Should Employees Really Be Cleaning Your Workplace?

For many businesses, cleaning your facilities and workplace is often an afterthought or generally considered to be an unnecessary expense. In the past, you may have not given cleaning a serious thought or concern however with the pandemic, you are now considering multiple options around how to keep your facilities clean now that lockdown restrictions begin to relax.

As a business owner, you may be considering getting your employees to clean the workplace – maybe as a cost-saving exercise or for other reasons, , however this may not always be the best option. Employees should most certainly continue to be encouraged to keep their personal workspaces clean, such as their desk space, but conducting larger scale facility cleaning may not be the smartest option for employees – especially when the risks have never been higher and, after a busy day of work performing their primary role, cleaning may be the last thing on their mind.

The Risks of Using Employees to Clean Your Workplace

Using your employees to clean your workplace may seem like a convenient alternative to a professional cleaning service, but there are many risks and considerations to be made aware of as to why this can be a bad idea.

Inexperience & Lack of expertise

Whilst some general cleaning duties may visibly neaten the workplace up, employees lack the core experience and expertise of a professional cleaning team in order to provide an adequate level of hygiene and safety. Employees are unlikely to be knowledgeable about set Health and Safety Executive (HSE) guidelines as well as appropriate usage of certain equipment and chemicals to appropriately clean and disinfect different types of surfaces. Professional cleaners have a lot of responsibility in their role, even more so during the current landscape, making it an incredibly demanding job to task unexperienced employees with.

Costs of Training

As well as the cost of any relevant pieces of equipment, tools and chemicals, employers should consider the costs that are associated with providing adequate training to their employees. Carrying out workplace cleaning requires that particular standards of hygiene and safety are continuously met to ensure that you are providing your employees and visitors with the cleanest and safest possible environment – and this means providing training to said employees at your own expense.

Poor Wellbeing

Employee wellbeing is a vital thing for employers to keep track of. Part of this is ensuring you are providing your staff with  positive working environment and facilitating their mental and physical wellbeing so they can do their best work. Very rarely do employees want to be conducting cleaning tasks within their workplace, be it before, during or after their day, and doing so can have an impact on their wellbeing and increase fatigue and therefor, potentially affect productivity and motivation.  Reduced productivity can then have an impact on your bottom line and you could risk losing your best employees if they are demotivated. All these repercussions will involve costs and suddenly, the cost of using a commercial cleaning company doesn’t seem so high. 

Safety Concerns

Professional cleaning services consist of teams with a wealth of experience and training, meaning they have a form of comfortability when it comes to certain cleaning tasks that may otherwise make employees feel uncomfortable or endangered. Operating certain equipment, using particular chemicals, cleaning certain locations and even moving items around in the workplace can create health and safety hazards for the untrained, facilitating the possibility of injury or illness when proper precaution is not taken. And, without proper cleaning there could be the risk of spreading potential illnesses such as the common cold and covid-19 around the workplace and into the wider community. No employee who hasn’t been adequately trained should have to have that on their shoulders.

Reduced Productivity

Asking employees to conduct the cleaning of your workplace will mean some of your resources will be allocated towards such tasks instead of in areas where it could be better spent. This, in combination with reduced motivation from the aforementioned wellbeing risks, can result in overall reduced productivity within your business.

Spread of Infection

Your employees are the foundation from which your business operates from. Assigning cleaning duties to employees, especially those without adequate training, runs the risk of increased cross-contamination and illness within the workplace, leading to more potential sick days at the expense of your business. Consider how a professional cleaning service can provide a non-disruptive solution, meaning less risk of spreading infection throughout your workforce

Guidelines on Cleaning Workplaces

To ensure maximum hygiene and cleanliness within the workplace, specific guidelines have been issued by HSE to make your facilities COVID-secure. Alongside these guidelines, further guidance from GOV.uk is to be adhered to should this cleaning be happening because of a known or suspected case of COVID-19 within your workplace.

These guidelines state the importance of cleaning your facilities frequently, with work areas and equipment to be cleaned between uses and regularly touched surfaces to be properly cleaned and disinfected. Workstations should be cleared at the end of the day so that they can be properly cleaned in accordance with your cleaning plan, and you should ensure that any cleaning products used are suitable and effective for the surface and environment you are tackling, with an importance of cleaning your clothes and other reusable products after use.

Whilst there are no stipulations within these guidelines stating that professional services must be used, there are many incredibly important aspects that must continuously be covered to a high standard, else your facilities safety and employee wellbeing could be at risk. With so much to think about and areas to consider, commercial cleaners may be the best and most suitable solution for your business.

Determine What is Best for Your Business

With all points considered, your choice of cleaning solution is ultimately down to what is best for your business. Understanding the size and scope of your cleaning operations may lead towards a particular decision, for example you may require a full commercial cleaning team to service your facilities on a regular basis, or perhaps a smaller cleaning team is more suitable for a weekly service of a smaller office.

Consider your daily operations and how the cleanliness of your facilities can have an impact upon this. Do you have multiple employees regularly within the premises? Are they using the same equipment? Are customers or visitors coming and going on a regular basis? Where do they gather? Are they interacting with commonly touched surfaces? There are many points to consider when determining what cleaning solution is best for your business, and it’s vital the correct decision is made to ensure the safety and cleanliness within your business and facilities. 

The Benefits of Hiring a Professional Cleaning Company

With so much to be considered and understood, hiring a professional cleaning company can remove a large part of this worry and stress, allowing you to focus entirely on your day-to-day business operations.

Discover more about the benefits that a professional commercial cleaning company can provide to your business and learn why Jani-King is a fantastic choice for providing cleaning services tailored to your business needs.

If you would like to learn more about our range of commercial cleaning services  for various sectors or make an enquiry, then contact our expert team who will be happy to help you.