthy environments and wellbeing.
Potential benefits could also include reduction in the impact to the UK’s economy of the increasing cost of sickness absence in the workplace. The “hidden cost” of sickness reached £103 billion (€116.74 billion) in 2023, an increase of £30 billion (€34 billion) since 2018 - analysis from the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) has shown.
Sickness-related economic inactivity could lead to a reduction of £8.9 billion (€10 billion) in annual tax revenue, another fiscal challenge in the current climate. Sickness reduces the available workforce, harming overall economic productivity with further absence contributing to skills shortages within the workforce.
And in education this could reduce pupil absence from school through illness. As indicated in the report GOV UK statistics identified that during the autumn term of 2024/25, a period often renowned for increases in student sickness absence, 6.88 per cent were persistently away from education due to illness. A pilot is planned by the BCC to identify if the framework, when implement in a number of schools, will impact on reducing such absenteeism rates and the consequences on the spread of infection in the wider community.
Framework guidance
The framework will give guidance to develop policies for delivering targeted hygiene across a wide range of environments including commercial accommodations, retail, education and the wider public scope of leisure, hospitality and the transport networks. So it is aimed at a wider adoption across a multitude of workplace situations and environments.
The framework includes:
• Definition of hygiene and cleanliness.
• Risk assessment and risk management.
• Hygiene and cleanliness standards and procedures.
• Systems to encourage effective behaviours.
• Implementation of work schedules and industry recognised training.
• Monitoring and evaluation of cleanliness and hygiene.
This is followed by a comprehensive set of appendices which provides the detailed information and guidance tools necessary to implement the strategy.
For a free copy of the Strategic Framework for Achieving Cleanliness and Hygiene in Public Environments, email the BCC via compsec@britishcleaningcouncil.org
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