Education, education, education

Following the introductions of BICSc's accredited cleaning scheme, The Cleaning Professional's Skills Suite, Cleaning Matters speaks to Pat O'Mara, chief education and accreditation officer at BICSc, to find out more about the the qualification and how it hopes to benefit the cleaning industry as a whole CM: Who is the Cleaning Professional's Skills Suite for? PM:The qualification is for anyone who is involved in the cleaning industry and who would benefit from learning efficient and safe cleaning skills relevant to their role.This includes cleaning operatives, housekeepers, industrial cleaning operatives, supervisors, managers, team leaders and apprentices.

CM: Is the Cleaning Operator's Proficiency Certificate (CPOC) still available? PM: Yes, the Cleaning Professional's Skills Suite will initially be used to to run alongside the Cleaning Operator's Proficiency Certificate (COPC) and therefore the COPC is still being run across the country.

CM:Why has the CPSS been introduced to the industry? PM:We have launched the Cleaning Professional's Skills Suite as we identified a need in the cleaning industry to provide an updated and current accredited cleaning scheme.We have also introduced mandatory units:'Chemical Competence','Equipment Safe Use and Care', and 'Storage of Chemicals and Equipment'.These skills have been made compulsory to ensure the safety of the cleaning operatives and the users of the building, and for the sustainability of the building.

CM: What other skills are available? PM: There are 25 core cleaning skills available, covering a broad aspect of cleaning responsibilities.Unlike the Cleaning Operator's Proficiency Certificate assessment scheme, where you have to achieve at least 10 tasks to be accredited, it is up to each individual or company to decide how many core skills their operatives will need.To be awarded CPSS certification, the minimum requirement is the three mandatory units.

The operatives will then only have to learn what is directly relevant to them and the environment that they are cleaning in.The CPSS certificate will clearly state each of the skills the candidate achieved.

The CPSS assessment scheme will also have specialist skills and specialist environments available if required.These specialist skills are ideal for candidate's who work in specific environments. Again any of the specialist skills that the candidate achieves will be listed on the CPSS certificate.

CM:When will the CPSS be available for training? PM: Following successful trials completed at Turner Facilities Management and Kingston University Service Company Ltd (KUSCO), the CPSS will be available from 3 May, delivered through accredited training providers.