A few days before completing this issue of Cleaning and Maintenance Management (CMM), I met my mom after work for a quick bite to eat. Prior to leaving the restaurant, I stopped to use the restroom—which I must say, was beautiful and impeccably clean.
The restroom featured white subway tiles on the wall, clean fixtures, and a contemporary granite countertop. The floors had been freshly cleaned, and the appropriate signage was left in the doorway to make sure occupants were aware of the potentially wet floor.
However, when I walked into the stall, I was greeted by an interesting sight: a fruit fly in the toilet.
Given the clean, modern look of the restroom, something as small as a fruit fly should not have left me raising my eyebrows, particularly because I—along with my other CMM team members—read about the challenges associated with maintaining a restroom every day. However, it did immediately remind me how easily a person’s perception of a restroom can shift.
Based on CMM surveys and articles—and countless other surveys and articles in the marketplace—it’s pretty clear the industry has identified the restroom as a top problem area in facilities. We write about it over and over again, and many times have covered how to tackle this problem area with proper cleaning and disinfection processes.
With that in mind, I hope our 2016 Restroom Care Spotlight reads a bit differently than it has in previous years. Our goal was to offer a fresh take on caring for restrooms that would provide you with new information and insights. In this particular spotlight, we examine how restrooms in certain types of facilities—particularly health care environments and hospitals—may come with additional risks and considerations for building patrons. We talk about training employees specifically for restroom care in addition to how to properly utilize tools and equipment to prevent the spread the germs you are trying to eradicate.
We also will introduce a new section online this month, with the first article of the series exploring how mobility and interconnectivity are shaping the way we clean and care for facilities. This month’s feature highlights how this technology can advance restroom care in particular.
Of course, this issue also covers the essentials on restroom care tools and procedures; however, we hope after reading this month’s edition of CMM, you walk away with some new and valuable information to implement in your operation.
