The back pack vacuum's back
October 1st 2007 With today's models more lightweight and ergonomic than ever before, the back pack
is making a comeback in cleaning, says Truvox's Peter Holt
Although back pack vacuums have never really gone away,
according to Peter Holt,managing director of Truvox
International, they are surging through into wider acceptance
and general usage.
The raising of the minimum wage to £5.35 an hour from 1 October
2006 with a further increase to £5.52 effective from 1 October 2007,
at a time when many cleaning contracts pay less than they did five
years ago, is a powerful deterrent to adding headcount to the
cleaning team. Australia, the home of the backpack, typically
costs daily vacuuming at 12,000 –14,000ft2/hr, compared with
3,000 – 4,000 in the UK. Given that labour is reckoned to
account for in excess of 90 per cent of the total cleaning costs,
the demand to achieve more for less is the only way forward.
Boosting operator productivity is
imperative and both contractors
and direct labour providers have
recognised that it is financially
prudent to use back packs for general daily vacuuming
tasks as well as precision cleaning where many
uprights are too unwieldy.
Further benefits of back pack
vacuums include their use in team
cleaning programs. In team cleaning, a fourmember
team is comprised of a light-duty
specialist, a vacuum specialist, a restroom specialist and a utilities
specialist.The vacuum specialist follows behind the light-duty
specialist and vacuums high traffic areas as well as furniture
and underneath office waste receptacles.
Backpacks can be worn comfortably and used more
easily than a regular vacuum with wearability of back
packs improving out of all recognition.Where cleaners
used to instinctively shy away from using back packs
finding them heavy and a strain, today's are lightweight
and ergonomic. Models such as the Truvox Valet back
pack are said to be comfortable to wear for an entire
shift.
Enhancing the backpack's speed is the ability of
workers to change tools on the spot as needed for the
job, with vacuum specialists carrying appropriate
attachments right on the hip belt. For example, the user
might carry a plastic upholstery tool, a crevice attachment,
and a dust brush for sills and ledges.
The backpack vacuum cleaner offers a way of significantly
increasing productivity in daily office cleaning,with the added
benefits of freedom of movement and an increased ability to clean
overhead vents, ceiling fans and behind heavy furniture or under
beds and other places that are
usually hard to reach. More articles from Truvox International Ltd: | 
