CLEANING LIKE A NASCAR By: Ruben Rives Pit Crew Although it takes more than 14 seconds to properly clean an area, professional cleaners can learn from the specialized speed of pit crews. Ruben Rives, chief execu-tive officer (CEO) of Miami, Florida-based H2Only Renewable Cleaning Inc., is a renewable cleaning advocate and foundational supporter of the nonprofit Process Cleaning for Healthy Schools Consortium (PCHS). He has been in the cleaning business for 20 years, with special focus on infection control. Rives can be contacted via e-mail at [email protected]. I It’s possibly time to stop whining and start winning. If you agree, you have much in common with the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR) pit crews that keep race-cars winning through specialized, team-oriented, organized work. Exactly how do they do it? Let’s explore traits of NASCAR pit crew mem-bers and see how a Process Cleaning for Healthy Schools (PCHS) program may help cleaning man-agers emulate these winning teams. workers and budgets.” NASCAR pit crews, like winning cleaning teams, first analyze the entire set of job functions, coordi-nate the work and then decide what tasks must be done and in what sequence. Just like your custodial staff utilizes a teamwork approach to complete tasks, so, too, do pit crews. And, although only a handful of individuals might be visible at any one moment, there are numer-ous axillary and support staff working behind the scenes to ensure smooth operation. Seconds And Training Count According to one pit crew school instructor: “It’s amazing how much time students can shave off a pit stop with just minimal instruction.” In setting up the first PCHS teams, Morrison used a stopwatch to determine the quickest and easiest way — in terms of processes and tools — to get the job done. “By using a stopwatch, we determined the best tool and approach to use in vacuuming a class-room,” Morrison said. “We typically use back-packs, well-trained workers and a precise route — known as the ‘loop method’ — to keep times Team Players All members of a NASCAR pit crew have a spe-cific job precisely orchestrated and synchronized with the rest of the team. According to Rex Morrison, founder and presi-dent of the non-profit PCHS Consortium, “In process cleaning, we begin by workloading the entire building or group of buildings so we know exactly what must be done and when. Then, we assign and train specialists to get the job done in the quickest and easiest way to ensure an afford-able, healthy outcome with the lowest stress to for more info Visit www.cmmonline.com and type in search keyword: Standardization . For more information on related products, visit www.cmmonline.com , select SUPPLIER SEARCH from the main navigation bar, and enter keyword: Process Cleaning . 12 CM/Cleaning & Maintenance Management ® • March 2012
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