It is not law for cleaning companies to following colour coding of mops, buckets and cleaning cloths to prevent the spread of germs and bacteria, but they are guidelines that any cleaning company worth their salt will be following.
I am always stunned when I go to prospective clients and check inside their cleaning cupboard(s).
More often than not, the cleaning cupboard will have old smelly cloths, various colours of buckets, sometimes worryingly only one! Old dirty mops, sometimes buckets of dirty water or dirty sinks.
This is a real health concern and should be to any client who see this in their building.
Buckets and mops should be colour coded and the cleaner(s) trained on the colour bucket and mop to use in the bathroom. Also, the colour of the mop and bucket to use in the kitchen. These colours will correspond to the colour of the cloths used in these areas too. In addition, another colour cloths will be used in office areas i.e. people’s desk areas and furniture. Other colours will be available for other hard floor areas too.
Colour coding guidelines and spending time to train employees will ensure cross contamination does not and will not happen on any site. Once an employee is trained the Shipshape way, they can clean on any of our sites, and still know the colour coding for our company. All sites will have the same colour bucket, mops and cloths for the washrooms, and they are ONLY used in the washrooms and are washed out and left to air/dry overnight. Mops, buckets and cloths for the kitchen areas will be a completely different colour, will ONLY be used in the kitchen areas and will be stored away from the washroom ‘kit’. Again, this is washed out and left out to dry after each evening shift.
On cleaners cupboard inspections, that are included in regular review meetings with both the client and in the evening undertaken regularly by their Area Manager, we would expect:
- All cleaning materials to be washed out and drying
- The cupboard to be tidy
- The cupboard to smell clean and not dirty or musty
- Colour coding to be observed, i.e. red mop in red bucket & blue mop in blue bucket
- Cleaning products clearly labelled and safely stored on shelves
So, how does your cleaning cupboard look? Or can you smell it…..
