An article written by Amy Fletcher in the November 1997 issue of Health Facilities Management...(magazine cover loading at the bottom of page)
Basic Training
YOUR CLEAN TEAM
MAY KNOW THE DRILL -
but does it practice the proper
CLEANING TECHNIQUES?
Cleanup is tough. Just ask any facility manager. That’s why clean-team training plays a vital role. But as supervisors are forced to do more with less - fewer employees, less money, less time - clean-team training tends to get put on the back burner. Good news: There’s an innovative approach to cleaning instruction that may work for you.
Back-to-basics teleclasses
At Gabriel First Corp., East Rochester, NY, supervisors can enroll staff in four different classes that take place over the phone at predetermined times.
The Gabriel Housekeeping Institute’s distance learning center was originally created to address customer concerns about product application inconsistencies and a high turnover rate among custodial staff. It also overcomes literacy issues that can make printed application instructions ineffective.
Unlike more product-focused training sessions, these classes equip staff with background information to understand the chemistry of cleaning and the role it plays in selecting the proper products to ensure cleanliness and sanitation. A prerequisite "Art of Cleaning" class covers these topics before students attend the other classes: carpet care, concrete care, and Ultra Gloss "Wet Look" floor finish system. Gabe Zanche, Sr., president of the center, begins the "Art of Cleaning" class by challenging his students to examine how they view one of the most basic parts of their job: soil.
"What makes soil a problem is when you find it where you don’t want it to be - like a chair in a doorway," says Zanche. "If you have ever had to take care of a lawn or a garden, you know that topsoil is not cheap." But put that soil in your carpet or in your health facility, and it becomes an enemy. However, it is "no different from when it is in your yard," Zanche says. So soil should be loosened and transported and not "attacked."
Another part of the class focuses on chemistry. "Perfecting your skills entails learning the role pH plays in the cleaning process," Zanche says. Following along with pH charts in front of them, students are given everyday examples to illustrate concepts: phosphoric acid is in cola, and hydrochloric acid is in toilet bowl cleaner.
Later, during the Q&A period, Zanche helps his students break down the chemical composition of the soils they have problems with, encouraging them to determine the appropriate cleaner based on the pH of the soil. For example, a student asked which cleanser to use in the bathroom sinks. Instead of offering a quick-fix answer, Zanche walked the employee through the process of figuring out which kind of soil he was dealing with: minerals from water and alkalines in the soap - i.e., soil with a high pH. Using the principles discussed above, the student learned to use a low-pH cleaner.
The class also attempts to debunk popular notions about such things as the proper temperature of cleaning water. A natural reaction is to always use hot water. But don’t use hot water if you’re trying to get rid of grease. Zanche uses butter in a hot frying pan to prove a point. If you put butter in a hot pan and tip it over, only part of it will come out. But it will slip right out of a cold pan. That’s because grease floats only in cold water. So, Zanche says, if you clean with hot water you may have to rinse two, three or four times, wasting energy and adding hours of expensive labor.
Zanche also explains the difference between cleaning and disinfecting. Then the group can discuss individual cleaning problems, such as which agent to use to clean the bathroom sinks and why adding things to a cleaner may adversely affect it performance. Students get the benefit of hearing everyone’s questions and answers and receive an immediate response from the instructor.
This is one of the more useful aspects, says David Roney, Environmental Services Director at the University of Rochester Medical Center’s Strong Memorial Hospital, Rochester, NY. "The whole concept is to share ideas and use each other’s creativity and problem-solving abilities."
The second and third cleaning shifts at Floyd County Memorial Hospital, Charles City, Iowa, have taken the classes for the past two years. Neil Tuttle, Floyd’s Environmental Services Director, says his staff received feedback from 10 or 12 people at other hospital. The class "brings the expertise of these people in one place at one time," says Tuttle.
John Boyd, Housekeeping Supervisor at Okanogan County Public Health Care Services, District 4, Tonasket, Washington, signed his staff up for a class. "It has helped my staff and me understand things about cleaning and has helped them focus on their objective," says Boyd. "They’re a step ahead on this."
Pam Blyth, President of Pamela L. Blyth & Associates, Durham, NC, views this back-to-basics approach as beneficial for the health care industry. "He teaches the science of cleaning and provides a resource that can be available to front-line employees," says Blyth.
It also saves time and money. The only cost is a speaker phone.
"It’s a lot cheaper on our end. It’s a lot better to the degree that you can put more people in an area," says John Swagger, Environmental Services Director at Genesis Layhill Center in Silver Spring, MD. His employees learned the basics of why wax works and how it’s made. "They have a better understanding of when you should apply the wax," Swagger says.
And hearing the information from someone else also has its advantages. "It gives them worthwhile information in a supportive context. Sometimes it helps to hear from an outsider."
There are other benefits to personal attention. "You see an immediate morale shift," says Roney. "Housekeepers are too often seen as low on the totem pole."
Directors who take employees out of the work environment for an hour to attend a class send the message that their work is important, says Roney. A wide range of employees at the Rochester center have attended the classes - from patient-room cleaners to office cleaners. "We don’t turn anyone away," says Roney.
In fact, the classes have caught on so well that now there is a four-to-six-week waiting list.
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Copyright © 2006 Gabriel First Corp.