The pandemic has increased everyone’s awareness of how viruses can be spread and increased focus on hygiene, in our personal and working lives.
According to a recent survey by Harrison Wipes, reported in Cleaning Matters Magazine
“91% of people are more aware of cleaning measures put in place in public space, while 60% of workers have taken on extra cleaning responsibilities since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic”.
The survey also found that the majority of people feel more confident if they can see visible evidence of cleaning taking place.
Another finding from the survey was that 73% of people who work outside of their homes have taken on additional cleaning responsibilities alongside their normal work, whether it’s being responsible for cleaning their own workspace, other work areas, or public spaces.
73% say they have more responsibility for cleaning at work
Cleanliness in commercial premises
It’s no longer just the cleaning team who are responsible for the cleanliness of commercial premises, more and more of us have to play our part, so it’s important for businesses to have efficient cleaning and hygiene procedures in place, otherwise productivity is likely to suffer.
Another UK survey, carried out by Pelsis Group and reported in The Cleanzine found that 87% of respondents said that the hygiene of places they visit is now more important to them than before the pandemic, with 53% saying that businesses needed to do more to improve hygiene. Our interpretation of that is that, whereas an acceptable level of hygiene may have been taken for granted in most people’s minds in pre-COVID days, many people now want to see more visible signs of hygiene measures in place.
87% say hygiene is more important in places they visit
As we discussed in a previous blog “Cleaning Trends for 2021”, it seems to us that visible signs of high cleaning standards on commercial premises can go a long way towards making staff and customers feel safe and at ease.
According to recent research commissioned by ABM UK, as reported in the Facilities Management Journal, only 2% of people think that cleaning is something that should be done behind the scenes, compared to only 20% pre-COVID. Hand hygiene and surface disinfection are critical, but in our view, it’s much broader than that.
By maintaining your business premises so that they not only are clean but look clean and sparkling, as well as being prepared to let people see that cleaning is actively being carried out, you will contribute to improving confidence as well as helping to stop the spread of viruses.
We’ve experienced an increase in demand for certain types of cleaning equipment since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, and have been interested to find out about people’s attitudes to cleaning and sanitisation.
We have carried out our own survey to better understand the impact of COVID-19 on UK businesses’ cleaning routines. The survey is now closed and we will be publishing the findings here soon.
Blog updated 29/11/21
