Professional Cleaning Companies Are They A Cost Cutting Item?

With the recession or credit crunch or any name you want to give to the current economic issues we all face today I have come across a number of people who tell me they are cutting back on business costs.

One business owner said they were having to cut back and do all the office cleaning in Aberdeen themselves sharing the work on a rota basis. Is this a practical option for your company?

Staff morale would be one important issue to be considered. How are they going to be feeling when they have this extra task dropped on them when they may have enough to do already? Even if they did not start looking for other work straight away are there any other issues we need to look at?

One of the things you will need to consider is the need to go out and buy on a regular basis a variety of cleaning chemicals and other equipment dependant of the type of jobs being done. Someone will need to go out and buy these from the store. This is a time and cost expense in itself. All professional cleaning service in Aberdeen will have their own preferred cleaning chemicals which their staff will have trained in using. This means they will have access to all associated safety data sheets etc from their usual chemical supplier.

You may decide to employ an extra person to do the cleaning thus doing away with some of the savings but if you are considering using your existing staff you need to calculate into the process the lost opportunities for staff doing their “normal job”. Will that suffer if they are asked to do these extras and at what cost to your business?

The job may even need doing twice if the person is not shown exactly the right way to do the task. You also need to consider whether using an existing staff member is the best use of their time. They definitely will not be using the expertise that caused you to initially select them at the interview or spent time since developing their new skills for the job. How much did it cost you to train that person in real terms not just the cost of the training programme?

In addition the potential for damage to your office interiors increases as the person does not understand the use of some materials and the surfaces being cleaned. I recall going into one office complex and seeing that the cleaner (also employed as a book-keeper) had squirted some strong bleach on a floor and it had burnt the floor almost beyond economic repair. There is also the danger of mixing cleaning chemicals e.g. some toilet cleaners when mixed together generate considerable amounts of heat and poisonous gases.

• Have you all the skills in house to develop all the health and safety guidance in-house? Or will you to pay to outsource it?
• Who would do the required risk assessment for each and every cleaning task being performed? Not Necessary… just wait and see what the Health and Safety Inspector has to say after an accident on your premises!
• Do you have copies of the COSHH data sheets for every single cleaning product your staff purchase in the event of an incident? Your local superstore will not supply them for the general household products they sell!| Can you be certain that you have the required COSSH safety data sheets for every single cleaning product your staff purchase? Your local supermarket or corner store will not be able to supply these legal documents and you will need them on site in case of an safety incident.}

At the end of the day the main questions you need to ask yourself is

• “Are the extra costs of employing professional office cleaning cheaper than the risk of staff not focussing on my business and losing more money?”

• ” What are the currently unbudgeted costs I will need to add on to cover for time spent cleaning the office twice, additional costs for repairs due to mistakes, increased insurance premiums and cost of compensation for breaches of health and safety including accidents to staff? ”

Those issues are dealt with best by hiring a professional cleaning company in Coatbridge just as you consult a lawyer, an accountant or any other specialist worker for the business.