CLEANING & HYGIENE
will want to know how their employer is keeping the workplace safe, so businesses will need to share their cleaning protocols and the methods they are undertaking. If a business is working with an external expert for their cleaning and hygiene, they should display certification prominently around the workplace and let all occupants know that they are working with experts.
When it comes to giving advice and guidance, video is a great format to engage occupants. Videos branded with the organisation’s logo give a professional feel to employees, visitors and customers. A video should explain what the hygiene programme is, how it is making the workplace safe, and what occupants are expected to do to keep themselves and others safe.
A video should also include contact details for anyone who has questions about the programme. As well as being sent directly to all building occupants, it can be displayed on any screens around the workplace as another method of reinforcing key messages.
PROGRAMME CONTROL AND FLEXIBILITY A programme control document provides the facilities
manager with an overview of how the programme is being implemented and managed. It should include the latest versions of all documents, such as risk assessments, cleaning rotas and surface area swab test results, and provide general instructions for the use of each of them. This is important in case multiple people have responsibility for the programme, or if only one person does but they are ever absent.
Programmes should be based on guidance from the Government, Public Health England, the Health & Safety Executive and the World Health Organisation. Since the situation is ever-changing and new guidance is being issued regularly, it’s important to stay on top of all the advice and ensure that it is reflected in the programme.
OPTIONAL EXTRAS Many cleaning staff are not native English speakers
so may have trouble understanding complicated cleaning specifications. Consider pictogram method statements to help with comprehension and ensuring that the programme is delivered effectively.
Employers could go beyond the traditional workplace with their Duty of Care by providing a home working assessment. After all, for anyone working from home that is their workplace. Among other factors such as workstation set up and IT support, the assessment can include tips on how to stay hygienic at home.
A LONG-TERM COMMITMENT Facilities managers should plan for the long-term with
their workplace hygiene programmes as COVID-19 has forever changed how we view cleanliness and hygiene.
It’s likely that a programme will need to be in place until at least next summer, though until we know for sure when (or if) a vaccine will be found it may be longer. Even if a vaccine is found and we can ‘return to normal’, people may have gotten used to the
twitter.com/TomorrowsHS “ “COMMUNICATION
NEEDS TO BE CLEAR, CONSISTENT AND FREQUENT, AND
COVER A RANGE OF MESSAGES.”
new hygiene standards and could expect the same moving forwards.
Considering how much time and productivity is lost through other illnesses like the cold and flu, there could well be a business case as well as a health case for an ongoing hygiene programme.
With that in mind, implementing a successful workplace hygiene programme will bring benefits both now and for years to come.
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