Key factors to consider in washroom facility management

When you’re busy running a business you’ve got a million and one things to think about. Given the sheer volume of information, issues and questions which anyone in charge of a business has to deal with it’s understandable that a topic such as washroom facility management often comes fairly low in the list of day to day priorities.

This is a mistake, however, and a mistake which has been thrown into sharp relief by the emphasis on cleanliness and cleaning regimes forced onto every business by the advent of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Even as COVID-19 (hopefully) becomes nothing more than a bad memory, the standards which it imposed on every kind of business are those which need to be met by washroom facilities on a permanent basis.

What would happen if your washroom facilities weren’t properly cleaned and maintained?

The first problem this would throw up is that the maintenance costs of your washroom would immediately increase, as the kind of small issues often spotted during routine maintenance and cleaning are allowed to become entrenched and worsen until major repairs are called for.

The second and perhaps most obvious is that the conditions endured by anyone visiting the washrooms – i.e. employees or members of the public visiting your business – would slip far below any reasonable standards.

Any business owner has a duty of care to the people making use of the washroom facilities they provide, and facilities which are anything less than completely clean would not only represent a risk to the health and well-being of people using them, but also present a wholly unprofessional image to anyone – such as prospective customers or business partners – visiting the business.

If it’s accepted that washroom facility management is a vitally important function, then it’s worth asking whether something this vital should be handled in-house or outsourced to experts in the field.

Washroom management

At first glance, handling the management and cleaning of any washrooms might seem to be simplified by the appointment of a team based within your own ranks, but this is to ignore a few factors pertaining to washroom facilities.

The first of these is that the facilities within any contemporary washroom are highly specialised in nature. Anyone thinking that it’s simply a question of keeping toilets, wash-basins and tiled surfaces in good order is clearly basing their assumptions on the kind of washrooms which might once have been prevalent but are now firmly a thing of the past.

A modern washroom is going to be equipped with sanitary units which need to be collected and disposed of, air fresheners, vending machines, soap dispensers, complicated sanitising systems and warm air dryers.

Effective management of any washroom facility will entail ensuring that each of these factors is maintained in full working order and kept as carefully sanitised as possible. This is clearly going to require much more in terms of expertise than simply knowing how to handle a mop, bucket and wash-cloth, not to mention access to – and experience of – some specialist equipment.

Any team charged with maintaining and managing washroom facilities will also need the training required to be able to handle waste materials and expertise in highly specific aspects of the job such as toilet and hand towel systems – in particular the maintenance of proper stock levels – and the use of dust control matting.  

Facilities management in larger properties

The more washrooms your business has, the bigger this job is going to be, but even a couple of washrooms cleaned by an in-house team will demand a number of in-house operatives committing full time to the task of combining it with their other responsibilities.

For many businesses the more practical and affordable solution will involve outsourcing washroom facility management to experts in the field like Wixted Cleaning.       

Employing experts in the field will have the long term impact of reducing the amount of spend you have to devote to managing your washrooms. The initial outlay may seem higher but should be treated as an investment rather than an expense as, with the right choice of outsourcing company, you can relax in the knowledge that your washroom facility management is in the hands of experts, acting as an adjunct to your own team.

Responsibilities and expenses such as employing, retaining and training the members of that team will be off your hands, as will the on-going cost of providing them with equipment and materials. Instead, this will all be included in a single, predictable, regular payment, turning effective washroom facility management into a simple clerical task.    

In addition to saving money in the longer term, the use of a specialised contractor will ensure that only experts in the field are actually carrying out the task, and also that no members of your wider workforce are being asked to perform duties for which they have neither the experience nor the expertise.   

If you’d like to know more about the washroom facility management services provided by Wixted, please contact us today and we’ll explain exactly what we could do to cut your long term cleaning bills while making sure that you washroom facilities are always in the best possible condition. You can call us on 01525 406926, email us at enquiries@wixtedcleaning.com or use the contact form on our website. Clean and well run washroom facilities are a vital component of any modern business, and we can ensure that the work and time involved in getting the best possible results is taken out of your hands completely.