You hired a janitorial company so you don’t have to micromanage every task and detail right? You want janitorial services that run smoothly, are effective with the least amount of energy expended by you. But in order to be able to have this kind of hands off’ relationship with your commercial cleaning company, you must have a building services contractor that is experienced, professional and poised to deliver the level of janitorial services you and your facility require. What is one way to gauge whether you are contracted with one of the better janitorial companies? You can check the janitorial closet because what you DON’T know CAN hurt you. Knowledge is indeed power and your janitorial closet can tell you a great deal about the level of commercial cleaning services you are getting.
Sure a clean, well organized janitorial closet makes a positive impression but it goes beyond that. You know the saying about if the customer bathroom at a restaurant is dirty you should be afraid of the state of cleanliness of the kitchen? The same idea applies to your janitorial closet. Your janitorial cleaning services knows that at any moment, you can observe this area, so if they aren’t working hard to keep this very visible area clean and well organized, how do you think the rest of your facility is faring? A clean cleaning closet and storage area can translate into a level of attention that extends to every area of your building. Likewise, there are actual compliance requirements for safe chemical storage and labeling that if your commercial cleaning company is not doing constitute an unnecessary risk.
The most experienced, professional and effective janitorial companies understand that janitorial best practices take industrial cleaning companies and office cleaning companies from good to great. You don’t want your work surfaces wiped down with the very same towel used to wipe a toilet lid right? And you certainly don’t want the office cafeteria floor ‘cleaned’ with a dirty, germ-infested, funky smelling mop. Not only is this disquieting and gross, it’s unhealthy, but it could be happening to you. All too often less than scrupulous janitorial cleaning services skimp on practices that protect the health and integrity of your facility, janitorial best practices that just make sense. Your office cleaners may use outdated cleaning methods, equipment that has seen better days and methods that move dirt, grime and germs around rather than remove them. What are the major offenders? Rags used without regard for cross contamination, unlabeled chemical bottles, equipment that is dated or sorely in need of maintenance in order to do the job you need it to, funky string mops that just move dirt around your facility and worse.
One janitorial industry best practice that is easy, cost effective and just makes sense is the use of a color coded rag and towel system. A color-coded rag system uses rags, cloths and towels of varying color for specified areas in order to reduce or eliminate cross-contamination and get a cleaner, healthier work environment. For example, when office cleaning, no office cleaner should clean your desk or phone with the same cloth used to wipe down a urinal. Makes sense right? Or say you use industrial cleaning services, you wouldn’t want a greasy cleaning cloth used to wipe down doors or windows, right? When you designate specific colors for particular duties you give employees an easy to use system for preventing cross-contamination and even cleaning smarter.Color-coded rags make it simplified for your commercial cleaning company to organize their materials and their day by offering an easy, visual coding system. A color-coded microfiber cloth system eventually just becomes a healthy habit that benefits everyone. Additionally, this system is visual making it easy for managers, supervisors and the like to assure office cleaners and cleaning teams are following procedures.
Sure you don’t need an office cleaning company with every new toy or piece of equipment. Still, the equipment your janitorial company uses matters for a number of reasons. First, the right vacuum cleaners, carpet cleaners and such can help you earn LEEDs points and improve your overall green cleaning goals. Some of the newer, improved vacuum cleaners are lighter (to the benefit of the cleaning person) and offer lower decibel operation (to the benefit of office cleaners and building occupants.) Likewise, better equipment can often do a better job faster saving you time and money. As janitorial budgets continue to tighten, the best cost savings measures tend to come from performance improvements that save money and time. The most experienced commercial cleaning companies understand that they must facto equipment purchases and maintenance into costs in order to continue to serve their customers effectively.
Green cleaning is certainly an industry buzzword but is your cleaning company putting their money where their mouth is? Are they using LEEDs approved equipment and processes? Are they using environmentally sound cleaners and are they using them in the right ways? Are they protecting your building’s occupants from the dangers of cross-contaminations? Are they utilizing best practices that conserve resources like paper, trash bags and water? Information is power so ask your janitorial services company to tell you how they work to meet their own green goals as well as those of their customers.
One way your janitorial company can assure reliability through accountability is regular janitorial inspections, including looking over the state and condition of the janitorial closet. Look, we are all human and even the best of us can go off track from time to time. Regular janitorial inspections help train teams to do the right thing every time. And employees that are rewarded for great performance keep operating at that level and even encourage other team mates to rise to their level. Your cleaning company can’t fix what they don’t know and if they are not regularly inspecting their own teams’ work, you are likely to be the one finding and reporting the problems long after they should have been remedied.
While they are not the only measure of quality, effective cleaning services, janitorial closets can act like the canary in the coal mine, alerting us of an impending problem. At Stathakis, we think the janitorial closet acts as an indication of the overall level of service we provide customers. With that in mind, we work hard to assure it is neat and organized with everything labeled properly. We use the best available equipment and environmentally sound cleaning products allowing us to deliver an effective clean and solid value to our customers. With great teams and best practices, we set the bar for cleaning and janitorial services in Southeast Michigan. If you and your facility are in need of cleaning, janitorial or maintenance services, please give us an opportunity to show you what sets us apart from the pack. How can we help? Whether you have a simple question or would like a no-obligation quote, give us a call at 1-800-278-1844 or email info@stathakis.com