Dirty restrooms and ineffective restroom cleaning are common problems that plague Facility Managers. Why do restroom sanitation services continue to top the list of commercial cleaning challenges?
First, your facility restrooms see a great deal more traffic than a home restroom. As busy, shared spaces, your office restrooms need regular, daily cleaning.
Second, the business of doing one’s business is itself messy. Your facility restrooms can be stinky, wet, germy and worse. It takes more than a mop and a bucket to get these shared spaces truly clean.
Last, your employees don’t want to be part-time restroom cleaners. Cleaning up after coworkers is not ideal and cleaning up after coworkers in the bathroom is enough to send your employees packing.
So how can you as a Building Manager or Facility Manager get the real dirt on restroom cleaning and tackle this problem area once and for all?
Effective Restroom Cleaning Is About What You Smell, What You See & Even What You Don’t See
Your office restroom should look clean, smell clean but that’s not all.
Effective restroom cleaning services know that a real clean and smartclean is also about what you cannot see. Lingering bacteria that are invisible to the eye can transmit disease and cause persistent odors that you’ll have a hard time covering up.
Solid restroom maintenance must adequately address all three areas: what you see, what you don’t see and what you smell for an effective, healthy clean restroom.
There Is A Real Cost To Poor Restroom Sanitation Services
Sure no one likes a stinky, gross restroom but does it really matter when it comes to your bottom line? It certainly does matter, more than you may think. Where can dirty restrooms cost you and your facility?
- Dirty restrooms can correlate with a higher employee turnover
- Ineffective restroom cleaning can result in a lower reported employee satisfaction
- Poor restroom maintenance could result in an uptick in employee apathy
- Subpar commercial restroom cleaning reduces employee engagement
- A restroom sanitation service that doesn’t clean for health increases absenteeism
- Restroom maintenance that falls short lowers employee productivity
- Dirty restrooms can even lead to lost sales
Restroom cleaning services that don’t get the job done effectively send the unintended message that you don’t care. And if YOU don’t care, your employees won’t care. This becomes a negative loop that can negatively impact your business or facility because apathy is contagious!
Is Poor & Ineffective Commercial Restroom Cleaning Making You Sick?
Your restrooms sanitation service is a vital component in cleaning for health. Between the heavy traffic your restrooms likely see to the amount of high touch surface areas, office restrooms left unmaintained are an efficient way for disease causing bacteria and viruses to spread.
In addition to a heavier germ burden , you have high traffic and lots of touch points.
Touch points are those areas and objects that many people touch in the course of the day like handles, light switches and more.
Bottom line: keep restrooms clean and the spread of disease causing germs will go down. With a reduction in illness comes reduced absenteeism and a reduction in absenteeism can positively impact your bottom line.
Does Your Restroom Cleaning Service Understand The Science Of Cleaning?
Most commercial restroom cleaning services understand that your office restrooms are likely the dirtiest places in your building.
Yet not every commercial cleaning company really understands how to clean for health. Your restroom cleaners must be trained to understand how germs are spread and how cleaning, sanitizing and disinfecting can stop germs in their tracks.
Your janitorial services company must have the right equipment and products and your office cleaners must know how to use them. Even best practices like color coded rags can prevent restroom germs from being cross contaminated to desks, computers and telephones.
Using A Restroom Cleaning Checklist To Evaluate Your Restroom Cleaners
So you understand how vital clean restrooms are but how do you determine if your janitorial services company is doing their job?
First, what does it look like when your commercial cleaning company is ineffective?
- Essential hand washing supplies like soap dispensers or hand towels are often unfilled.
- Trash is piling up.
- The restroom has an unpleasant, noticeable smell.
- Areas around door handles are dirty or smudgy.
- Sinks are dirty with soil, mineral deposits and soap residue.
- Countertops are wet and dirty.
- Mirrors are covered with water spots, smudges or streaks.
- Toilets or urinals are visibly dirty with buildup around hardware.
- Sanitary containers and stalls have not been emptied.
- Restroom partitions are covered in grime, fingerprints or graffiti.
- Restroom disposal containers hold old trash or are broken.
- Floors are wet, dirty or poorly mopped.
- Floor drains have debris buildup and dirty grout.
In an effectively cleaned restroom, you will notice:
- A clean, fresh scent without foul odors.
- Effective sanitization without cross contamination.
- Clean touch points like handles and dryers.
- Well stocked supplies.
- Clean counters.
- Sparkling floors with clean grout.
- Clean mirrors.
- No graffiti.
- Working stall doors and fixtures.
- Immaculate sinks, toilets and urinals.
Conclusion
Effective restroom cleaning keeps complaints down, protects employee health and improves the image of your facility.
A clean environment lowers absenteeism, increases productivity and improves employee satisfaction.
Customers also notice clean facilities and well maintained restrooms, creating a positive impression of your business and services.
