Safety: 'the unsung hero'

In this, my first column for Cleaning Matters, I want to pick up on a point made by my predecessor Keith Baker. We must be proud of what we do. That is because we touch all aspects of people’s lives, and contribute to the well-being of the nation, in a way that no other industry does. 

Simply put, cleaning is a critical investment in human health, the environment, and an improved bottom line. As the worldwide cleaning industry association, ISSA has long championed the importance of proving your 'value of clean' to your stakeholders. We have helped many companies conclusively show that even a modest investment in cleaning can help building occupiers and owners reap big savings. That positive message is increasingly being understood by facility decision makers, although there is still clearly a way to go. 

Reducing risk & liability

One important aspect to communicating the value of proper cleaning is how it improves safety for building occupants and visitors as well as risk management for building owners. This becomes even more important when realising that risk managers can often capture the attention of facility decision makers in ways our traditional customer contacts may not be able to achieve. New allies who understands the importance of reducing risk and liability are right under our noses. We just need to know how to speak their language.

Upon moving over from the US to become ISSA’s director of EMEA services last year, I looked into the UK’s safety statistics. A staggering 1.2 million UK workers suffered from work-related illness in 2014/2015, and a further 611,000 sustained work-related injuries. Those injuries and ill health in workers were calculated as costing the UK economy £14.3 billion in 2013/14 plus additional hidden costs. The situation is similar in most European Union countries as the cost of accidents at work and occupational ill health typically ranges from 2.6% to 3.8% of GDP. 

Implementing an injury and illness prevention programme and championing a “safety culture” can reduce work related injuries, and in financial terms the operation of prevention programmes are less expensive than the total cost incurred from workplace injuries. Here, cleaning operatives and the way that cleaning is organised within a facility has a key role to play. Simply put, proper safety programmes already implemented by conscientious cleaning organisations are an unsung hero of the value you bring, deserving more attention in your customer conversations. 

Slips, trips & falls

This is a major topic and one that I cannot begin to do justice to in one article. So let’s concentrate for the moment on slips, trips, and falls as they account for more than a third of employee injuries; the overall rate of slips, trips, and falls is 108 per 100,000 U.K. employees and 1.5 million working days per annum are lost as a result of slips, trips, and falls in this country. There are also the costs to the employer associated with training replacement workers and the loss of productivity and business. 

Contaminants on floors such as water, grease, oil and fluids are the most common causes of these accidents while tripping hazards such as clutter, cords, hoses, and trailing wires, or the improper use of floor mats and runners are also major contributors. 

So how can cleaning operatives help combat this problem while simultaneously ensuring that their work does not create additional hazards? ISSA has developed recommendations that if regularly and consistently undertaken will greatly reduce incidents. These include frequently inspecting walkways, corridors, and entrances for potential slip, trip, and fall hazards, and ensuring that staff are trained in slip, trip and fall prevention. 

Equally important is ensuring that floor cleaning products are properly used and that permanently installed features, such as carpet runners and entrance matting, are included in the maintenance and housekeeping programme. 

When a hazard has been identified, it should be removed immediately. Similarly, when a spill is identified, employees are to remain with the spill until its removal is complete and traffic aisles or single entrance rooms should be cordoned off when cleaning is in progress and until floors are dry. 

Cleaners should wear slip-resistant shoes at all times and be trained to post signs when a hazard is present and promptly remove those signs when the hazard no longer exists. In terms of the sign itself, it should be sized at least 71cm (28”) tall and be visible from 360 degrees; it should have a large stable base to contain hazards and must be stored close to all entrances so that it is easy to locate and utilise when there is an urgent need. 

A new ISSA Value of Clean Safety tool is now available complimentary for members. This covers slips, trips and falls in far more detail as well as including information on other safety “hot buttons”, employer responsibilities, the cost of unsafe workplaces, plus much more fodder to make the link between safety and proper cleaning and the resultant savings.