Quality assurance programs exist to ensure the quality of a service or product that is delivered to a customer.  Quality assurance programs require a comprehensive approach to maintaining quality in each stage of production or service delivery.  When it comes to janitorial services, quality assurance programs are just as important as in any service industry.  Especially when you are outsourcing your cleaning services to a professional janitorial company, you’ll want to know more about their quality assurance program.  Ultimately, your janitorial professional should provide consistent cleaning services that promote a sanitary and healthy environment no matter your industry or organization – commercial facilities, schools, public buildings, residences, and offices.  So what do you need to know about quality assurance in janitorial services?

Whether you are a business owner or a facility manager, one of your main priorities is going to be ensuring your staff, colleagues, customers, and other guests are presented with a well-maintained and hygienic environment for conducting business.  Your responsibility to key stakeholders is to meet the highest safety and sanitation standards to promote health and efficiency.  Quality assurance in the janitorial industry starts with quality cleaners.  In other words, at the foundation of a quality assurance program for a janitorial company is experienced staff members that are well-trained, properly insured, and managed effectively.  Throughout the employee selection and training process, qualified employees are identified and nurtured to provide the best possible cleaning services.  Additionally, as part of quality assurance, your janitorial company should have an effective personnel department that not only ensures proper training but also monitors employees’ progress and productivity in order to provide them regular feedback to promote ongoing success.

Additionally, an effective quality assurance program in the janitorial industry is one that reflects on industry standards so that the most advanced cleaning techniques and equipment are employed.  Indeed, the cleaning industry is always changing – as consumer values change and cleaning technology improves, you want to know your janitorial service provider is abreast with the current state of the industry.  For example, environmental cleaning practices are much more important today than a few decades ago – a janitorial quality assurance program allows service providers to adopt new cleaning technologies to continually serve their customers better.  As such, expect their quality assurance program to include research and development related to equipment and supplies.

Finally, the day-to-day operations of your cleaning company should be regularly reviewed through a quality assurance program.  Regular visits and random inspections can help to verify the quality of the services you receive.  Effective reporting also helps the business owner to communicate with their janitorial service provider and promotes quality cleaning services.

Ultimately, a quality assurance program is essential for janitorial companies to keep up-to-date with the world of cleaning and to provide their customers with effective, affordable, and quality cleaning services.

How dirty can an office really be?  As a business owner, you may think that you can rely on your employees to maintain a tidy work environment.  But what about shared spaces such as break rooms, kitchens, and bathrooms?  Well, maybe you’re considering hiring in-house staff to maintain these areas.  While these are certainly viable solutions, they overlook the importance and value of working with professional cleaners for maintaining your office.  So, to that end, let’s discuss why you should hire a professional office cleaning company.

Health and Safety

Perhaps the most important reason to ensure that your office is cleaned properly and thoroughly is the health and safety of your staff.  Ample evidence supports the link between a clean office environment and staff productivity.  Not only does a clean, well-organized office promote efficiency, but a well-maintained office can also improve productivity through reduced sick time and fewer workplace distractions.

Cleaning Costs

Another factor you may not have considered is the long-term cost of professional cleaning.  Whether you hire in-house staff to clean your office, or you rely on office employees to maintain the space, there are often unforeseen or hidden costs associated.  For example, hiring in-house cleaning staff requires that you manage the hiring, training, disciplining, and all other human resource-related tasks for your cleaners.  Additionally, you would be responsible for sourcing and stocking cleaning equipment and supplies.  If you rely on your office employees to maintain the cleanliness of your office, you are potentially distracting them from more important work.  When your employees can focus on specific duties, they will be more effective in those areas.

Hiring a professional office cleaning company can make for significant savings.  Not only will you save money on cleaning and maintenance costs, you allow yourself and your staff to focus on the services your company provides.  Your outsourced cleaning company will work with you to identify your specific cleaning needs and then deliver those services along with all the supplies and equipment required.

Cleaning Efficiency

A professional office cleaning company will also have the skills, expertise, and equipment needed to ensure your satisfaction.  They not only know which equipment is needed for which cleaning tasks, but they have the experience required to effectively assess cleaning problems and adapt their approach accordingly.  For example, different types of flooring will require different cleaning equipment and approaches – your professional cleaners can quickly and effectively identify how best to approach a cleaning task to maintain your office while keeping things hygienic.

Ultimately, working with a professional office cleaning company will ensure that you get the best cleaning results for the lowest long-term costs.  At the same time, you’ll maintain a clean and sanitary office environment that allows each of your employees to focus their skills and talents on the work they are most suited to do.

When it comes to office cleaning services, business owners typically follow one of two paths.  Either they hire and manage in-house cleaning staff or they outsource their cleaning services to a professional office cleaning company.  While there are pros and cons of each of these options, the fact of the matter is regular maintenance and cleaning of an office space is an integral part of running a successful business.  Not only does a well-maintained and clean office tell your staff that you respect their health and safety, but it tells your customers that you respect their business.  So then, what are the benefits of hiring an office cleaning company in Vancouver?

Though hiring and managing your cleaning staff may seem like an economical approach, many business owners overlook the hidden costs of cleaning operations.  Professional cleaning companies in Vancouver not only provide trained cleaning professionals, they already have all the cleaning equipment and supplies required to thoroughly clean your office space.  Additionally, the human resources costs associated with managing a cleaning staff are not insignificant, especially when you lack the specific skills and experienced required to provide effective cleaning services.  As such, it is always recommended to work with a professional office cleaning company for the cleaning and maintenance services you need for your office.

Indeed, the primary benefit of hiring an office cleaning company in Vancouver is the knowledge and experience that professionals bring to the table.  From best practices for cleaning different surfaces and disinfecting high use areas such as kitchens and bathrooms to proper waste disposal techniques and everything in between, professional office cleaners build their reputation on efficient and effective cleaning services that support the health and safety of your office, your staff, and your clientele.

Additionally, by outsourcing your office cleaning you can actually gain a lot of flexibility in the cleaning services you receive.  Simply put – office cleaning companies must have all the necessary supplies to effectively clean a variety of offices regardless of their size or business model.  As such, through working with professional cleaners you access a broad scope of cleaning services without investing in all the equipment and supplies necessary for the job.

Finally, when working with professional cleaners, you are often assured more accountability in the cleaning provided.  When tasked with managing your own cleaning staff it can be difficult to identify a point person when cleaning services are inadequate.  On the other hand, when you hire an office cleaning company in Vancouver, your contract indicates the cleaning required and any failure to provide those services can be addressed directly with the cleaning company who will be responsible for follow-up.  Ultimately, working with professional cleaners can save you time and money that is better directed toward helping your business grow.

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.

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.