Thank Your Cleaner Day celebrated our industry's most valuable asset - our cleaners

Earlier this week, on Wednesday 17 October, our industry and the many people who benefit from its services celebrated the people who make it happen – our cleaners.

Thank Your Cleaner Day is a special day once a year dedicated to the tens of thousands of cleaners who work days, nights and weekends to keep our working and living environments clean, safe and hygienic.

It’s a day to value and appreciate the hard, and yet sometimes under-appreciated, work our cleaners do under the radar of normal working hours and often out of sight.

In Australia and New Zealand, we have more than 5,600 cleaners servicing more than 7,000 sites, and OCS was once again privileged to be part of the day’s action.

OCS’ branches and clients on both sides of the ditch helped celebrate our amazing cleaners. From barbecues and specialty cupcakes, to flowers and Thank Your Cleaner Day road trips, there was a lot of action in both countries.

In Wairarapa New Zealand, two very special ladies were celebrated - Diane Taylor and Maureen Cooper. They have both been working at the same branch in Wairarapa for nearly 40 years – Diane has cleaned at Masterton’s Community Corrections since she started. Recently, they were celebrated for their decades of service and commitment to cleaning up, with a lunch at the Farriers in Masterton, surrounded by customers and employers.

The pair said that they were trying to outdo each other, seeing who could carry on cleaning the longest. We hope to have this dedicated pair for many more happy years as their loyalty to OCS, and our clients, does not go unnoticed and I thank them for their continued hard work and dedication to their community.

In New Zealand, we also teamed up with NZME to promote Thank Your Cleaner Day. Over the course of the week leading up to the day, The Hits radio station encouraged listeners to nominate their workplace cleaner to be in to win a bouquet of flowers and a hamper worth $150. To further celebrate the wonderful cleaners of New Zealand, The Hits dedicated a ‘Cleaning Hour cleaning playlist’ from noon where they played songs related to cleaning and nominated by cleaners. We had hundreds of people from around the country nominate their workplace cleaner.

In Australia, it was big news when West Coast Eagles' players went out of their way to clean the rooms after they just celebrated and won the AFL grand final premiership. Thank Your Cleaner Day became part of this story. See former AFL player, Kane Cornes, talk about the day below.

This story was also on Australian radio station, SEN. West Coast Eagles' player and Thank Your Cleaner Day ambassador, Luke Shuey, talked to Brett Phillips about the day and their actions in the changing rooms. Listen below - it's a great interview.

Some of our team members also hit the road on a Thank Your Cleaner Day road trip. Armed with a gazebo, barbecue and esky, the team spent the day visiting our sites and spending time with our amazing cleaners.

Thanks again to everyone for celebrating Thank Your Cleaner Day with us and making our cleaners feel like the valued and appreciated people they all are. Cleaning can be one of the most thankless jobs in the world, but to us, it’s because of them that we can enjoy the spaces we live and work in.