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Commercial contract cleaning provider, Ecocleen, has announced that it has been servicing 10 million sq.ft of schools daily to aid the reopening of education facilities across the United Kingdom. With specialist cleaning expertise and local account management, the company adapted its offering to meet individual school needs and expectations, during this unprecedented period, to ensure education facilities remain a safe and hygienic environment for students, teachers and parents.
The return to school has been controversial and unpopular with many parents and staff, who are concerned about the safety and practicalities of children returning to the classroom. Ecocleen has helped to provide certainty and reassurance by ensuring schools are fully and properly prepared when children return. Since schools started reopening in June, it has adjusted its cleaning specifications, in line with government guidelines, and introduced daily cleaning throughout school hours, focusing on main contact points to help limit the risk of cross contamination.
“The effects of COVID-19 have been paramount, and it’s had a huge impact on the education sector in particular. We’re proud to have helped students, teachers and parents return to some sense of normalcy by providing them with what they need to safeguard their school,” comments Jean-Henri Beukes, Managing Director at Ecocleen. “Schools are not experts in cleaning: they are there to educate, as well as look after their teachers and students. We’re on hand to understand the unique needs of cleaning schools, colleges and nurseries, and help them feel safe as education facilities continue reopening.”
As a national service provider with regional franchise ownership, Ecocleen has provided schools with a local cleaning solution backed by nationwide standards, systems and support. This means the education community has benefited from shared specialist knowledge, advanced cleaning techniques and technological innovation. The team has also been available to provide advice and best practices to ensure schools and its staff completely understand infection control procedures and the importance of routine cleaning to reduce the spread of infection.
“During the government imposed lockdown, we created a pop-up school to make sure all key worker children had a safe place to learn. We worked closely with Ecocleen to manage our limited number of cleaners and promote health and safety best practices,” explains Lisa Saunders, Operations Director at Maiden Erlegh Trust. “Since then, we have enhanced our cleaning routines to limit cross contamination in key contact areas and utilised our cleaning hours as much as possible. Looking ahead to the new school year in September, we have created a full reopening plan and Ecocleen has been a huge part in assessing the school risks and recommending enhanced cleaning solutions.”
During this challenging time, Ecocleen has also been undertaking joint monthly audits with education facilities to measure cleaning standard, health and safety compliance and customer satisfaction. In addition to monitoring guidelines set by the government, any operational issues are quickly identified, escalated and resolved. All inspections are stored electronically on Ecocleen’s centralised reporting system to enable smart analysis, gain operational insight and deliver ongoing improvements to education customers.
