Cleanzine: your weekly cleaning and hygiene industry newsletter 18th April 2024 Issue no. 1110

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The original and best - for over 20 years!

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Leader

I generally know it's flu season because I start to receive press releases from chemicals manufacturers and industry trade bodies with advice on ways to avoid catching flu. They all have common-sense tips and I skim through them almost dismissing each idea as something I'd do automatically; I never get flu so I must be one of the more aware amongst us - or so I thought. It was only when travelling into London on Monday, feeling somewhat rough, that I really thought about what I was touching and how I could so easily become ill if I didn't follow the hygiene procedures I know so well. It's so easy to let things slip, isn't it? I must remember to put that travel hand sanitiser in my bag and remember to use it whenever I touch anything 'communal' or after I shake hands with anyone!
There have been several responses to last week's leader in which I discussed the dangers posed by the growing number of touchscreens we're now expected to share with others who may not be that fastidious about personal hygiene and two of them which happened to be posted on Facebook tie in with my feeling that perhaps we in the industry can become complacent about hygiene, since everything about it is so familiar.
Steve Sinnott of Heritage Tiling & Restoration said he's seen people on-site working on floors, then eating with their fingers, not having bothered to wash their hands.
Stephen Munton, from the Domestic Cleaning Alliance, posted: "It was seeing visitors of The Cleaning Show not washing their hands after using the loo which had me reeling... If people with an interest in cleaning & hygiene take no interest, then where is the hope?"
Indeed...
Just this morning I've had a reminder from the Cleaning & Support Services Association's John Findlater that with a deadline of 17:00 on 21st December, there are only 13 working days left to submit applications for the CSSA Contract Cleaning Awards.
In a market where so many people find they are competing on price, differentiation is crucial and an Award (or few) to boast about, ensures that you stand out from the crowd.
These Awards - run by the UK Cleaning Industry for the UK Cleaning Industry - are free to enter and the application is relatively straightforward. Download an entry form at: www.cssa-uk.co.uk

6th December 2018