How Cleaning Proposals Will Change in the Post COVID World

COVID-19 is going to produce several changes in the professional cleaning industry, specifically for building service contractors.  

Among those changes is what information is included in our cleaning proposals. We will need to include entire sections in our proposals on how we are going to take steps to protect human health. And this does not just apply to people working or learning in a building. It includes the health of our workers as well.

Many of our cleaning proposals already include information about how workers have had OSHA training and have been OSHA certified. Most of this training involves how to work with certain cleaning solutions and perform certain cleaning duties to avoid dangers and prevent hazards. In the post COVID world, that will definitely not be enough.

Among the items we will need to add to our proposals are the items below. And I use the term "among the items" purposely. This situation is ever evolving. We may need to make more change and add more items to our proposals once we get through this situation.

But, based on where we are now, I suggest the following:

Verification of "Best Practices" Training

Prospects will want to see that your staff has been certified by ISSA's Cleaning Management Institute, CIMS program, or something similar. If there is a big focus on Green cleaning, GreenSeal also offers best practices training programs and certifications. Look at it this way. "Certification" is what puts the word "professional" in professional cleaning.

Specialized Certifications

Some industries will require their own certifications. For instance, many hospitals and medical facilities are now outsourcing their common area cleaning. It helps them reduce their staff which invariably is a cost savings. However, cleaning professionals maintaining healthcare facilities should be Certified Healthcare Environmental Services Professionals. In the past, some healthcare facilities may not have been as concerned about this training and certification. But going forward, healthcare administrator will want to see this noted in all janitorial proposals.

PPE Training

From 2014 to 2016, there was a major outbreak of EBOLA in West Africa. Healthcare workers wore protective gear (PPE), but some were still coming down with the disease and many died. The World Health Organization was looking for answers and they finally found it: While the healthcare workers were wearing PPE, many were not removing them properly. As a result, pathogens on the gear were transmitted to their hands and from their, cross contamination occurred.

In the future, cleaning workers will need to be trained on how to put on and remove PPE equipment. Obviously, this will be necessary if we suffer another crisis like COVID. However, this training is needed now, will likely be necessary in other situations, and this too should be noted in cleaning proposals.

Equipment Changes

Cleaning contractors typically select equipment based on costs, effectiveness, safety, ergonomics, and worker productivity. Now, customers want to see if the equipment selected also protects health. An example would be HEPA filters on vacuum cleaners and different types of cleaning equipment.

Here's the bottom line. Not only will prospects but our current customers as well will want your proposals to include entire sections on how you plan to protect the health of building users and your own workers. We have never been asked to add anything like this before. However, it will become so important that in some cases, this will be the first section they turn to.

Ron Segura