FEATURE CLEANING - SUPPORTING THE STAFF
Cleaning sta have an essential role to play in a safe
return to the workplace, says James Carver, Managing
Director of OSC
With COVID restrictions easing, the first
quarter of 2022 has seen workers returning
to the o ice in unprecedented numbers. At the
end of February, for example, the overall average
footfall across the UK’s 63 largest city centres was
only 7 per cent lower than pre-pandemic levels.
The return to the o ice has been welcome news for
businesses, with many implementing hybrid-working
policies to encourage workers back into the o ice
to avoid the long term impacts of remote working,
such as burnout and declining productivity. However,
as we adapt to the ‘new normal’, companies must
also cater for the surge in demand for flexibility and
convenience that has been prompted by working
from home.
Google recently spent $1 billion on the purchase
of a new refurbished o ice space in London,
highlighting its commitment to o ering higherquality
workspaces, an attitude which can be
reflected amongst many businesses.
In 2022, workers are likely to seek an o ice space
with the same comforts they benefitted from when
working from home. In fact, 37 per cent of employees
are still concerned about returning to the city due to
o ice cleanliness and hygiene. And with questions
over coronavirus still being raised, businesses are
under more pressure than ever to keep their facilities
34 APRIL 2022
up to scratch.
Therefore, for businesses to provide improved
amenities and successfully tempt workers back into
the o ice with assurances around quality and safety,
investing in a strong cleaning team and cleaning
regime will be crucial.
CLEANERS ARE ESSENTIAL WORKERS
As more and more workers return to the city,
businesses will be looking to o er higher-quality
workspaces with the adequate health and safety
precautions. With 80 per cent of employees missing
interactions with their colleagues, the provision
of collaborative spaces in o ice facilities, to make
sure that workers can make up for lost time, will be
essential. However, with one in 10 people still feeling
anxious about the prospect of a return to the o ice,
an o ice’s cleaning team will be vital in keeping
doubts at bay.
Indeed, 75 per cent of UK businesses are already
implementing cleaning measures that go above
and beyond the government’s guidance. This
suggests that there is widespread consensus on
the importance of an o ice’s cleaning regime.
Enhanced measures will only reassure employees
further and continue to protect them from any future
resurgences of COVID.
More businesses are turning to cleaning
techniques like fogging, for example – which
involves the dispersion of the fine particles of liquid
sanitisers or disinfectants to provide whole room
decontamination. Whilst this method is something
that would have only been carried out once per
quarter prior to the pandemic, increasing this to
a monthly process at minimum will help keep the
o ice safe.
Investing in a knowledgeable cleaning team who
can guide businesses through the most COVIDsecure
cleaning measures will help to ensure that
employees can return to the o ice safely. Now
that cleaning teams are tasked with the he‰ y role
of protecting workers from the potential threat of
Coronavirus, it is integral that we begin to view
cleaners as essential workers.
QUALITY IS INTEGRAL
The e ects of the pandemic have resulted in a huge
shi‰ in the attitudes of the UK’s workforce - and
society as a whole - towards di erent work settings
and environments. With recent research suggesting
that 83 per cent of workers see hybrid-working as
their ideal form of working, it is clear that flexibleworking
is here to stay beyond the pandemic.
The ‘new normal’ can create more di iculties for
ensuring COVID safety in the workplace. Cleaning
teams are faced with a more complex situation,
as workers are returning to the o ice, the sharing
of desks and di ering schedules that see workers
coming and going as they wish mean that businesses
can no longer rely on pre-pandemic cleaning
processes. It is crucial that a more rigorous and
consistent approach is adopted.
Here at OSC we have developed a ‘flow-cleaning’
method, where our cleaning teams clean as they go
rather than travelling to rooms individually, to ensure
that no high touch areas are missed. Businesses must
invest in a cleaning team which is adaptable to the
ever-changing COVID situation, as cleaners provide
an o ice’s first line of defence.
LOOKING TO THE FUTURE
While the easing of restrictions is a promising sign
for businesses in all sectors, Coronavirus is still very
much rife, and as we saw with the Omicron variant,
the possibility of tightened restrictions in the future
cannot be ruled out completely. Given this context,
businesses will be keen to continue developing
higher-quality facilities.
With 69 per cent of Britons more conscious than
ever about cleanliness and hygiene, it will be up to
a business’ cleaning team to ensure that workers
remain invested in a return to the o ice. The
provision of an experienced cleaning team will be
integral to protecting workplaces from the ongoing
threat of COVID and will also alleviate the concerns
of workers over health and safety measures and
hygiene.
The fact that cleaners play such a key role in
providing a safe return to the o ice, and protecting
workers from the spread of COVID, is proof that
businesses must start to regard a knowledgeable
cleaning team as essential workers.
FRESH START