Month: May 2021

Over the course of the last year, cleaning professionals have been more visible than ever by completing much of their work during the day. From using electrostatic sprayers in schools and on transportation systems like buses and trains to disinfecting in retail stores and airports, they are working to make these spaces safer. What will happen once concerns around COVID-19 dwindle? Read on as we explore the importance of daytime cleaning, now and in the future.  

Shining a Light on Daytime Cleaning Advantages 

There are numerous benefits related to daytime cleaning, including: 

Greater peace of mind for building occupants and guests.  

The pandemic caused a dramatic shift in expectations about cleanliness in public settings like retail stores, schools, commercial offices, and restaurants. Many facilities increased the frequency of cleaning and disinfecting so they could curb the spread of infections such as COVID-19. This also had another effect: building occupants and visitors could see these processes in action and feel safer knowing cleanliness was a priority.  

Day cleaning brings the cleaning process front and center, thereby demonstrating a facility’s commitment to protecting employees, guests and customers. As we progress towards a post-pandemic world, it will be important for organizations to remain committed to cleaning regularly when customers, employees and other building occupants are present.  

Better cleaning results.  

An advantage to daytime cleaning is that it typically leads to enhanced cleaning performance. There are several reasons why this occurs. Cleaning with natural light helps many cleaning professionals better address issues like carpet stains and the buildup of dust on surfaces. Additionally, other building occupants can interact with cleaning staff and have cleanliness concerns addressed more quickly than if employees were cleaning after hours.  

Environmental savings.  

Conducting cleaning during daytime and early evening hours can help facilities reduce reliance on HVAC systems and electricity. This can lead to lower energy bills, and can have a significant long-term impact on the bottom line, especially for larger buildings like convention centers, schools and commercial offices. Many facilities are looking for ways to limit their environmental impact. Daytime cleaning is a simple change that organizations can implement to cut energy consumption and realize other benefits as well.  

Enhanced employee morale.  

Cleaning professionals often have limited opportunities for flexibility in their roles. Many are accustomed to working nighttime hours. Transitioning employees to morning hours puts them back on a traditional work schedule, giving them time at home in the evenings. These schedules are preferred by employees. Offering morning hours can improve their job satisfaction and help them feel valued by their employer. Focusing on employee morale helps reduce turnover rates, which further improves the quality and consistency of cleaning results.  

Best Practices for Shifting your Cleaning Hours 

Facilities that wish to transition to daytime cleaning can consider the following recommendations to ensure success. 

Determine your employees’ preferences.  

It’s possible that not every employee will want to alter their schedule. Perhaps they already work a daytime shift for another employer and don’t have the flexibility to transition to daytime cleaning. Discuss options with your employees so that you can provide them with a schedule that works for their specific needs.  

Conduct interpersonal training. 

Employees may be approached by building guests while they are cleaning. Provide training on the types of inquiries they might receive so that they are comfortable interacting with others. For example, people may want to know more about the cleaning chemicals being used, cleaning frequency or whether a custodian can address a specific area of the building. If employees are confident, they’ll be more successful having discussions related to their roles.  

Select the right equipment.  

Noisy equipment will disrupt building occupants, especially in settings like offices, schools and libraries. Be sure to review the decibel level of machines like vacuums, carpet care systems and autoscrubbers to confirm they operate quietly while others are present. Keeping tasks as quiet as possible can avoid complaints and is one way to work harmoniously alongside facility guests.  

Making your Commitment to Cleanliness Clear 

There are many reasons to adopt daytime cleaning. From enhancing trust among building occupants and visitors to improving the consistency of cleaning results, facilities can realize the many benefits simply by shifting cleaning schedules forward slightly. Before making this change, it’s important to consider best practices so that daytime cleaning runs smoothly. By following the aforementioned strategies, organizations can transform their approach to cleaning and their workplace culture. 

Looking to implement a successful day cleaning program? Contact GSF USA here and follow us on LinkedIn and Facebook for the latest updates.   

Robotic floor scrubbers are increasingly being adopted by cleaning service providers to clean more efficiently and effectively. In fact, vetting and adopting high-tech equipment like automated machines is one of the key tenets of GSF USA’s Écologique cleaning program. By implementing high-quality equipment, we can help our clients realize environmental savings and create cleaner indoor environments that support the health and wellbeing of occupants and visitors. 

The T7AMR is a robotic solution from Tennant, a leader in commercial floor cleaning machines. It is powered by an advanced artificial intelligence and robotic technology platform, making it a smart solution and a great addition to GSF USA’s fleet.

Download the GSF USA Tennant Case Study or read it here to learn how this machine is helping to power our cleaning program at Bolingbrook High School.

Maintaining healthy learning environments is crucial to the success of students, teachers and staff, and gives parents peace of mind. Cleanliness contributes to indoor air quality (IAQ), visual appeal and safety of schools. Our team at GSF USA is very passionate about helping schools clean in a more responsible way.

An increasing number of schools are looking for ways to reduce their environmental impact and align their cleaning programs with their overarching sustainability goals. We are proud that our expertise and commitment to high-quality and sustainable cleaning has enabled us to secure new contracts with schools.

Big Wins for GSF USA

The following are the latest schools and districts that GSF USA will manage:

Rockford Public Schools:

Our office in Rockford, Ill. opened in January 2021 and just a few months later, we’ve secured an exciting win with Rockford Public Schools. Beginning in July, GSF USA will be managing 42 schools that serve more than 28,000 students. This is one of the largest outsourced custodial contracts in the state of Illinois. With over 200 staff members servicing district 205, we look forward to hiring to support this expansion.

Barrington High School:

Part of Barrington Community Unit School District 220, Barrington High School is located in the northwest suburbs of Chicago and has an enrollment of about 3,000 students in grades 9-12. The high school opened at its current location in 1949 and has expanded over the years to accommodate the growing community. GSF USA will have dozens of full-time team members supporting this site.

Keeneyville School District 20:

Located in Hanover Park, Ill., Keeneyville School District 20 serves more than 1,400 students from Kindergarten through eighth grade in four different buildings.. GSF will have 11 full-time employees working in the district’s buildings.

How We Approach Cleaning

Our Écologique cleaning program uses Green Seal®-certified processes to ensure we are implementing the most sustainable chemicals, tools, equipment and protocols in educational environments. By incorporating sustainability, we can better protect people and the environment.

The five tenets of the Écologique program include:

1. GSF University Leadership Training ​– GSF USA team members are required to complete a minimum of 24 hours of training.
2. Documented Training and Procedures​ – Our procedures are developed by R&D experts and clearly documented to ensure employees understand and follow proven best practices.
3. Environmentally Sourced Consumables​ – Mindfully sourcing consumables like toilet paper, cleaning cloths and chemicals can limit waste and negative environmental effects.
4. Sustainable Cleaning Chemicals​ – We cleans and disinfect with safe and sustainable electrochemically activated solutions (ECAS) that are made with just water, salt and electricity.
5. High-tech Equipment​ – We use the most advanced cleaning equipment, like robotic floor care machines and electrostatic disinfection systems, whenever possible.

Schools that implement safe and sustainable cleaning demonstrate they care about the wellbeing of their students, teachers, staff and visitors. In addition to supporting public health, green cleaning is also better for the planet. We are thrilled to expand into these new schools and districts, and look forward to bringing on new team members to help us deliver the cleanest environments.

If you are interested in applying to GSF, visit our Careers page here.

To date, more than 211 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine have been administered in the U.S. and this number continues to climb each day. This added and long-awaited protection against the SARS-CoV-2 virus is giving many people the confidence to return to their places of work, to dine out with friends and family and even to travel again.  

As more businesses reopen or expand their capacity limits, it is important for facility managers to understand how to operate in a post-vaccine world. Consumer attitudes and concerns have greatly shifted over the last year, and with highly transmissible strains of COVID-19 still circulating around the world, facilities need to have the right cleaning precautions in place.  

Best Practices for Busy Buildings 

Consider the following strategies to give your facility’s visitors and occupants greater peace of mind as they start to frequent busier places.

Establish transparent cleaning routines that maximize productivity.  

Before the pandemic, cleaning often happened out of sight of building occupants to avoid disruptions. Now, it’s important that visitors see cleaning taking place to enhance their peace of mind. Facility managers must set cleaning schedules carefully. Employees need time and space to complete their tasks, so avoiding the busiest parts of the day or night will be important. However, having staff on hand to clean floors, surfaces and restrooms while guests are present is key. As your facility returns to normal occupancies, note the typical flow of foot traffic to determine when and how many staff members to assign to cleaning.  

Consider the environmental and health impacts of your cleaning chemicals.  

With many organizations dedicated to cleaning more thoroughly and more often, it’s essential that facility managers understand what kind of impact their cleaning may have on indoor air quality, occupant wellbeing and their surrounding communities. Caustic chemicals that contain volatile organic compounds (VOCs), strong fragrances or even dyes can irritate cleaning professionals and building visitors. They can even seep into the ground and local water supplies if poured down drains or disposals.  

Environmentally friendly chemicals can effectively inactive viruses, restore the look of surfaces and reduce indoor air pollution. Consider floor care machines that electrically convert water into an innovative cleaning solution, as well as electrochemically-activated solutions (ECAS) for cleaning and disinfecting counters, walls, restrooms, railings and more. Safe and sustainable solutions take the worry out of dealing with chemicals, which is especially helpful as foot traffic increases in your facility. 

Bring automated solutions into the mix.  

Robotics are increasingly becoming mainstream in the cleaning industry. This is because they allow cleaning teams to focus on other high-priority needs while automated machines resolve the tedious tasks. Floors are often the first thing facility visitors notice upon entering, so it’s crucial that they are always looking their best. Consider integrating automated vacuums or floor scrubbers into your program that will ensure floors are clean. They operate quickly and quietly and have sensors in place to avoid running into people, walls or other obstacles.    

Regularly check the stock of restroom essentials.  

With more people visiting facilities, restrooms will become busier. While they are often the smallest areas within a building, they can have the biggest impact on a visitor’s perception of cleanliness and impact their willingness to return. Make sure to frequently check the stock of necessities like hand soap, toilet paper and paper towels. If your facility has installed door tissue near restroom exits so guests can avoid directly touching door handles, be sure to restock these and regularly empty trash cans to avoid overflow.   

A Rise in Occupancy and Consumer Confidence  

As an increasing number of people receive the COVID-19 vaccination, the risk of disease transmission decreases. In turn, the public will feel more comfortable congregating in larger groups and facilities will increase occupancy thresholds. Allowing more occupants inside enables businesses to be more profitable. By keeping facilities clean, building occupants and guests will feel confident returning to the places where they work, learn, shop and socialize.   

At GSF, we care about clean and understand the challenges facing facilities today. Contact us here to learn more about our offerings, and follow us on LinkedIn and Facebook for updates.