CMM spoke with Jess Baidwan, MESC, FMP, about the challenges of maintaining a diverse range of facilities for a Native American community in the Southwest.
How long have you been working in environmental services (EVS)?
Jess Baidwan: I’ve had a mop, duster or squeegee in my hands for over 40 years, starting as a small business owner, then working as a lead for an Institute of Inspection Cleaning and Restoration Certification (IICRC) company specializing in restoration and crime scene cleanup, both in Northern California. I have been working for the Southern Ute Indian Tribe in beautiful Southwest Colorado since 2009 and am currently the division
head of EVS.
What challenges do you face in your current position?
Baidwan: Like everyone, employee retention is a challenge. In addition, we have a huge variety of spaces to care for. The cleaning team maintains 600,000 square feet daily, including medical and dental clinics, a newborn-through-sixth-grade Montessori academy, a museum and cultural center, a police station with detention and dispatch, and the local recreational/community center with an indoor swimming pool. The team also cleans a multi-purpose meeting facility, industrial suites with a repair garage, an agricultural depot, building maintenance facilities and several administrative office buildings.
How have you made caring for all these spaces easier?
Baidwan: The solution is training that helps us overcome the hurdles of caring for all these types of facilities. We utilize training from the Indoor Environmental Healthcare & Hospitality Association (IEHA) and ISSA, The Association for Cleaning and Facility Solutions, including ISSA’s Cleaning Management Institute (CMI) and Cleaning Industry Management Standard, Green Building (CIMS-GB). I have deeply relished being a CMI trainer since 2013, offering training and instruction at ISSA events.
We have embraced new cleaning methods and have adopted engineered water as our go-to for sanitizing whenever possible. We love the results and the lower environmental impact this choice brings. For equipment, we currently use electrostatic disinfectant sprayers, ozone ionization generators and high-efficacy HEPA filtration systems.
What advice would you give to other EVS professionals?
Baidwan: I encourage all EVS staff to continue to be open to change: changes in chemistry, in procedures and in technology.
In closing, I would like to quote my friend and fellow EVS professional, Candido Rosario, associate director of operations at Fairfield University in Connecticut, who stated, “Custodial workers are the invisible engineers of our built environments, the quiet architects of cleanliness, safety and sustainability. Imagine a world where custodial work is not simply a job, but a trade, one as respected and formalized as carpentry, plumbing or electrical work. Where mentorship replaces burnout, and opportunity replaces invisibility.”
Let us continue to embrace the vocations we have chosen and make our environments better.
