Does cleaning for health and wellness require a different approach than your regular cleaning procedures? Let’s take a look.
It almost seems like cleaning for health and wellness would include any cleaning. We already know that a clean environment can reduce the spread of germs and irritants. We also know that cleanliness includes how spaces are cleaned, from the products we use to factors like dwell time.
So what is so different about cleaning for health, specifically? For that matter, what constitutes a clean environment? You may already know there’s a difference between cleaning and disinfecting. Cleaning removes dirt and some bacteria from a surface, while disinfecting neutralizes the bacteria and viruses on a surface. You may also know that just because something looks or smells clean doesn’t mean it’s actually clean.
Certainly, we want spaces to look good when we’re done working, but if our focus is on health and wellness, there are some things to consider. For example, there are healthier cleaning products available and some steps we can take to ensure that beneficial outcomes are high on the list.
If you are ready to bring your cleaning organization to the next level, schedule a free call with Janitorial Manager to see how our software can make your janitorial operation more successful.
Put your focus on cleaning for health and wellness with these five requirements
1. Educate Your Team. Your team might assume that for a space to be clean, it has to smell a certain way. So they might expect lemon-scented cleaners or pine-scented air fresheners. But the healthiest products on the market don’t always include scents. In fact, many of them don’t because so many people are sensitive to artificially-scented products. So as part of your efforts to focus on cleaning for health and wellness outcomes, it’s essential to help your staff understand why you use certain products and how they work. And to reassure them that a space is clean, you can use tools like Scan4Clean QR codes that detail the specific tasks that go into cleaning an area.
2. Stick With Eco-Friendly Cleaners. Call them green cleaning products, environmentally-friendly cleaners, or eco-friendly cleaners. Whatever you call them, these cleaning products have a minimal impact on the environment and are generally less irritating for your cleaning team and your customers. However, before you buy just any cleaner that says eco-friendly on the package, read the following requirement.
3. Use Products That Work. Not all cleaning products are the same, and part of cleaning for health and wellness means that you have to be selective in what you use. So, if we’re looking for something that works as a disinfectant and is also environmentally friendly, we have to do a little searching. For instance, we know that the EPA has the “List N Tool” for finding disinfectants that are effective against COVID-19, as well as numerous other viruses and bacteria. But did you know that they also have a list of products that are DfE-certified (Design for the Environment)? And you can sort that list to find products that are on List N as effective against COVID and are also environmentally friendly?
4. Train Your Team. Even the safest, most gentle cleaners can be irritating or potentially hazardous if they aren’t used correctly. Similarly, using the wrong materials or improper techniques can spread more germs than it kills. So be sure to train your team thoroughly on keeping themselves and your customers safe while using cleaning products and equipment. To make things even easier, consider using a color-coded cleaning system, so there are never questions about which cloth or what product to use. Additionally, you can opt for ready-to-use products. While these products are generally more expensive than those you mix on site, they are also more user-friendly.
5. Stay Organized. There’s so much to say about good organizational skills. It helps you with everything from payroll to scheduling to bidding to hiring to inspections. And in this case, organization helps you maintain training, keep up with which products are best, and maintain safe and healthy cleaning procedures for your entire team. There are numerous methods for organizing your schedule, workflow, and tasks. We’re partial to janitorial management software, of course. Tools like Janitorial Manager make it simple to track your inventory, so you always know when you need to order cleaning products and supplies, and you can change task lists on the go should issues arise for clients like a cluster of flu cases.
It’s true that cleaning goes hand in hand with health and wellness. And in many cases, you may not need to change very much about your process to provide a healthy environment for the public. But if you want to focus on wellness, these five steps are essential.
Harness the value of Janitorial Manager to streamline your cleaning operation like never before. Learn more today with a free discovery call and find out how to make your cleaning operation more efficient and cost effective!