Playing it safe

Ricky Smith, Truvox International’s UK Field Sales Manager, explains how thorough, regular and effective cleaning regimes can make your floors safer, helping you to fulfil your duty of care to staff, customers and visitors, and comply with health and safety regulations.

Health and safety is a phrase that we  have all become used to in recent years – and it is a subject of great debate. Although much maligned in certain sections of the media, its importance to public and private sector organisations cannot be over-emphasised. Keeping staff, customers and visitors safe while on your premises – whether they are purchasing your goods, using your services, or carrying out their daily jobs – is something that should be high on your list of priorities.

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) states that slips and trips are the most common cause of injuries at work. While broken bones, torn ligaments, bruises and bumps – or worse – may be the unfortunate physical outcome for individuals, the damage done to businesses can be just as debilitating. In its information sheet – ‘Slips and Trips: The importance of floor cleaning’ – the HSE says: “The costs to industry are substantial (over £500 million per year) and there is incalculable human cost and suffering to those injured.”

Claims for compensation and the inevitable increase in insurance costs following such incidents can have a devastating effect on a company’s profits. Add to this the bad publicity and tarnishing of company image, and it becomes obvious that health and safety should be a continuous thread, running through the day-to-day operations of your organisation.

Designing out hazards

There’s no doubt that flooring has changed considerably over recent years, and safety has been one of the main catalysts for these changes, with new surfaces, coatings and materials emerging to offer added benefits and reduce the risk of slips, trips and falls. Undertaking comprehensive site surveys and needs assessments before you start work on a new building, or the refurbishment of an existing one, will help to ensure that the most appropriate flooring materials are purchased and installed.

In ‘Watch Your Step in Education’ – a special bulletin for schools, colleges and universities – the HSE offers advice for those involved in school management and maintenance. However, its underlying message and common sense advice is also relevant for many other sectors. It advises facilities/operations managers to:

• Get the design right – such as designated walkways in the right place, canopies over doorways and sufficient storage facilities
• Fit the right floor and keep it maintained
• Put in the right floor cleaning system
• Provide the right cleaning equipment in the right place
• Check cleaning and maintenance procedures are being followed
• Supply enough rubbish bins

Involving your cleaning contractor in these preliminary discussions is a smart move, as they will be able to provide feedback on the suitability of flooring types, and what it will take to maintain them. They can also give advice on the storage of cleaning equipment, because equipment that isn’t tidied away when not in use is a potentially dangerous obstacle that can increase the risk of trips and falls.

Welfare at work

The Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations 1992 cover a wide range of basic health, safety and welfare issues and apply to most workplaces. Employees have a general duty to ensure, as far as is reasonably practicable, the health, safety and welfare of their employees at work. In addition, people in control of non-domestic premises have a duty towards people who are not their employees but use their premises.

In its technical information sheet, ‘Assessing the slip resistance of flooring’, the HSE says that there are at least 35,000 injuries per annum throughout Great Britain, which amounts to  one serious slip accident every three minutes. However, by installing the most appropriate flooring and putting in place regular, responsive cleaning regimes, using the right cleaning equipment to get the best results, companies and organisations can guard against this happening to their employees and customers.

Whether you run a manufacturing facility, a doctor’s surgery, a shop, restaurant or busy office, many different types of dirt are brought into your premises every day – and it needs to be cleaned up quickly, and regularly, to minimise the risk of slipping or tripping. Soil, sand, grit, asphalt, oil and grease are just some of the materials that can be tracked easily into a building, causing floors to become dirty, unsightly and hazardous.

The weather is a constant source of discussion thanks to our unpredictable British climate, and seasonal changes can also have a big effect on the safety of your floors. Fallen leaves blown into premises, or brought in on shoes, in the autumn can quickly rot, seriously compromising the safety of people using the building. It’s a similar story in the winter, when substances used to treat pavements and roads can also cause problems.

Spillages caused by food, drink, and litter in all shapes and forms, are hazards throughout the year, no matter what the weather is doing, so responsive cleaning undertaken by properly trained operatives is key to the smooth running of any organisation.

Cleanliness compliments health and safety

Organising a comprehensive cleaning schedule will need consultation with staff to ensure that all possible issues, hazards and problems are properly considered, so that there is less of a chance that any nasty surprises will catch you out once plans have been agreed, and equipment purchased. One issue that affects all sectors is an increased need for daytime cleaning, so thought must be given to the fact that cleaning will often regularly take place when other people are in the building – be they staff, visitors, customers, patients or service users. Your cleaning equipment therefore needs to be adaptable and flexible, easily moved between locations and floors while causing the least amount of disruption.

Cordless battery-powered cleaning machines with no trailing leads are less likely to cause trips or falls, and they must be able to leave floors clean, dry and ready to walk on in a matter of minutes to guard against slips for anyone still using the building, not least the cleaning operatives themselves. If you can’t avoid using a cable, there are certain steps you can take. These include using the socket closest to the area being cleaned, which minimises the operating length; increasing the visibility of the cable; or moving it out of the way of pedestrians, such as using overhead cables.

No matter how much you plan, unexpected problems are always possible. So, if an emergency situation arises – such as a large spillage of liquid, or broken china from a dropped cup or plate – how are you going to deal with it? Thanks to effective reporting mechanisms – which should already be in place – incidents can be responded to quickly and effectively. Warning signs can be an effective way to inform people of a spill before it can be cleaned up, especially if the spill is visible. Alternative routes should be provided, and once the spillage has been cleaned up, and the floor is completely dry, the warning signs should be removed.

Cleaners themselves can also be exposed to slip risks while carrying out their duties. Managers should therefore ensure that sufficient controls are in place to minimise risks, such as the sequence in which cleaning is undertaken and the cleaning/maintenance methods used. Providing appropriate slip-resistant footwear as part of their uniform is another way that employers and contract managers can care for their cleaning operatives.

People rarely slip on a clean, dry floor, so the management and implementation of cleaning contracts is incredibly important. The right floor cleaning methods and equipment can be an effective weapon in the war against slips, trips and falls so take into account the type of floor, how it is used and by whom before you set plans in place. Some people, such as those with vision problems or the elderly, can be more at risk from accidents, so this needs to be taken into consideration.

By asking the right questions at the very start – and evaluating your regimes at regular intervals as it progresses – you can ensure that you have all the answers when it comes to the health and safety aspects of keeping your floors clean.

www.truvox.com

This article appeared in Cleaning Hygiene Today – July 2012