How clean is your school? Although it may look clean, if children and teachers regularly succumb to illness then your cleaners, or the products they use, may not be meeting the necessary industry standards. With crackdowns on the Australian school cleaning system on the rise, why not get ahead of the game and adopt ISSA’s Clean Standard: K-12?
By adopting ISSA’s Clean Standard, a school
can better assess how good a job their cleaners are doing. We take a closer
look at the Clean Standard: K-12 and the benefits of using it.
What is ISSA?
Established in the U.S. in 1923, ISSA (International Sanitary Supply Association, now renamed the Worldwide Cleaning Industry Association), sets industry standards for professional cleaning services. They educate cleaning firms to improve indoor environments of schools and commercial premises, and believe that “cleaning isn’t just an expense, it’s a valuable investment”.
ISSA has 9,000 member companies and regional
offices around the world, including one in Parramatta, NSW. In October they are
holding a 2-day cleaning and hygiene expo in Melbourne.
What is the Clean Standard: K-12?
The Clean Standard: K-12 is a protocol developed by ISSA. It provides schools, from kindergarten to 12th grade, with a framework to test cleaning effectiveness to ensure clean, healthy learning environments for students and staff.
There are 3 major components to the Clean Standard: K-12:
1. Building Audit
This is a physical site inspection of the
facilities. Using ISSA’s standardised format it allows you to walk through and
audit with your senses – does this facility look and smell clean?
2. Scientific Measurement
This involves using ATP meters to measure ratings on high touch points – desks, bathroom stall doors, surroundings around sinks etc. If ratings are good, this gives you solid data to alleviate the concerns of worried parents. If ratings aren’t meeting the standard, then you can take corrective action.
3. Corrective Action
If your school isn’t achieving its desired level of cleanliness, then ISSA recommends taking corrective action. This depends on what the problem is. Frequent problems that result in inefficient cleaning are things like: poor/inadequate training or the wrong products for the job. Corrective actions allow your school to get back on the path of cleaning efficiently, cleaning effectively and providing a good indoor environment.
Sickness from flu and colds costs schools millions of dollars each year in lost teaching hours. Students take time away from their studies and their grades suffer. Ultimately the Clean Standard: K-12 contributes to significantly improving the health, productivity, and ultimately performance, of students and their teachers.
How Disaster Recovery can assist schools in their cleaning efforts
By adopting ISSA’s Clean Standard K-12, Australian schools can greatly increase their standards of cleanliness. Using specialised cleaning companies, like Disaster Recovery, can help too!
By outsourcing major issues to us, such as cleaning up after a burst water pipe, we can assist your school in its cleaning efforts. Don’t leave processes, such as water extraction, to in-house cleaners. This needs specialised knowledge and machinery to avoid carpet water damage and mould build up.
If not dealt with correctly the issue can become worse and cause your school a lot of unnecessary expense.
Disaster Recovery has a 24 hour emergency hotline, please contact us on 1300 309 361 to talk to our cleaning specialists or drop us a message via our website.
