Working in a shared office can be a real nightmare for those of us who value neat, tidy, and sanitary spaces.  There’s really no way to control the effort coworkers will put into maintaining a clean office, which is why most business owners turn to professional cleaners and their staff to keep offices ship shape.  From keyboard to bathrooms, there are many germ-ridden places in your office…but what are the dirtiest spots you may never have considered?

Shared Equipment

You’ve probably peered into office keyboards and seen hidden crumbs, hair, and other signs that this piece of equipment is rather unsanitary.  Now imagine what you can’t see and recognize that for the most part, a keyboard is not a shared piece of equipment.  Equipment such as your photocopier can also be very dirty – in fact, when it comes to germs, the start button on a copier is among the dirtiest places in your office.  One sanitation study found that the start button may measure more than a billion colony forming units in a square inch whereas your average toilet seat has just over 3000.

Even shared kitchen appliances can be very germy.  The coffee pot handle, for example may have up to 110,000 colony forming units in a square inch and many of these microorganisms have been found to be antibiotic-resistant bacteria.  Whether this is simply because of the sheer number of people using the coffee pot, or the likelihood that those people are not washing their hands frequently enough, you’d have to imagine that other components of the office kitchen are equally germ-ridden.

Elevator buttons are likewise germ-infested.  You may have noticed that in many healthcare environments, administrators have taken to encouraging pressing buttons with elbows rather than fingers, and you’ll often find hand sanitizer dispensers next to elevator call buttons – consider using the hand sanitizer before or after (or even both) you enter or exit an elevator.

Workstations

We’ve already acknowledged that keyboards are messy, and given how much time your hand spends on a mouse, this too is a dirty component of your workstation.  But you may not have realized that even your desktop can be infested with bacteria.  Wiping keyboards, mouses, and desktops with anti-bacterial wipes can help cut down on the germs at your workstation.

The Kitchen

So, you’ve learned that the coffee pot in the kitchen is a germaphobe’s nightmare, but the single dirtiest place in your office kitchen?  Well, that’s the kitchen faucet.  Additionally, drains and the sinks themselves can have very high microbe counts making the kitchen sink often the dirties spot in a shared workspace.

So, what can you do to make your workplace more sanitary?  First and foremost, wash your hands regularly to prevent the spread of bacteria.  But also, as an employer or business owner, invest in regularly scheduled office cleaning to maintain the hygiene of your office and the health of your staff.

Choosing a commercial cleaning company is an important task – you want to be sure to work with a reputable professional that will meet your high standards of service and quality.  Unfortunately, there are many commercial cleaning companies to choose from in most urban markets, so how to identify the best of the best can be challenging.  To make the task a little easier, here are the main qualities that you should be looking for in your commercial cleaning company.

Reputation

Before you sign a contract with a commercial cleaner, consider their reputation.  You can learn a lot about a company from their track record – namely, do they deliver quality cleaning services?  Reach out to your own business contacts, colleagues, and even friends to determine which companies have the best reputation in the industry.  You can even ask for referrals and references and check online testimonials.

Organization

You can start considering the organizational skills of commercial cleaning companies from your first point of contact.  Not only will they return your calls in a timely fashion, but they will be able to provide you with some of the detailed information you need early in your interactions.  Ultimately your cleaner should also be able to provide you with detailed schedules of cleaning on daily, weekly, and even monthly time frames.  Once you’ve chosen a cleaner, keep tabs on their organization – are they timely in their services and do they keep to their schedules?

Quality

Your company’s reputation speaks to the quality of their work, but your own experienced with your cleaners can tell you even more.  High standards of quality ensure that staff are well trained, cleaning services are completed thoroughly, and your business is cleaned without damaging equipment or disturbing workspaces.

Insurance

Always work with a cleaning company that is properly bonded and insured so that you don’t need to worry about the safety of your staff or your valuable property.  Liability insurance and security bonding will give you peace of mind that you’re working with a trustworthy company.

Contract

Ideally, your commercial cleaning professional will also provide you with a legal contract of cleaning services and the cost associated.  Make sure you review the contract carefully to ensure that your needs and rights are recognized.  An agreement in writing ensures you have recourse in case cleaning services are not provided to the standard or schedule you expect.

Environmentalism

Finally, one of the most important qualities of modern commercial cleaners is that they operate in an environmentally friendly manner.  It is everyone’s responsibility to be conscious of our environmental impact and cleaning companies today often employ green cleaning techniques and use green products to provide the cleaning services you require.  If a company cannot provide these services, they are behind the times.

In the janitorial industry, there are many different kinds of cleaning.  We typically associate janitorial professionals with those who clean larger spaces from office buildings and medical facilities to community spaces such as schools, community centres, and libraries.  As you can see, janitors can provide a wide range of services and they will often specialize in one type of cleaning.  So, when it comes to industrial janitorial cleaning, you should expect cleaners to have specialized skills and knowledge.  So, what is industrial janitorial cleaning and what expertise do these professionals offer?

Industrial janitorial cleaners are those that have the skills and knowledge to manage hazardous cleaning tasks in industrial facilities.  This means, industrial cleaners work in factories, manufacturing plants, power plants, warehouses, and other large-scale facilities.  The duties of industrial janitorial cleaners are broad and not simply defined; but as you might expect when it comes to cleaning factories, energy plants, and other job sites, janitorial professionals must possess unique expertise.  These professionals are highly trained so that they can safely handle hazardous materials and work in areas where there is a high exposure to risk.

Moreover, industrial cleaners rely on specialized cleaning equipment and materials to effectively do their job.  From chemical cleaners and large cleaning machines, industrial janitorial cleaning services not only require site-specific knowledge and training, but also training to use industry-specific equipment and materials.  Even when it comes to cleaning industrial site offices, janitorial professionals rely on expert knowledge and skill to manage serious dirty work.  In the facilities, they must also face the task of cleaning in an environment that includes heavy machinery which may be operating at the time the janitors are working.  Materials such as paints, lubricants, fiberglass, and other toxic products pose added risk to industrial janitorial cleaning professionals.

While industrial cleaning takes place in a wide variety of settings and exposes janitorial professionals to unique and unpredictable risks, the cleaning tasks themselves might sound familiar.  Industrial janitorial cleaning professionals provide a range of cleaning services:

• Floors
• Kitchens and bathrooms
• Working surfaces
• Cubicles
• Meeting spaces
• Laboratories
• Locker/shower rooms
• Cafeterias
• Warehouse floors
• Loading zones
• Storage
• Industrial equipment
• HVAC systems

An industrial cleaning specialist will provide both light and heavy cleaning services.  For example, your industrial cleaner will remove recycling and waste, but they’ll also thoroughly clean equipment and other challenging areas.  Still, perhaps the primary distinguishing characteristic between industrial janitorial cleaning and other cleaning services is the fact that industrial professionals perform their cleaning duties under more challenging and sometimes hazardous conditions.  They must be well trained to assess and manage risk, and they must have the skills and knowledge to utilize safety equipment effectively to ensure not only proper cleaning but their own and others’ health and safety.

Being aware of our environmental impact is an important responsibility nowadays.  Indeed, environmentalism drives innovation in a wide range of industries including the cleaning industries.  Yet, when it comes to green janitorial services, the benefits extend far beyond the effects of these services on our ecosystem.  Green janitorial services not only help protect nature from the damaging effects of chemical cleaning products and processes, but they also protect the people we serve.  So then, what are green janitorial services and why should you consider them for your business?

In a nutshell, green janitorial services are those that utilize environmentally friendly cleaning products and methods that not only promote environmental health but human health as well.  There are a wide range of approaches to green cleaning that start with the use of products that are free from toxic chemicals and volatile compounds that have been shown to have a negative impact on body systems.  Traditional cleaning methods may cause respiratory or dermatological conditions, and in some cases, these techniques have been associated with even more serious chronic diseases including cancer.  Janitorial professionals who identify as green or eco-friendly use cleaning products that are biodegradable and toxin-free.

There are a lot of myths surrounding green janitorial services.  First and foremost, many people believe that green cleaning products are not as effective as products with harsh chemicals.  On the contrary, green cleaning techniques tend to be gentle but highly effective not only for producing sparkling, clean results, but more importantly for reducing exposure to toxins and contaminants.  Particularly for individuals with established chronic conditions such as asthma or allergies, green janitorial services can ensure better health while creating a clean and sanitary environment.

Nevertheless, as society at large is increasingly interested in reducing humans’ environmental impact, green cleaning products and service providers have begun to flood the market.  Unfortunately, not all products are independently reviewed and certified eco-friendly.  As such, it is important to work with reputable green cleaning professionals to affirm that the green janitorial services you receive are indeed environmentally sustainable.

Still, employing green cleaning services in your business and even your home can have a number of important benefits.  Not only can you rest easy knowing you are relying on services that minimally impact the environment, but you are also promoting better health and well-being for your staff, colleagues, clients, and family.  Ultimately, green janitorial services utilize products and techniques that are ideal for individuals with allergies or other sensitivities to chemical products, but also for those in ideal health as well.  Avoiding the use of perfumes, dyes, caustic or corrosive ingredients, and volatile organic compounds means you achieve efficient, affordable, and effective cleaning that won’t negatively impact the environment or your health.

You may or may not be aware that commercial cleaning companies provide services for a wide variety of commercial, industrial, and domestic customers.  As such, many cleaning companies specialize in a particular area – after all, cleaning a home and cleaning a factory require vastly different skills, equipment, and expertise.  So then, what is the difference between industrial and commercial janitorial services?

First, let’s take a closer look at commercial janitorial services.  In fact, commercial cleaning encompasses a large number of different services.  In reality, commercial janitorial services include everything that is not domestic cleaning.  For example, companies that specialize in cleaning offices, hospitals, schools, and business are all technically commercial cleaning companies.  More specifically, commercial janitorial services tend to involve heavier and more frequent cleaning tasks.  Consider an office with a hundred employees that also welcomes numerous customers and visitors on a daily basis.  While you may not need to clean your home carpeting on a weekly or monthly basis, busier environments will require more frequent cleaning.

There are also highly specialized commercial cleaning services.  Have you ever visited a school and seen the janitor buffing the floors with a large, industrial machine?  Clearly, you would not have the skills, expertise, or even need to conduct this kind of cleaning in your home.  In fact, depending on the kind of business operating, cleaning needs can vary significantly.  Hospitals require regular disinfection, and health care equipment must be cleaned in order to meet rigorous safety standards.  Likewise, specialized cleaning materials may be required for commercial jobs, so it’s always best to work with professionals with expertise in a specific industry.

So, that brings us to industrial janitorial services.  How do industrial cleaning services differ from commercial janitorial services?  Actually, industrial cleaning services fall under the wider umbrella of commercial cleaning.  Of course, that doesn’t actually clarify the nature of industrial cleaning.  In a nutshell, industrial cleaning involves janitorial services for warehouses, construction sites, factories, and other large facilities.  Additionally, industrial cleaning may include specialized janitorial services such as dust and infection control, cryogenic cleaning, and pressure washing.

Another factor that distinguishes industrial cleaning from other commercial janitorial services is the demanding nature of the work.  Industrial facilities may include heavy machinery, lubricants, paint, metal shavings, not to mention other dirt and debris that needs to be cleaned to maintain a healthy work environment.  Because of the nature of industrial janitorial services, it is critical to work with a company that specializes in the kind of cleaning you require.  Always contact various commercial cleaning companies for quotes and be explicit about what your needs and expectations are before signing a cleaning contract.  Ultimately, industrial cleaning is heavy work, and you want a company that will successfully provide the services you require.