Professional janitorial services provide more than just a clean office environment.
They can assist your business with the development and implementation of a facilities management plan to address various complementary factors, focused on wellness and profit.
Janitorial Services and Facilities Management
Specifically regarding business-focused janitorial services and green cleaning--facilities management planning consists of a few basic categories, already standard in most companies.
For our purposes, we will focus on three of the primary objectives:
- Goal Establishment.
- Purchasing Guidelines.
- Administrative Oversight.
Goal Establishment
Introducing green cleaning services into a facilities management plan, even without a set course, will produce tangible results, however minor.
For a business to achieve the full benefits of going green, specific goals and milestones should be set to establish qualifiers and proof of concepts to identify where the plan was successful and where improvements can be made.
Key areas to focus on should be:
- The identification of waste.
- Financial waste as a result of no purchasing guidelines or cleaning worker management.
- Contamination waste added to local environments and waterways.
- The identification of areas where ongoing education and training--the adjustment of worker behavior--can mitigate waste contribution and ease, if not eliminate, certain cost expenditures; e.g., opening windows and externally facing doors during early operating hours to reduce humidity and indoor air contaminants that contribute to employee paid sick leave.
- Primary areas of focus should be on employee behavior/personal hygiene in common areas; specifically restrooms, breakrooms, and workspaces.
- The identification of type and quantity per volume of cleaning chemical contaminant introduced into the water supply, especially in rural communities that rely more heavily on groundwater quality as a clean source.
- The identification of current HVAC equipment and practices.
- The identification of current employee sick hours and associated costs.
Identifying where the problem areas are is required to establish tolerance levels and goals for reduction in expense and waste contribution.
Purchasing Guidelines
Well defined purchasing guidelines, by themselves, when focused on the adoption of green cleaning solutions and services, while eliminating conventional chemical cleaner purchases, will allow a business to achieve most of their green facilities management goals.
Upon identification of all products and current practices, purchasing, and vendor relationships need to be assessed in order to review the potential for:
- Service and vendor supply consolidation.
- The replacement of all chemical-based cleaning solutions with concentrated green cleaning products.
- The replacement of all conventional, inefficient cleaning tools (cloth mops) with microfiber based products.
- The upgrade or replacement of inefficient HVAC systems for modern HEPA filtered systems.
By adhering to a practice of only purchasing eco-friendly products and cleaning chemicals, your business will significantly reduce its current environmental impact, as well as eliminate allergy-causing indoor air pollutants that contribute to employee illness and poor performance.
Administrative Oversight
A dedicated facilities management officer, experienced in the implementation of green cleaning policies and procedures for businesses, is required to manage the ongoing progress of the program while identifying additional areas of concern or oversight.
Additionally, this officer should be placed, at the least, in a position of oversight for employee training to reduce related behavioral issues pertaining to waste, or the contribution of bacteria and viral matter into the workplace.
Lastly, the office should maintain oversight control of purchasing, vendor, and services outsourcing relationships to centralize all relevant areas of concern under one department head.
Ideally, this individual will be ultimately responsible for the creation of, and adherence to, company and department policies, purchasing policies, and routine reporting.
Takeaway
Facilities management planning, focusing on the adoption of green janitorial services practices, will save your business thousands of dollars annually by reducing cost and environmental waste while improving the overall appeal and wellness of your office building.
While planning and goal establishment is key to well-refined service delivery, purchasing guidelines that focus solely on the elimination of toxic chemical cleaners, and the adoption of green cleaning practices and chemicals will achieve the majority of a business's objectives.
Dedicated administrative oversight is required to centrally manage all supporting aspects of a companies goal to adhere to green facilities management, as well as employee training.
If you would like to learn more about the benefits of professional janitorial services for your business, contact us today for a free quote!
In Bakersfield CA, call 661-395-3009
In Fresno CA, call 559-473-1790
