FEATURE CLEANING RISING TO THE ESCALATOR CHALLENGE As escalators and travelators require special measures, they’re often cleaned less often than surrounding floors. But thanks to a new low-cost manual cleaning system, facility managers no longer face the dilemma of watching cleaning costs go up or cleaning standards go down, says James White, managing director of Denis Rawlins Ltd The problem – or what up to now may have seemed like one for facility managers – is that a different cleaning method is required. This raises a series of questions, and potential headaches. Do we risk damaging the electrics or causing corrosion of its metal parts by adapting our existing cleaning techniques? Should we invest in a specialised cleaning machine? What about training and then rostering those instructed in its use? Should we instead pay specialist contractors to do the job? How do we integrate escalators into routine cleaning? Can we justify the additional investment or expense? Queries like these provided an extra spur to our ongoing market research. We comb the world of cleaning for innovative technology and equipment. Sometimes a more technically advanced and sophisticated machine offers a competitive advantage over existing 24 OCTOBER / NOVEMBER 2016 CLEANING HYGIENE TODAY methods. But as our diverse product line-up shows, we’re agnostic as far as technology is concerned. Our focus is on cleaning results and cost-effectiveness. So it may seem ironic that the method that rises to this challenge for a mechanically driven floor surface is manual. Facility managers may also be surprised that the most effective way of cleaning their most expensive flooring asset is also the most economical. The solution, which is new to the UK, is the REN Clean system. This simple cleaning method relies on an engineered sponge pad that fits into the treads of an escalator. It is positioned and removed easily by one person. There is no need to stop the escalator or travelator, and no power supply is required. The actual cleaning process only takes minutes, so the entire operation is quick and avoids disruption. HOW REN WORKS Designed in the US, the REN cleaning system is covered by pending patent applications. When it comes to cleaning, most buildings have their hotspots, or perhaps a better term would be blackspots. These may be where footfall is heaviest, places most prone to spillages or slips, or toilet facilities where any inadequacy in cleaning methods or response times soon lets the customer (and the management) down. But there is another area that may be treated as a special case for cleaning, and it’s to be found in many retail stores, transport terminals and larger office blocks – the escalator. How often should an escalator, or travelator, be cleaned? By their electromechanical nature, they may be quite distinct from any other floor surface in a building, but in this respect escalators are no different. The level of traffic and type of dirt they accumulate – spilled drinks, dust, mud, salt, food and also grease build-up from their underlying mechanical parts – should determine the cleaning requirements. That may be daily cleaning for heavily trafficked escalators or weekly if the usage is moderate. So if the floors leading to or away from escalators are cleaned daily, the same cleaning frequency should apply as to those neighbouring areas. If the fl oors leading to or away from escalators are cleaned daily, the same cleaning frequency should apply as to those neighbouring areas.”
Cleaning Hygiene Today October-November 2016
To see the actual publication please follow the link above