If you have a business in New Zealand, ensuring it is clean and sanitary will be top of your mind now more than ever.

With the global Covid-19 pandemic unfolding, businesses are under pressure to ensure social distancing, contact-less payments, disinfected and sanitised equipment, and contact tracing. All this is on top of general office cleaning, rubbish and waste removal, grounds maintenance and so forth.

So how do you remember everything you need to keep clean in your business, and how can you best manage it?

Identify the areas you need to keep clean

The first thing to do is to identify the areas in your business that you are responsible for keeping clean and tidy. Depending on your business, you will have a different list. For a general office, the list might look like this:

• Office desks, cubicles, reception
• Bathrooms
• Carpets and hard floors
• Walls and ceilings
• Windows, inside and out
• Exterior building washes
• Rubbish removal

Other businesses, such as gyms will need to include:

• Equipment sanitisation

Property managers might need to include:

• Common areas
• Entrance-ways and carparks
• Gardens and trees

Builders might need:

• One off building cleans

Work out what you can manage and what is best referred to a contractor

Let’s face it, there are some things we’re great at, and others are best left to the professionals. If you are an office manager, you probably don’t want to be cleaning the toilets, emptying the rubbish bins, or cleaning the windows.

A commercial office cleaner can take care of that work for you. Commercial cleaners have some really great tools and apps they can use these days, which can help ensure that nothing is missed, and open simple and effective communication between you and your cleaners.

Depending on your cleaning company they may be able to clean more than just your offices, they may also be able to steam clean the carpets, strip, buff and polish your hardfloors and clean your windows.

It’s also important to remember your exterior spaces. Regularly cleaning your exterior building walls will help extend the life of the paint and cladding of your building. And don’t forget the carparks and surrounding gardens. For large tree maintenance, you’ll want to find a qualified arborist.

How often do I need clean my workspaces?

How often you need to clean your workspaces will depend on the size of your building, how many people use it daily, and what your business trade is.

Large businesses would require cleaning services daily – vacuuming of floors, cleaning of toilets and emptying of bins. Smaller offices would need to be cleaned weekly.

It would be a good idea to chat with your commercial cleaner to see how often they recommend cleaning your spaces.

Why do I need to regularly clean my workspaces?

Keeping your workspaces clean has many advantages:

Adds value to your products and services.

Ever bought something from a dingy, dirty place? Or had dinner in a grubby restaurant? How did it make you feel about the product you bought or the dinner you had? Did you wonder if the product was any good? Would you buy a very expensive item from a dirty place? Would you recommend a dirty restaurant, or feel comfortable that your meal was hygienically prepared?

Ensuring your workspaces are clean, tidy and safe helps to show your customers the value you place on your services and products, and reassure them of their quality, hygiene and care.

Creates a safer, healthier work environment

Did you know that there are typically around 10,000,000 bacteria that live on your office desk?! Keeping your workspaces clean creates a healthier, safer work environment. That means less sick days for staff and a better, happier environment that your staff are happy to be in. It will also attract a better kind of staff member, someone who appreciates the value of clean and the value of giving the customer the best experience possible.

Extends the life of your buildings, fittings and coverings

The more regularly you clean your carpets and buildings, the more you will prolong their life. This means less repairs and less cost.

All in all, no matter what your business, keeping your workspaces clean and tidy is crucial to your success. Whether you are a website design company, a boutique bed and breakfast, a large restaurant, or a corporate office – you will show value to both your staff and your clients with a clean and tidy workspace.