REGULAR
Rise of the robots
Human staff need not fear automated cleaning machines, says Delia Cannings, Chair of the British Cleaning Council (BCC).
I was recently at a hospital in Scotland and was fascinated to see that they had several robots working shift patterns in the basement of the building, transporting laundry and waste while also delivering supplies.
When I remarked on them to a colleague who worked there, she said that the robots all had names given by local school children,
and even ‘put themselves to bed’ at the end of their shift – presumably to recharge their batteries.
Advances in the field of robots and cobots seem to be coming thick and fast. You only needed to visit this year’s Cleaning Show in London to see the cleaning robots and cobots available in our sector, and I’m sure there will be more exhibited at the Manchester show next year.
The COVID-19 pandemic accelerated interest in cleaning and disinfecting robots. It’s interesting that prior to the pandemic, cleaning had been considered a low risk, low skill job by some, then suddenly it became a job that carried a significant risk of infection. Combine this factor with staff shortages and robots become critical friends.
Robotic cleaning machines offer many practical advantages ranging from increased productivity, increased sustainability and reducing the risk of accidents.
All this raises a question in the minds of some of the sector’s 1.47m human staff about whether their jobs will be put at risk by the rise of the robots.
I don’t believe that robots will take the jobs of the majority of the UK’s cleaning staff, certainly not in the near future. There will always be a role for skilled and professional human personnel.
During the pandemic, the public demanded (and continue to demand) the reassurance of high cleaning standards in public spaces to protect them from the virus. Cleaning staff perform a vital, frontline role keeping people safe, healthy and well. Many businesses and organisations met these
24 | TOMORROW'S CLEANING
demands by adding robots and cobots to their cleaning teams, enabling more areas to be cleaned.
At around the same time, the industry began suffering severe staff shortages in the wake of Brexit and immigration rules introduced in January 2021, which inaccurately branded cleaning staff as unskilled. Many of the overseas staff we relied on left and we can’t replace them with UK nationals, who traditionally have not joined the sector. At our last estimate, there were 225,000 cleaning and hygiene vacancies.
We have asked for the same kind of help HGV drivers, butchers and fruit pickers received but this current Government simply refuses to listen, and we continue to lobby them about it. Robots and cobots are being used to fill these gaps in the labour market.
I can’t see the trends of higher standards of cleaning and personnel shortages changing anytime soon, so human cleaning staff will continue to be in demand. Robots are largely used to do mundane, repetitive and time-consuming cleaning work, freeing up human cleaning staff to devote more time to the areas where their skills are needed the most.
Humans have abilities that are currently irreplaceable, like decision making, creativity or fine hand dexterity. There are still difficult areas such as crevices, corners, nooks and crannies that, in my opinion, robots can’t reach. Robots designed to be collaborative and work side-by-side with humans (cobots) are increasingly popular, and cleaning staff are learning to manage their cobot counterparts.
When I stayed in a hotel recently, I could hear a beeping noise and couldn't identify the source. As I left the room, outside my door was a vacuum robot that had been stuck for at least 10 minutes, hence the beeping sound. Robot productivity was compromised on that occasion.
There are pros and cons to be considered and careful thinking is needed before investment. Informed choices usually lead to successful outcomes.
www.britishcleaningcouncil.org twitter.com/TomoCleaning
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