Centennial College is now home to a ground-breaking course that is preparing next generation environmental services professionals to better manage and mentor front-line staff working in healthcare settings.
The school is the first globally to offer CloroxPro Canada’s HealthyClean Trained Specialist Course to its students in Healthcare Environmental Services Management (HESM). The course was developed two years ago post-pandemic and is designed to enhance lessons in cleaning and infection prevention.
Karen Barnes is the program coordinator and a professor in the school’s HESM program. She says the specialized training course aligns with the program’s mission, to keep people safe, and further equips students to become leaders and “empower front-line staff,” from housekeeping to maintenance.
“This gives our students the opportunity to learn from an industry giant,” she adds. “They have a chance to reinforce the lessons we provide in cleaning and infection control and build on industry’s best practices.”
By the end, students earn a Certificate of Mastery, boost their resumes and get a digital badge they can add to their online signatures and social media profiles like LinkedIn.
HealthyClean is the only industry-wide certificate program designed for frontline cleaners and managers that is accredited by the American National Standards Institute National Accreditation Board and recognized by Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada.
Bilal Demachkie, business unit director at CloroxPro Canada, says the interactive seven-module course educates people on cleaning for healthy settings by using the right products at the right time, with the best process and techniques. It also complements existing protocols and guidelines.
“If you provide the tools and training to environmental services professionals, they will have more time to focus on front-line workers and improve the workspace,” he says. “How we can help alleviate the stress they face everyday is by providing those tools for them.”
Training is more challenging today as organizations face budget constraints and labour shortages. Burnout is causing high turnover, which, in turn, creates issues for facilities that must properly train cleaning professionals on using cleaning and disinfection products.
“The industry is constantly evolving just like microorganisms,” says Barnes. “We have to be in the forefront of these superbugs that are creating chaos in our healthcare settings.”
Collaborating with CloroxPro is another step in that direction. The new course, which launched at Centennial last year, advances an already unique educational opportunity. The two-year diploma program is the only one of its kind in Canada and recognized and recommended by the Provincial Infectious Diseases Advisory Committee.
The school places a strong emphasis on providing students with hands-on experience within the program. As part of their training, they learn industry best practices and participate in life-like hospital labs that use the latest job-specific technology.
They also take part in two healthcare field placements. The first might include shadowing front-line staff and conclude with a second placement working alongside leadership teams with various roles and responsibilities. Students ultimately graduate with healthcare jobs on their resumes, but can also apply their learning to other industries, such as hospitality.
More applicants have been drawn to the program in recent years as COVID spread awareness of the field on a global level. Barnes says recruitment within the program doubled post-pandemic. Many students have transferable skills as internationally trained nurses or from other areas of the medical sector, she says. But they are also thinking of environmental services as a more exciting opportunity.
“There is a need for specialists within these areas; you can’t just throw somebody in them,” she says. “We’re really proud our students get jobs upon graduation, by having experiences, but also because it’s unique.”
Raising public awareness of this specific industry has taken a long time to blossom— even within other healthcare fields. Barnes generates more understanding of what the role entails by giving the HESM students a chance to collaborate on inter-professional activities with students in areas such as occupational therapy or physiotherapy. “Our students teach them how to clean and maintain and do a safety checklist on mobility devices and they show us how to use them,” she says.
Critical thinking is another key aspect of the program, which is pivotal for on-the-job problem solving. Managers must be ready for any possible risk and form contingency plans and auditing systems. They must constantly observe, train, and research proper equipment, such as ergonomic-friendly tools as productivity has assumed greater importance.
The specialized course is further shaping leadership skills. Since launching at Centennial last year, Demachki is receiving plenty of interest from other post-secondary institutions with similar programs—to foster future environmental service managers who have always been integral to any healthcare setting. “They are an invisible hand that protects people everyday,” he notes. “The pandemic really highlighted that and put them at the forefront.”
