Training: A Clean Campus is a Healthy Campus

Cleaners at higher education institutions aren't just cleaners anymore - they're educational professionals, health-care professionals, marketing professionals and, yes, cleaning professionals. When custodians are trained properly, they aren't just making a building look good; they're improving the health and welfare of everyone on campus, and contributing positively to the educational opportunities for its students.

"When you walk onto a campus, you want it to be an educational environment that is conducive to learning," says Larry Price, director of facilities at Everett (Wash.) Community College. "Good cleaning helps with that philosophy; when you walk onto our campus, you know you're in environment that will foster success."

One system, the (OS1) process created by Salt Lake City-based Management Inc., uses standardization, training and re-training to turn cleaning workers into multi-talented professionals, often at a cost equal to or lower than that of traditional zone-based cleaning systems. (OS1) focuses on cleaning for health first, appearance second, and emphasizes healthy, environmentally and ergonomically friendly chemicals, equipment and procedure, including limited, specific, Green Seal-certified chemicals in pre-measured packs; a Green Label backpack vacuum; flat, lightweight microfiber mops and two-chambered mop buckets that separate fresh water from waste water; and job cards outlining exactly what tasks each workers should be performing where, and when.

Anecdotal evidence supporting (OS1) has been available from many campuses for several years, but recently, scientific data back up personal reflection. For example, when facilities director Jim Alty came to University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill more than two years ago, he knew the level of cleaning at his new campus needed to improve. Alty, an engineering graduate from West Point with two Masters degrees from Stanford University thought that (OS1) might be a good fit for UNC, but he knew that change of this sort couldn't come by edict, or without evidence. So, before anything changed, Alty and a team of experts and stakeholders launched an investigation, and later a pilot program, and the results were clear – (OS1) not only improved the appearance of buildings, but also actually improved their health.