Returning to the workplace … perhaps it is time for a Fresh Start.

As restrictions eased in Brisbane, companies and businesses slowly reopened their offices and workplaces.  But there is no doubt that the pandemic has definitely affected how we see the workplace going forward, and due to the economic effects many expenses are being reviewed.  It is the perfect time to review your current supplier agreements. Particularly your contract cleaning arrangements as your cleaning needs, for many reasons as we will explore, may have changed.

Reopening Offices

Some offices have reopened, but with the uptake of work from home options a number of workplaces have delayed their reopening until after the Christmas break.  Starting fresh in the new year!  And that is a great idea, to start fresh with a complete office clean up, an office spring clean.

There are many spaces in your offices that haven’t been utilised for many months, and that doesn’t mean they are clean, instead the dust has probably been building up.  Consider having your air vents cleaned, a complete wipe down of surfaces and equipment, stringent  fresh and thorough cleaning of your kitchen and toilets, floors buffed, and carpets cleaned.  Many of our customers book intense cleaning sessions in over the Christmas break so that there is little impact to their staff.  Our Brisbane Office Cleaning schedules are filling fast so if you want that fresh start, you need to book in early.

Some offices have had reduced cleaning over the pandemic period as there has been less staff in the office, but as your staff return ensure that you ramp the cleaning frequency back up to match the needs of your office.  Of course, those needs are more than they were previous to Covid-19 as you want sanitation protocol cleaning in place, for example our Touchpoint cleaning – which includes stringent cleaning on high touch frequency areas.  And don’t forget to consider the cleaning of equipment that has been in your employee’s homes and is now being brought back into the office.

Apprehension by Staff

As employees have been working from home, many of them have enjoyed the benefits of reduced travel time and more balance in their lives, but they have also had a feeling of security in an environment they control.  As now they are being asked to come back into the workplace, employers need to keep in mind that staff may be feeling apprehension for their safety, especially those at higher risk to Covid-19 infection.  

Good clean health is our motto, but not just in terms of physical health, mental health is important too.  We suggest that you share with your employees your cleaning schedules and checklist to show them the steps your company is taking to protect their health.  And make sure that you have plenty of sanitation supplies such as antibacterial handwash in stock.  Don’t worry if you are one of our clients, we can work with you to ensure your supplies are continually stocked.

Changing Working Spaces

Indeed, the pandemic has opened the eyes of many employees and employers to the benefits of working from home.  From an employer’s point of view, rental space costs are one of the largest categories in an organisation’s expenditure, often up to 10-20% of personnel driven expenditure.  So many businesses are looking at taking advantage of the alternate workplace strategies to reduce their real estate footprint.  If you are considering making these changes then look at reviewing your cleaning contracts at the same time.  It may be that you can reduce some costs, but we also suggest that you take the time to review how happy you are with your current supplier and if the quality of their cleaning is at the level you require.

Smaller spaces don’t necessarily mean less cleaning.  Whilst the overall space may be smaller, the high traffic areas will probably see more flow of people and will require more cleaning. Also, many are achieving this reduced space by introducing Hotdesking to their business, which essentially means that no one is assigned a desk and instead use the free desks on the days that they are in the office.  It will make a resurgence with this increase of work from home options; however, it is another cleaning challenge you need to consider.  It means that you will need daily cleaning of your office desks, to ensure the safety of your staff. 

As organisations reduce their real estate footprint some are considering subleasing sections of their office space out to others.  If you are considering doing that, the sub-leasing company will require that the space is thoroughly cleaned before moving in.  We work with the companies we clean to provide these extra services, as required.

Or you might have encountered the opposite situation.  To provide safe distancing between staff, you may have to take over other areas of the business, such as parts of the kitchen or meeting rooms for the extra desk space.  Don’t forget to make sure those areas are thoroughly cleaned before making the move.

Cleaning throughout the building

As many businesses share their space in a building with other businesses, it is also wise to ask, “How healthy is my high-rise office building?”  How are your building managers dealing with the air-sealed building environments?  Are they ensuring touchpoint cleaning in the lifts and congested areas?  As you review your cleaning providers, make sure those areas are being completed to a high standard as well.  Let us know if they need another quote, as it can be economical and effective to have one contract cleaning service to service all the offices and spaces in the one high-rise building.

If you have any other questions about the cleaning that should be done for your industry then check out further information at SafeWork Australia’s website

Or if it looks like too much work, then contact us and let us do the cleaning for your business!