Green cleaning is a vital strategy for ensuring the health and safety of a facility while also preserving the future of the planet.
Perry Shimanoff, a Certified Master Custodial Trainer with ISSA’s Cleaning Management Institute, recently outlined for CMM a basic six-step green cleaning checklist that facility operators and staff can follow to ensure they are doing their part.
It all starts, he says, with identifying the soil, before picking it up, containing and removing it, and disposing of it. Then, the work done should be inspected and evaluated and the results measured, whether through an adenosine triphosphate (ATP) meter or another method.
Shimanoff notes the importance of having a thorough checklist for ensuring that workers know exactly what to look for and how to respond without missing a step. It’s vital that the checklist not be too long or convoluted; ideally between five and nine steps to remain easily memorable and implementable.
This checklist can be carried around by staff either on their person or on their cleaning cart or other equipment. Workers can then tick off these tasks as they go, ensuring no vital step is missed and protocol is followed at all times and allowing for easy review by a supervisor.
Checklists have other uses than just ticking off tasks as you go, though, says Shimanoff.
For instance, they can also:
- Help schedule and itemize training for workers
- Identify topics to discuss with customers (e.g., dusting, vacuuming, washroom cleaning) to determine satisfaction levels
- Assign task quality ratings for each job done
- List steps to prevent slips and falls as well as other injuries
- Quantify key aspects of your cleaning policy, plan, and training programs
- Outline and track improvements, safety, and savings
- Help with onboarding new workers by simplifying and standardizing procedures
“Checklists prompt a disciplined approach by management to help ensure the right things are done properly and on time by listing essentials, standardizing processes, eliminating waste, and streamlining labour,” concludes Shimanoff.
