TRAUMA & ACCIDENT CLEANING
for this, he’s got to be professional in terms of what he’s physically going to be doing, he has to be cut off from the trauma of what he’s seeing, but in addition to that, he’s actually seeing the wife of the person that’s just committed suicide, and this person has only committed suicide an hour or so before. So you’ve got this interaction with somebody that’s going to be totally bereaved and shell- shocked, so they need to be able to handle that side of things as well.
“It’s a careful balance, and we’re very careful in our recruitment, and we’re very supportive around that as well. I feel that we nurture people from the nuts and bolts personality traits, and then develop them into more refined individuals.”
Finding this balance – and being able to consistently maintain it – is something that can prove to be problematic to Luke and his team, as while they need a degree of sensitivity, being too sensitive can detract from their ability to effectively carry out the job, while too much detachment the other side can raise question marks too.
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“I think it takes a certain type of person to be able to do it,” Luke said. “You occasionally come across people that are really quite interested in some of the gorier side of things, and obviously we’d steer away from people that were too keen on that kind of thing. But equally, if we chose somebody who is too sensitive or has had some trauma in their life, then we need to be aware that some of these things can trigger stuff off. So we’re very much aware and we’re very supportive around people as we move into the more traumatic side of cleaning.”
This level of support extends to a 24/7 number that technicians can call 365 days a year to help them at times of trauma, while Rentokil also offer out counselling to those that need it, if the job can become too much for them. Luke added that the camaraderie and sense of community within the team can help as well.
“We’re very much a team, so you’ll get a lot of interaction between people where, if they are affected or have had a really interesting job and are quite freaked out by it, there is a lot of communication
between the guys, so we deal with it in- house between ourselves and discuss it. I think that helps a lot, where people aren’t dealing with it on their own and carrying it with them emotionally.”
While they look for a certain type of character when bringing in new specialist cleaners to handle these jobs, Luke said that no qualifications are needed from the offset, as Rentokil instead train up the operatives themselves, allowing them more freedom to develop them, before establishing which strand of the company they would be better suited towards. He said: “Obviously we’re looking for a level of ability in terms of reading, writing and being able to communicate effectively with people bearing in mind the situations that they will find themselves in. However, when we take them in, that’s when we really develop them, so most of their skills are given to them throughout the training.”
Given the nature of the job, the technicians at Rentokil come into regular contact with the police, and Luke said that the company has to maintain a strong relationship with the
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