The Challenges of Cleaning a School
Many school administrators struggle to find qualified custodial staff due to budget restraints or a lack of available workforce. It’s important to hire the best people you can find, as a lack of trained staff can result in an unhealthy environment for students and increased sick days. Fortunately, there are some steps you can take to increase the cleanliness of your school. Here are The Challenges of Cleaning a School:
Finding quality custodial staff
Keeping the building clean is not an easy task, especially if you need to sanitize frequently. Custodial workers don’t receive much appreciation, so you should improve employee recognition programs. There are several ways to recognize them: award certificates, performance evaluations, and individual person-to-person appreciation. You can even hold department picnics and pizza parties to reward them for their hard work.
As for training, you should make sure your staff is aware of the various rules and regulations. Custodial staff should be trained for classroom and restroom cleaning, infection control, and floor maintenance. They should also know how to dust, vacuum, clean windows, collect trash, and do all of the items on the safety inspection form. It is also important to train your custodial staff in the newest techniques for cleaning schools.
Hiring in-house staff may be a cost-effective option, but the problem with this solution is that it only works for one location. Additionally, you’ll have to pay for their training and ongoing supervision, and you’ll have to replace them every few months. Furthermore, hiring in-house staff is time-consuming and ineffective. In addition, in-house staff may not be able to do the necessary long-term maintenance work.
Creating a cleaning plan
Implementing a good cleaning plan is essential to maintaining the health of students and staff. In schools, cleaning and disinfection activities are critical to the maintenance of a school’s infrastructure and facilities. In addition to these practices, schools should follow state environmental health policies and emergency management protocols. One example of a school’s environmental health plan is the EPA model school environmental health program, known as Practice Effective Cleaning and Maintenance (PEC). To learn about effective cleaning practices, check out the EPA’s Integrated Pest Management website. IPM reduces pesticide exposure by reducing sources of food and shelter.
When planning your cleaning plan, include the needs of your school’s staff. Make sure that they are on board with the process. Keep staff rooms and offices clean even if they aren’t used daily. The staff rooms are the areas with the highest footfall. Additionally, school visits can add to the amount of dirt and germs in these areas. Moreover, schools should schedule frequent deep cleanings of communal areas.
Getting a solid school cleaning company
The first thing to consider when hiring a school cleaning company is the number of years in business. Schools are notoriously unpredictable; the amount of time the school needs to be cleaned can change drastically from year to year, even hour by hour. Because of this, it’s essential that you hire a company that can adapt to these changes and scale up or down their services as needed. Below are some tips to help you find the right cleaning company for your school.
Increase Social Proof. Another way to increase the number of school cleaning contracts you receive is to increase your company’s social proof. This means getting as many positive reviews from customers as possible. This is a huge plus for a school cleaning company, as it shows the school that it has a reputable company. You can achieve this by creating a separate page on your website dedicated to your services and allowing potential customers to post their own reviews.
Keeping a standardized list of approved cleaning products
Keeping a standardized list of approved, safe cleaning products for use in schools is essential to ensure a high level of sanitation and safety in the buildings. Cleaning products should contain no fragrances or harsh chemicals and should be diluted to a maximum strength of 10 parts per million. To reduce waste, school cleaning policies should also include information on healthy cleaning practices, including the use of microfibers and spraying products on cloth. Custodial staff should also be trained on safe and green cleaning practices, including chemical spill procedures. Finally, school cleaning procedures should prevent teachers from bringing in unapproved products, including abrasives, detergents, and bleach.
The EPA’s Safer Choice program is a good example of a third-party certification. The program identifies cleaning products that have been thoroughly tested and certified to minimize their impact on human health and the environment. Third-party toxicologists assess and rate all intentional ingredients, residuals, contaminants, and residuals to determine whether they’re safe to use. Schools that comply with this policy have less risk of exposure to harmful contaminants, including carcinogens.