Facility Masters

Maintaining restroom floors that not only are clean, but also look clean, can be a challenge. Selecting the right combination of sealer/finish, disinfectant, and cleaning procedures is key to proper maintenance for this unique, high traffic environment.  Our peers on the Facility Masters Listserv shared their best practices related to the proper care and maintenance for Terrazzo floors in restrooms.

“We use ‘Buckeye Castleguard’ on our Lavatory Terrazzo, as well as all the other Terrazzo. It holds up fine for the entire year. We alternate (every other day) our Quaternary Disinfectant and Peroxide based Sanitizer in our cleaning schedule to reduce build up film from the ‘Quat’. We have been getting complimented on the quality of the shine on our Terrazzo since we started using this product 13 years ago. Our corridors and lavatories shine like the first day of school on the last day of school.”

“We use Kaivac machines for cleaning and alternate every other day using Buckeye Terminator (Quat) or Marauder (Peroxide). We scrub and recoat the floor finish in the Summer adding 4-6 coats of Buckeye Castleguard. We’re careful to not build up too much finish along the perimeters and have not had to strip the finish in 10+ years.”

“The Terrazzo is ‘Verdi Green’, cement based terrazzo rather than resin based, and 60+ years old. It looks great other than under the urinals where they used to allow an acid based cleaner to run onto the floor and sit to etch the cement… but that was many years ago.”

“Lavatories are cleaned completely each night (15 minutes for a 4 stall gang lav).  My High School Lav ‘specialist’ takes care of 8 large gang lav’s, and 10 smaller lav’s along with the Weight Room with rubber floor, and other duties each night.”

Vinny Sicignano – Skaneateles CSD, NY

“We crystallize our floors, which eliminates using finish. It gives a nice satin finish and holds up really well. Did them last year and according to our vendor, won’t have to repeat for five years. They are easy to clean and don’t seem to be as slippery when wet.”

Brian Hartman – Lebanon School District, PA

Encouraging and enabling our maintenance and operations team members to expand their skills and advance their careers through professional development and training opportunities is essential to leading a workforce of employees who are experts in their fields and strive to maintain excellent facilities for learning.

This should most certainly include your custodial staff, which is responsible for ensuring that the educational environment is clean and healthy for students and teachers, as well as for ensuring that your facilities look clean and inviting for all who enter their doors.

A peer on the Facility Masters Listserv, Jerry Lamping, recommended the following professional development and certification programs for the custodial team:

“The National C.L.E.A.N.® Award from the National Education Association (NEA), the NEA Health Information Network (NEA HIN), and the American Cleaning Institute (ACI)  recognizes those who demonstrate outstanding leadership in school cleanliness, and reflects the contributions that education support professionals (ESP) can make to public health:  http://www.neahin.org/cleanaward/ ”

“The Center for Green Schools has a new Green Classroom Professional Certification that is available for teachers and custodians:  http://www.centerforgreenschools.org/main-nav/k-12/curriculum/Greenclassroom.aspx ”

“ISSA has the Cleaning Industry Management Standard (CIMS) Certification that applies to management, operations, performance systems, and processes. Compliance with the Standard demonstrates an organization is structured to deliver consistent, quality services that are designed to meet the customer’s needs and expectations.  http://www.issa.com/?id=cleaning_industry_management_standard_cims&lg= ”

“The IICRC is a certification and standard-setting nonprofit organization for the inspection, cleaning and restoration industries. One can get certification in specific areas of cleaning and restoration.  http://iicrc.org/iicrc-benefit/ ”

Jerry Lamping,  CGS Green Classroom Professional

The Facility Management Department Customer Satisfaction Survey at the top of the page has a section for custodial evaluations. Hope you find it helpful

http://www.facilitymastersonline.com/resources/facility-management/

Our colleagues write:

Glass cleaner is what we have used for years. It also saves on the cost of buying a cleaner just for the boards.

½ ammonia ½ water works great.

Warm water is what we have found in our school system that works the best

We also use a lite window cleaner. It works well.

A green cleaning program would use the glass cleaner approved for the facility.  Ammonia would be considered a health hazard and not approved for use in the school.

Some of my colleagues recommend cleaning white boards with only water and micro fiber wipes – and not use chemical cleaning products that leave a residue that will interact with the dry erase marker ink and cause heavy “ghosting “ – they report that cleaner residues impact the performance of any white board no matter what the brand –

In my experience, the primary reasons for prolonged resistance to backpack models is often tied to effective, consistent training and discipline of the individual user. The common misconception associated with the term “Backpack” lends a casual bystander to think the weight is carried and stressed placed on the back of the user. Anyone who has been properly trained and experienced with the ”Pro Team coach” series knows that this is not the case. In my organization the operators have been very vocal and expressive on their initial concerns. From a staff of over a hundred custodians there are only two exceptions who both have ergonomic issues from preexisting conditions that make the backpack unfeasible.  For these operators, substitutions have been provided in the form of an upright and a canister respectively.

What we discovered from analysis and survey was that each wearer needed to adjust the units to their particular body dynamics (As per training program) . As long as they remained the proprietary user of that specific device, then proper fit and weight displacement was maintained.  The straps around hips, chest and shoulders were correctly aligned thus keeping the center of gravity maintained over the hips as opposed to pulling backward or down on the shoulders. If logistics or budget require the device to be shared by multiple operators; then discipline comes into play at this point. This scenario requires the device be properly readjusted each time it is used. Once the fit was correct , the employment of the device with a consistent observance of body ergonomics was the last piece to a the puzzle. This retraining takes time to perfect but once the benefits and versatility are fully explored, then the operator can make full use over the course of a full shift and recognize time savings in areas of soil removal and time management.

The few holdouts who resisted change were allowed to express their objective opinions and concerns. The Pro Team representative was able to address these issues and conduct hands on, real time demonstrations and find realistic workable solutions.  With peer analysis, feedback and ongoing training to reinforce proper safety procedures for equipment use our transition was successful. My final assessment:  no one piece of equipment can do it all. The canisters and upright units have their place. It is still about finding the best tool for the job at hand to support IAQ, and overall cleanliness.

John Hillmon

Director Custodial Operations

Community Services

San Ramon Valley Unified School District