The most forgotten areas of workplace cleaning

Why do particular areas in the workplace get overlooked?

This is generally because of looking up, looking down and checklists. This is what we call selective viewing. It means that people typically only view what is in their direct eye line.

Look up

Most people when they’re walking around a general area, unless specifically looking for something will never look up. A standard duster will only reach 6 – 8 ft so depending on how tall you are, this determines how high you can reach. A lot of people will say that anything above that is too hard to reach so don’t worry about it, but this isn’t necessarily the case. There are tools, equipment and techniques that can be used to make sure these areas aren’t missed, however, that depends on the cleaning contractor you use. If they’re not an efficient cleaning contractor or if they’re a domestic cleaner that has come across to the commercial market they won’t necessarily have the specialist tools, skills and experience to carry out a thorough clean.

For example, I was working out on a treadmill at a gym and when I looked up I could clearly see that the vents hadn’t been cleaned in a long time. When I spoke to the gym manager and asked if this was for a particular reason, his response was “My staff can’t reach the vents”. Well, we have a tool that can reach 40ft high, meaning we can easily access difficult to reach areas. That’s the difference between doing the cleaning yourself and using a professional cleaning company like Sparkle Cleaning.

Look down

The same goes for looking down; if you go into the reception area of an office or somewhere similar you’ll typically find leaves and mud especially during winter. A lot of people will say, well it’s winter, they just get blown in through the front door. Yes, they do, but once again there are tools you can use. For example, we have some very public-facing clients where first impressions are really important. We know it’s not convenient to bring out a bulky vacuum cleaner every morning and lunchtime to clean up after heavy footfall when our team aren’t there. That’s why we provide them with a small and efficient handheld unit that they can use throughout the day. That’s the difference between a generic cleaning company and a good commercial cleaning company. The reason we do this is because these standards still represent us even when we’re not on site.

Checklists

When did you last close a fire door and notice some dust and dirt behind it? If cleaning teams aren’t provided with checklists and standard operating procedures to give clarity on what’s expected of them, then things will get missed. It’s also important to make sure that those checklists are being used, so how do we do this? We check standards through regular auditing. When audits take place it’s essential our Supervisors and Managers use the standard operating procedures so they know exactly where to check and what they’re looking for. Our detailed audits generate a pass or a fail score. It’s as simple as that.

Take a look around your workplace…look up, look down, look behind things and ask yourself if the cleaning is a good representation of your business? What message does this communicate to your customers and clients?

If your cleaning isn’t portraying the message you want it to then book a quote with Sparkle Cleaning today.