Changing with the times
We get an update on the British Institute of Cleaning Science (BICSc) from Neil Spencer- Cook, Chief Operating Officer.
The last two years have seen major changes around the world, the industry, and, of course, at BICSc too.
When I last wrote, we were in the first lockdown and three quarters of the BICSc team were furloughed. Now we’ve been back up to full strength for over a year, and there have been some exciting new developments as BICSc, like most in industries
worldwide, adapted to the ‘new normal’.
As businesses became increasingly agile during the pandemic with many switching to online platforms to communicate with their staff, members, customers, and clients back in June 2020, we started presenting a limited number of live training courses remotely via Teams. These were well received by our customers and – in some cases – were over-subscribed, pushing us to run the courses more frequently than planned, which carried on throughout 2020.
However, because of the pandemic and the lockdowns that followed, we felt that there was a need for a greater online offering, and we wanted to offer a stronger online presence.
We did our research and in March 2021 launched the BICSc Virtual Training Suite, starting with the renewal process of our foundation-stone course ‘Licence to Practice’. BICSc has always advocated that to ensure skills training is effective, it needs to be assessed.
This was the area we needed to make sure we got right, was there a way we could do this, and of course technology provided the answer. Teams calls with a camera operator (colleague or friend of the candidate) meant we could assess, as long as the right equipment and materials were available in the area where the candidate was being assessed.
As with any new way of doing things, it wasn’t without adjustments along the way, but it worked. We now have, from the Cleaning Professional Skills Suite (CPSS), Licence to Practice, 13 skills, Accredited trainer, and Assessor courses all available in online format – and our customers' appetite for remote training doesn’t appear to be waning.
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Additionally, we’ve also reviewed and refreshed for the online environment our complete range of Cleanlogic courses. They’re now stronger and allow you learn at your own pace.
We’ve introduced the BICSc Cleaning Supervisor’s Certificate, which is bespoke to us and the industry, with over 60 candidates enrolled within three months of launch – there was obviously a gap in the market.
We also added four free courses to the Virtual Training Suite available to anyone, and a range of training aids for our Accredited Training Members, including free access to demonstration videos for our skills.
We were uncertain how the industry would react to the virtual offering but, 14 months in, we’ve had over 16,500 enrolments in virtual courses, which I think speaks for itself – but this isn’t the only change.
CPSS has been fully reviewed and reissued as Version 3, making it more commercially viable and, in some ways, simplified. This was further enhanced by the CPSS assessors app. Over 12,000 assessments have now taken place electronically through the app, reducing paperwork and administration time for our assessors.
We have also issued a revised CPSS, so it’s fit for the healthcare environment. This means that adjustments have been made that makes the process compliant with the NHS National Standards of Healthcare Cleanliness 2021 manual.
As you can see, we haven’t sat still over the last two years, and we're working on more for our members. Domestic Cleaning is high on our agenda and the addition of further skills to the virtual environment, plus some interesting new additions as time allows. Is there ever enough time?
Whilst there’s been a fantastic response to the virtual training offering, we fully appreciate that it’s not for everybody, and sometimes there’s nothing like the personal touch, so we continue to offer our in-person training just as we did prior to the pandemic – either at our Training Centre in Northampton, or at your site.
The best way to keep up to date with what we’re doing is to give us a call on 01604 678712 or visit the website below:
www.bics.org.uk twitter.com/TomoCleaning
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