Showing Safety, Proving Results By: Phillip Lawless Scanning and testing with measurement devices can help validate cleaning outcomes and ensure safe environments. F Phillip Lawless is Editor of Cleaning & Maintenance Management magazine; he can be reached at PLawless@ GrandViewMedia.com. A graduate of the University of Alabama at Birmingham, Lawless has over 13 years of professional writing and editing experience. for more info Visit www.cmmonline.com and type in search keyword: Technology. For more information on related products, visit www.cmmonline.com , select BUYERS’ GUIDE from the main navigation bar, and enter keyword: Meter. For centuries, buildings and other structures have protected humans from a number of common threats. Four sturdy walls and a secure roof have offered people safety from hun-dreds of environmental hazards, including weather, animals, sickness and even other humans. While the advantages of living in a structure were readily apparent, the need for interior cleaning was not as easily seen, and proper cleaning techniques were slow to develop. In the grand scheme of history, cleaning and maintenance tasks are still in their infancy; just 100 years ago, the safe removal of dirt from a building required manual sweepers and impractical machines. Cleaning tools such as mops, buckets and dusters took years to slowly evolve, and effective cleaning methods took years to develop as well. Over the decades, professionals tasked with cleaning commercial building interiors operated on the premise of cleaning for appearance — if a surface appeared to be free of dirt and grime, the job was done. But electronic measurement devices developed to gauge different facets of cleanliness and safety soon proved otherwise. Quickly, the trend changed from cleaning for appearance to cleaning for a healthy environment. These gauges let building service contractors (BSCs) and facility managers know that surfaces and environments that appeared perfectly clean and safe to humans commonly were not. Today, more electronic testing resources are available to professional cleaning operations than ever before. Results-based cleaning has become the industry standard, and meters and measurement devices are commonly used to test floor safety, surface cleanliness and air quality. Floor Safety When it comes to legal liability in a public building, slip and fall incidents are one of the biggest concerns. To address these concerns, a number of hard floor and walkway safety guidelines have been created by government entities and industry groups. 10 CM/Cleaning & Maintenance Management ® • September 2013
CMM – Archives September 2013: 10
