Due to the pandemic, the cleaning industry has evolved like no other, and cleaners now understand how vital their role is in keeping Australia up and running.
As people across Australia return to normal after a hectic two years of lockdowns and other restrictions, there’s no better time to talk about the role that some of our most forgotten members of society played in keeping us safe throughout the pandemic: our frontline cleaners.
This World FM Day 2022, celebrated on the 12th of May, we shine a spotlight on our cleaning workforce, who put their lives on the line to provide us with safer and more hygienic facilities.
The Invisible Heroes
Throughout the pandemic, while rising case numbers forced most people inside, our brave cleaners, would don their uniforms, put on their PPE and march to their jobs. Often, this entailed cleaning surfaces and areas that put them at risk of contracting the virus – most notably healthcare facilities, public buildings and in hotel quarantine centers. Our workforce, who were deemed essential workers, proved their mettle each and every day by ensuring we were kept safe from the deadly virus.
Even before the pandemic hit, our cleaners were responsible for ensuring facilities remained functional throughout the year. Ever wondered how the carpets remain clean, your surfaces are dust-free, or how you never run out of paper towels in your communal kitchen? Or did you ever think about when your facility gets cleaned because you never see anyone walking around with a vacuum or mop during working hours?
Operating in the small hours of the morning or late at night after all occupants have returned home, our valiant cleaners straighten everything up, wipe down counters, vacuum and mop floors, clean toilets and replenish stocks quickly, efficiently and without pomp and show.
How Cleaners Helped Reopen Australia
The pandemic saw a rise in the demand for commercial cleaning services – a demand that the industry quickly and efficiently met. With constantly changing guidelines about how the virus was being spread and how to manage it, the industry had to evolve and introduce newer and more innovative ways to keep people safe, secure and COVID-free. This included all manner of actions, from implementing touch-point cleaning, providing additional consumables such as hand sanitizers, masks, disinfectant wipes, advanced air purification devices, etc – to providing deep cleans if a facility was contaminated.
As the pandemic continued, the role of our cleaners evolved to ensure a facility met the regulated health and safety requirements before opening to the public. In addition to going about their duties, our cleaners had to undergo regular, in-depth training to help them better understand infection prevention cleaning practices, the use of our newest cleaning technologies and safety measures. The cleaning industry has evolved like no other, and the cleaners of today understand how vital their role is in keeping Australia up and running, thus allowing them to self-evaluate their work and take pride in it.
From commercial office cleaning to cleaning schools, universities, retail centers, hospitals, transport facilities, and public places, our cleaners have worked tirelessly during the past two years to enable us to stay as safe as possible from the virus and to facilitate the re-opening of our country.
So this World FM Day 2022, let’s take some time out to honor our lionhearted cleaners, without whom a return to normal life would never have been possible.