Step 1: The Plan

There are a number of steps involved in managing a successful custodial program, starting with a plan. The plan involves evaluating the square footage of the facility, floor types, room types, fixtures in the rooms, and the equipment that the team will work with to do the job. Analyzing this will help you decide how many staff you need and what tasks they will do in each area.

Once you have a plan in place, it is time to share the plan with the staff.

Step 2: Education and Staff Training

Training staff on cleaning and disinfectant basics starts with how to manage a room or area. Cleaners should work from the highest point in the room to the lowest point in the room, from outside walls to the centre of the room, and from the cleanest surfaces in the room to the dirtiest. For example, in a bathroom, start with the mirrors and light switches and move to the sink, finish with the toilet.

There are three basic rules when cleaning a room or an area:

Education and staff training should also include workplace hazardous materials information system (WHMIS) training, preparing the staff to work with workplace chemicals and disinfectants. Personal protective equipment should also be included in staff training. (Note: see 3.3 Chemicals and Personal Protective Equipment for information on chemicals and personal protective equipment specific to environmental services.)

Step 3: Quality Assurance

Quality assurance or ensuring that standards are met involves auditing and corrective action. The first task of the quality assurance process is to develop an audit. An audit is a list of standards or expectations that need to be met by the staff. Auditing provides an opportunity to inspect the end results of the cleaning process and ensure that staff are compliant in meeting the set standards. It provides a chance for corrective actions. Correct actions are actions that can be taken to correct an issue. For example, you notice that the chairs in the dining room have not been cleaned and sanitized as required by the audit. Is this because the workload is too heavy on that shift? Do the staff need more time? Or is it because some residents are a bit slower leaving the dining room after a meal? Does the order of the work need to be adjusted so the staff can access the chairs at a later time in their shift? Maybe the results of the audit lead to a few questions that require a bit of investigative work. Get the information you need to make a decision and put the correct action in place.

Example Audit for Dining Room Cleaning and Sanitation: