The month of June is a joyous time for many students and faculty members, as the school year officially comes to an end. Parents can also breathe a sigh of relief over the respite from the daily grind of getting book bags packed, lunches prepared, and everyone out of the door brushed, groomed, and on time.
For the janitorial staffs of school districts, the busy season is only just beginning. From wayward food to sticky gum messes and unnamed bathroom grime, custodial workers always have their hands full during the summer.
For these professionals, we would like to suggest using this time to implement a comprehensive odor management strategy. By using the right eco-friendly solutions to effectively and naturally eliminate odors that may have accumulated over the academic year, janitorial staffs can get a leg-up in providing an odor-free environment when school starts in the fall.
And it’s not just about making students and staff comfortable in an odor-free environment. Recent studies have shown that exposure to foul odors while practicing or studying can actually lead to impaired learning.
To help custodial workers make the most of the summer months, Tornado Industries outlined ten recommendations to be as productive as possible. Following are all of the tips; we are especially fond of #4, though we would have liked to see a tip about odor management.
- Prepare a written plan. Summer break cleaning shouldn’t be “hit or miss.” Have a written plan as to who will tackle which projects and when.
- Address floor care specifics. Big summer cleanup projects usually involve floor care; before doing any floor-care work, divide the facility into those floor areas that will be stripped/refinished; those that will only be scrubbed; and those that need only detail cleaning.
- Attend to closet maintenance. Go through janitorial closets and properly discard of any chemicals or other products that have not been used in six months or longer; typically, chemicals should never be stored for more than a year.
- Go green. For those facilities transferring to a green cleaning strategy, the summer months are an opportune time to start making this transfer. Special green cleaning training may be required during this transition, and summer break can provide that extra time.
- Equipment issues. Evaluate all cleaning equipment; determine which machines are running properly, which need servicing, and which should be replaced.
- Evaluate furniture condition. Flag those items that need repair, or should be replaced.
- Tile and grout. The summer months are a perfect time to clean tile and grout floors using floor machines with brushes, such as cylindrical brush or “mutitask” systems.
- Evaluate cleaning protocols. To improve cleaning efficiency and help lower costs, use a workloading program to evaluate all cleaning tasks and frequencies.
- Replace lightbulbs. Replace all conventional lightbulbs with low-voltage bulbs that not only use less energy, but also last as long as a decade.
- Train, train, train. Summer break is the perfect time for extra training for cleaning professionals.
We wish all of the janitorial professionals who are gearing up for their busy season the best of luck in their summertime work endeavors. Your work often goes unseen and major accolades and recognitions don’t come with the territory. So we would like to thank you for all of your efforts!
