Where health and safety is concerned, is the cleaning industry an example or an offender?

Health and safety is crucially important to the converging cleaning, facilities management and recycling industries and, because my company works across all these sectors, keeping an eye on developments is very important. As a subscriber to the Health and Safety Executive’s (HSE) e-bulletin, we receive regular updates on incidents and outcomes. Some of the most recent involved a landlord taken to court after an office tenant fell through a fire escape; a powder coating firm in court after a worker injured their hand; and a foundry fined after a person fell through a roof while cleaning gutters.

I believe that the cleaning industry is continuing to improve its record when it comes to health and safety. The ‘professionalisation’ of the job, thanks to training specialists and awarding organisations that tailor their course content and qualifications to suit the specific needs of the cleaning sector, is undoubtedly helping.

Health and safety modules should be an integral part of any cleaning qualification; and managers and their operatives need to be aware of any changes to guidelines or regulations. The HSE recently updated its guidance on working at height, a subject of great importance to the cleaning sector, and this can be found on the HSE website – www.hse.gov.uk/cleaning – along with a whole host of other valuable information.

Health and safety is something that cleaning contractors and their operatives deliver – day-in, day-out – to their clients. Without an efficient and effective cleaning service, to rid buildings and locations of debris and rubbish, the risk of slips and falls increases. Dirty facilities also breed germs, affecting the health and well-being of those using the building.

Innovations such as battery-powered floor cleaning machines have been introduced to reduce the risk of slips, trips and falls; and colour-coded cleaning implements are now used widely to prevent cross contamination. In these ways, and more, the cleaning industry continues to make progress, but there is no room for complacency or error. Cleaning contractors have a duty to keep both their operatives, and their clients, safe from injury and harm. With such heightened awareness of health and safety issues, backed by readily available guidance, and training opportunities, there really is no excuse.

Published in Tomorrow’s Cleaning – Soapbox – April 2014