Clearing the fog
British Cleaning Council (BCC) Chairman, Paul Thrupp, on the Council’s new guide aiming to enlighten people on cleaning and hygiene terms.
The Coronavirus pandemic has sparked a huge demand for cleaning and hygiene services and products. The public’s interest is at the highest level I’ve seen in over 40 years in the industry, with everyone is looking for the product or service which will stop
Coronavirus in its tracks.
Many new entities have sprung up, all aiming to capitalise on the public’s fears by offering cleaning products and services and, as an example, these include a lot of new businesses offering deep cleaning services which have appeared since the outbreak began.
In a similar way, a lot of businesses all over the world have started making hand sanitiser to meet public demand, with even some distilleries and breweries bidding for a share of the hand sanitiser market, which is reportedly set to soar in value to $3.65bn by 2025.
In last month’s column, I also warned that you should be careful that you do not engage some of the underhand profiteers offering products that don’t do what they claim. These unscrupulous people try to take advantage of a certain level of confusion outside the cleaning and hygiene industry about what’s really needed in terms of cleaning and disinfecting, to ensure people stay safe and well during this pandemic.
People are being bombarded by stories and adverts on social media and the web generally, in newspapers, radio and TV and through all sorts of marketing, all aimed at getting them to buy cleaning and hygiene services and products. Some of these are promoting products like ‘fogging’, ‘misting’, ‘spraying’, ‘fumigation’ and even ‘bug bombing’, terms which people outside the sector don’t always understand, with the result of wasting money or getting an ineffective result.
Sometimes even those buying cleaning services in commercial environments aren’t sure what to require in terms of chemicals, materials or equipment. As a result many businesses, organisations and individuals have contacted us about cleaning applications, processes and procedures, wanting advice on how to reopen premises or design cleaning regimes that will ensure staff and visitors are protected from the virus.
So, we consulted all our member associations, drawing on their expertise from all across the sector, and have
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compiled and published an industry-agreed guide to cleaning terms. This myth-busting guide describes and explains a wide range of terms such as 'decontamination', 'deep cleaning' and 'fumigation', and goes into details about how they are used.
The guide strongly advises that robust risk assessments are needed when cleaning regimes are being designed and highlights the importance of cleaning to remove soil prior to any process of sanitisation or disinfecting.
The guide also advises that when engaging external providers for cleaning activities, it's important to review their credentials in terms of:
• Reputation and credibility. • Operator training.
• Credibility of the product intended for use (it should have undergone efficacy testing and have a unique EN number).
• Clarity about how the outcome is measured.
We’re sure this guide will help people buying cleaning and hygiene products and services to make informed decisions, and assist in raising the standards of cleaning and hygiene across the UK.
Where there’s evidence of profiteering or false claims about cleaning and hygiene products, I’m asking readers to share the evidence with us at the BCC by emailing us.
I also wanted to tell you about our recent virtual meeting with the Director of Labour Market Enforcement, Matthew Taylor, held as part of our lobbying programme to ensure the cleaning sector’s voice is heard at the highest levels.
I’m pleased to say Mr Taylor has agreed to hold a workshop for the industry to look at how to stamp out worker exploitation in the industry. I will let you have further information in due course.
info@britishcleaningcouncil.org
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