Cleanzine: your weekly cleaning and hygiene industry newsletter 18th April 2024 Issue no. 1110
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I was delighted to receive several phone calls, emails and comments on Cleanzine’s Facebook page in response to last week’s leader, which focused on Channel Four’s undercover report on poor cleaning practices – even if not everyone agreed with my sentiments!
The Cleaning & Support Service’s/Principle Cleaning Services’ Doug Cooke, wrote: “Cleaning 20+ rooms a day is a totally unreasonable target, I know I’ve tried it! Hence shortcuts are taken but can you call them ‘rogue’ cleaners in order to get through their workload?”
It’s good to see an industry leader who’s aware of what goes on ‘at the coal front’ and thus can make decisions on sound knowledge of what’s physically possible. I wish more CEO’s did the same!
Undercover reporters don’t always provide a balanced view and I feel the industry will suffer because of the programme – and the Carillion collapse - as it did when then Prime Minister Gordon Brown organised the hospital deep-cleans. The finger was pointed at the cleaners (not having done a good job) rather than questions being asked about how hospital budgets were being spent (too much on admin, too much time - & thus money – spent on red tape & ridiculous purchasing decisions and not enough spent on cleaning).
We all want to stay in hygienically clean hotels, but are we prepared to break the budget to ensure that this is the case – something that will only happen when contractors are paid what the job’s worth? We want medication to be freely available to cure whatever illnesses we face. Do we sacrifice hospital cleaning so more can be spent on meds, but then find that once our cancer (for example) has disappeared we’re left fighting MRSA?
I agree with Heritage Tiling & Restoration Company’s Steve Sinnott who said some companies are more interested in profits than they are in doing a good job and paying decent wages. However, I’d argue that others do their darnedest to deliver the necessary service with the funds made available to them.
Our industry boasts an enormous workforce and although reputable contractors will ensure that each employee is trained and properly equipped, they can’t be sure that procedures will be followed to the letter and that a cleaner who’s done well in training hasn’t found what he or she considers to be a better way of doing things (hence the use of the word ‘rogue’)? You can put all the measures in place, but have no real control over what happens in reality…
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Yours,
22nd February 2018