How to prove compliance standards are being met

Most organisations won’t need the extensive levels of deep-cleaning employed by our wonderful NHS and Care sectors. But it does raise the issue of whether health and safety standards for the cleaning sector need to go beyond using the appropriate cleaning materials and chemicals. 

Cleaning audit software
One way to prove compliance is by using cleaning audit software, such as Asckey’s fmfirst Cleaning. The software helps to evidence compliance with the recently published National Standards for Healthcare Cleanliness 2021. The standards replace the National Cleaning Standards and the Cleaning PAS Standard. The latter applied only to the NHS, whereas the new standards apply to all healthcare organisations. 

Cleaning audit software allows you to digitally create, manage and report on cleaning audits more easily than paper-based checklists. It allows you to set up different functional areas that represent various usages and degrees of risk. These areas require different cleaning frequencies and levels of monitoring and auditing. 

The software can streamline the entire auditing process and provide reports allowing users to identify trends in the data. Healthcare organisations can then use this data to support day-to-day operating decisions and identify opportunities for improvement.

Making audits digital
Cleaning audit software isn’t just for the healthcare industry. However, it can be too complex for some workplace; this is where survey software can step up. 

Consistency, compliance and quality are what Asckey strive for in the development of our software solutions. For environments/industries where cleaning audit software may be too in-depth, there is fmfirst Survey. This is a more tailored auditing/survey software that allows for the quick and accurate collection of data, enabling users to prove compliance and identify possible risk areas. 

The software can replace paper-based cleaning audit forms and checklists, providing a digital record and audit trail of what has been completed. With Asckey’s survey software, we can develop templates that match existing paper forms to allow for a smooth transition and ease of use for staff. The software also comes with the option of developing your own templates that can include complex conditional question sets.

By making your audits digital, time and resources can be allocated elsewhere. You also have a digital record and audit trail of the surveys/audits taken, making it easier to identify when annual reviews are needed. These records also provide evidence that compliance standards are being met. 

Going digital supports sustainability goals by moving away from paper-based evidence or filling in spreadsheets, and it also saves you some filing cabinet space!

For more information visit https://www.asckey.com