CLEANING
IS DAYTIME CLEANING STILL TABOO?
Daytime cleaning is fast becoming the norm in many workplaces. But how are office workers adapting to this change? Charlotte Boniface from Tork manufacturer SCA, shares the results of a recent study into the changing relationship between cleaners and office workers.
Office cleaning used to be routinely carried out at night by teams of operatives who were rarely seen by the day staff.
But over the years there has been a shift towards daytime cleaning. According to our research more than half of all professional cleaning in Europe is now carried out either in the early morning or during official office hours.
In the UK this shift has been slow compared with the rest of Europe. Our research tells us that around 11% of office cleaning is carried out during daylight hours in Britain compared with 70% in Sweden, for instance.
However over the next few years, daytime cleaning is likely to become more prevalent in Britain. This is because it has two key advantages: lower energy costs; it removes the need to heat and light buildings by night, and, it improves cleaners’ working lives.
But how comfortable do office workers feel about cleaning teams being deployed during the day? Do they consider it to be an intrusion into their working lives, or does it enhance their appreciation of cleaners’ work? We at SCA recently commissioned a survey into this issue and discovered that opinions are split.
A total of 49% of the 3,056 people questioned said they actually preferred daytime cleaners to interact with them as co-workers.
32 | TOMORROW’S FM
Only 14% said they liked cleaning staff to remain in the background while the remainder wanted a fairly low degree of interaction.
Just over 77% of respondents said they routinely greeted daytime cleaners at work compared with a tiny minority of 0.6% who never greeted a cleaner. However a cursory “hello” seemed to be as far as it went for many. A total of 41% of respondents admitted to never having had a conversation with a cleaner while only half actually knew the cleaners’ names.
Most respondents said they generally felt comfortable when meeting a cleaner on the office floor or in the corridor. But 25% felt uneasy about encountering an operative in the washroom.
Another finding was the fact that the cleaner’s welcome depended upon the type of work that he or she was carrying out. Nearly 89% of office workers said they were happy for toilet paper and soap supplies to be replenished in the washrooms during the working day, for example.
However, six out of ten people objected to carpets being vacuumed around their desks while 57% felt uncomfortable about having their desk area or cubicle cleaned while they were working.
An encouraging factor that emerged from our study was the fact that office workers generally seem to
value the cleaners’ work. More than 88% of respondents said they were satisfied with the service supplied by their cleaners while a strong majority (84%) said workplace cleaning had a direct impact on the quality of their working lives. Another 71% felt that cleaning had a positive effect on their company’s profitability.
The recent London Underground dispute over moves to introduce all-night tube services highlighted the issue of night working this summer. The Trades Union Council spearheaded a study into the problems of shift-work, and the results suggested a link between night-time working and an increased likelihood of cancer, heart disease, diabetes, obesity and depression.
It seems likely that the shift towards daytime cleaning in the UK will continue in the wake of these findings, and that the practice is here to stay.
As a major supplier of washroom hygiene products to workplaces we at Tork feel that our study is a valuable aid to FM companies during this shift towards daytime cleaning. It serves to clarify some of the concerns held by office workers and helps facilities services managers to address the highlighted issues. This, in turn will enable them to streamline the switch to daytime cleaning, making life easier for everyone.
www.tork.co.uk twitter.com/TomorrowsFM
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