C&


M British Cleaning Council In praise of the Singaporean approach


holidays. Visitors from around the world can be confident that they will arrive in a safe, clean and pleasant environment.


By Mark Woodhead, chairman, British Cleaning Council.


The Economist Intelligence Unit’s Quality-Of-Life Index ranks Singapore as having the best quality of life in Asia and 11th overall in the world. While most western economies remained on life- support in the first half of 2010, Singapore’s GDP grew by a staggering 18%, making it the world’s fastest growing economy


Last year they managed to attract approximately 10 million visitors to their island, against a mere five million population. This translates to a visitor-resident ratio of 2:1 (Britain’s ratio is 1:3, while the USA is 1:6). Meanwhile, the ambitious Singapore 2015 blueprint aims to increase visitor numbers to 17 million within the next five years. By any number of


measures, the Republic of Singapore is doing very well. And it cannot be a coincidence that it is also universally recognised as the cleanest country on the planet. It is a desirable place for people to work, set up their businesses, arrange conferences and take


Cleanliness is undoubtedly a strong part of Singapore’s desirability as a destination for both business and pleasure. But what, if any, of the Singaporean approach to cleaning could Britain adopt in order to emulate their success? Having studied Singaporean methods, alongside their famed work ethic and sense of social responsibility towards public spaces, I believe much of their progress can be attributed to the unprecedented level of cooperation between employers, the government and trade unions. The latest example of this came with a fresh set of initiatives announced at the end of July at Singapore’s Cleaners’ Day 2010.


Taking a holistic approach to raising standards, the cross- party working group demonstrated a long-term commitment to improving the productivity and effectiveness of the hygiene sector with an array of targets and policies. Both imaginative and ambitious, the moves are clearly aimed at consolidating their position as the world’s cleanest country.


One of the first areas of consensus was that low-pay is not conducive to happy, motivated workers. They made


fair wages the focal point of a new accreditation scheme, which recognises companies that deliver higher standards of cleaning through good human resource practices.


Tied into this was a new $2.5 million automation and mechanisation grant scheme to help businesses defray the cost of new equipment purchases. This will steer companies towards more sustainable and efficient forms of machinery, so that workers and the public receive the benefits from the very latest sector technology. Another initiative promotes better procurement protocols, so that service buyers are shepherded towards quality, rather than just price, in a clear and objective way.


But the unifying theme of all these initiatives is the emphasis on improving the standard of education amongst workers. Consensus based accreditation ensures that cleaning companies can receive affordable training for their workforce that improves their skills, productivity, earning capacity and professionalism. The qualifications provide a clear pathway for career progression and more training programmes to cater to workers of every experience level and pay-grade.


These measures are clearly not a case of over-regulation, which can at times constrain and restrict commerce. They were created in partnership with business, built around the


belief that everyone benefits from higher standards and better pay; workers, employers and the public. In Britain, we are more used to seeing confrontations between the unions and the government than productive partnerships. But I hope to see the day when we emulate elements of the Singaporean approach in our own industry. This will not be achieved easily; it required the collective, co-ordinated efforts of businesses, government and the trade unions. But it shows that when all parties are willing to work with each other to improve standards, the rewards can be great. A mutualised, consensus-based approach which takes cleaning very seriously is clearly paying huge dividends in Singapore; we would be wise to follow their example. Just a few words on our cleaning conference next month. The anticipation is building and I am very much looking forward to meeting so many representatives from our industry. There will likely be very few tickets left by the time you read this, but you can still check or find more information on the day from our site, both before and after the event:


www.britishcleaningcouncil. org/cleaningconference.html.


For further information on BCC and its members:


www.britishcleaningcouncil.org


Contacts


Association of Building Cleaning DSO’s Tel: 01604 6705934 ADM


Tel: 01661 842708 Asset Skills


Tel: 01604 233336


British Association for Chemical Specialities Tel: 01423 700249


British Carpet Technical Centre/Cleaning Tel: 0113 259 5263 British Cleaning Council Tel: 0207 920 9640 BDMA


Tel: 07000 843 2362 BICSc


Tel: 01604 678710


British Institute of Facilities Management Tel: 017995 13237


British Pest Control Association Tel: 01332 294288 BTA


Tel: 01403 258779


Chartered Institute of Environmental Health Tel: 0207 928 6006 CHSA


Tel: 01628 478273 CSSA


Tel: 020 7920 9632 ENCAMS


Tel: 01942 824620


Federation of Window Cleaners Tel: 0161 432 8754 ICMMA


Tel: 0121 703 0636 NCCA


Tel: 0116 271 9550


Society of Food Hygiene Technology Tel: 01590 671979


UK Cleaning Products Industry Association Tel: 01829 770055


UK Housekeepers Association Tel: 020 7724 7378


Worshipful Company of Environmental Cleaners Tel: 01359 242947


Official Sponsors


Mark Prisk


Official Media Sponsors


8C&M September 2010


BCC Contacts


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