TECHNOLOGY & DATA
From mops to metrics
BioHygiene explores how cleaning has changed alongside society, why training has become a critical touchpoint, and how the industry must embrace new digital platforms to actually help their people and operations.
Cleaning has long been one of society’s oldest safeguards, protecting the health and hygiene of communities long before businesses even existed. As society evolved, so too did how we cleaned and what we cleaned with, turning the cleaning industry into a quiet catalyst for success across modern industries.
At the same time, another societal shift has unfolded: we now live in the digital age. Technology, automation and data are embedded into daily life, with businesses tracking, measuring and optimising almost everything they do.
On the surface, these two evolutions appear to sit at opposite ends of the spectrum. Cleaning is physical, people- centric and routine; technology is automated, digital-first and data-driven. Some fear this growth in technology could replace the human side of operations. In reality, the two are not in conflict. Digital tools are not here to replace the workforce, but to enable it, particularly through the evolution of training.
Following the lead
Cleaning has always been with us. In its earliest form it was simple and domestic, relying on what nature provided: clay, ashes, vinegar and other simple, natural materials suited to the times. There was no formal training: instead, customs and household rituals passed knowledge from one generation to the next.
As societies grew and economies shifted, cleaning began to move beyond the home. Industry and urbanisation created new environments where hygiene was no longer optional, and capitalism drove demand for faster, stronger, more consistent solutions. This opened the door to synthetic chemical alternatives.
Fuelled by the petrochemical boom, these products were cost-effective, quick to produce and highly effective. Yet with more potent products came new risks, making training more important. Workers now needed guidance on how to handle stronger chemicals safely, although knowledge was often shared peer-to-peer rather than through structured programmes.
As society rebuilt in the post-war years, the cleaning industry itself became industrialised. Commercial settings needed specialist care, leading to the rise of janitors and cleaning operatives with defined responsibilities, although their training was far from what we’d recognise today.
By the 1960s, professional cleaning companies began to emerge, offering structured services and their own
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in-house training. Franchised models spread, bringing greater consistency within individual brands but still leaving a patchwork of approaches across the wider industry. Standards varied from company to company, and with no regulation in place, training remained irregular and potentially harmful.
This lack of unified standards, in an industry growing at pace, created space for an independent professional and educational body to promote best practices and develop training programmes. Still, these were voluntary, not mandatory. It wasn’t until the late 20th century that regulation and health and safety laws began to formalise what effective cleaning and training should look like.
The turning point
The rapid expansion of the cleaning industry was undeniable. With a sector growing in size, products and employees, standards and protection needed regulation. This came in the form of COSHH (Control of Substances Hazardous to Health) 1988, covering cleaning chemicals alongside other hazardous substances. For the first time, training was not simply best practice but a legal responsibility.
Introduced to protect workers, COSHH placed a clear duty of care on employers: to assess risks, prevent or control exposure, provide information, instruction, training and maintain control measures, firmly putting the onus directly on businesses to protect their employees. Like technology, COSHH evolved, with a major update in 2002 clarifying requirements and giving more explicit guidance on training and documentation. While critical for employee safety, these rules also added administrative burden. Training became more complicated, resource intensive and difficult to manage.
Keeping on top of training
Today, the industrial cleaning market contains thousands of products, including more than 1,200 eco-friendly SKUs in the UK retail market alone. With growth forecast at a CAGR of 8.7%, businesses face a constant wave of new hazard classifications, SDS requirements and usage instructions, creating a constant noise in an industry that depends on streamlined operations.
Before the rise of digital technology, training was a paperwork-heavy process. Record keeping was slow, fragmented and prone to error, making it difficult for businesses to stay compliant or provide consistent training across sites. The arrival of early digital platforms offered a step forward: reducing reliance on paper, easing compliance
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