Take Action to Reduce the Risk of Slips, Trips and Falls in Your Facility with a Checklist
Injuries incurred within the slips, trips, and falls category remain at the top of the list of safety concerns, which is why the topic is always one of the themes highlighted in National Safety Month. We encourage you to download our e-book outlining strategies to reduce risk, and to utilize this supplemental checklist for a comprehensive approach to prevention.
☐ Spills – employ best practices for immediate reporting, blocking off and clearing away of spills and puddles.
☐ Trip hazards – eliminate all types of electrical cords and institute rules around keeping areas free of boxes, packaging, and debris.
☐ Walking surfaces – mark uneven surfaces, slopes, and areas of flooring transition. Temporary detours may be necessary.
☐ Floor materials – perform wet and dry testing of floor materials to assess and address potential risks.
☐ Mats – use nonslip, absorbent mats with beveled edges in entryways, food prep and high traffic areas.
☐ Grates – install metal grates that can capture debris and dirt to prevent buildup.
☐ Distractions – initiate rules and post signage to restrict cell phone use while walking.
☐ Signage – well-designed signs promote visibility and engagement; use electronic signs that change color or messaging to respond to the environment.
☐ Stepladders – ensure they are of approved material, in good working condition with a working locking device and that they are set up on level ground.
☐ Straight ladders – educate employees about the proper placement of straight ladders and check for good working condition.
☐ Stairways – ensure stairwells are wide enough for two-way traffic, with anti-slip surfaces and handrails professionally installed on both sides. Stairwell should never be used for storage.
☐ Handrails – keep them in good working order at the proper height and free of dirt, debris, ice, and snow.
☐ Landscaping – ensure someone is responsible on every shift for clearing away wet leaves and fallen branches.
☐ Striping – use adhesive striping material or anti-skid paint on outdoor walkways and parking areas.
☐ Soft skills – give facilities staff the tools and knowledge to respectfully remind others to follow all safety practices.
☐ Dollies – make resources like dollies widely available and accessible for moving bulky items or heavy packages.
☐ Lighting – maintain proper lighting indoors and out with timers and motion detectors.
☐ Job Safety Assessment – schedule regular walkthroughs, including outdoor spaces and consider risks with a critical, objective view.
Finally, as with all strategies related to facility services, these practices must be adapted to your specific facility—and you must revisit them frequently including with any change to the environment due to rebuild or modification.
Facility Services Operational Excellence in Action
On January 1, 2022, UG2 began a partnership with an exciting new customer — one of the country’s largest veterinary schools. The expansive facility also houses a veterinary hospital and research center.
The specialized environment of veterinary science (including health care, animal husbandry and laboratory care) leaves no room for error in addressing needs effectively and proactively. From UG2 leadership’s initial meetings with the customer, we knew they were focused on infection prevention and control, the care and protection of both animal and human beings, operational excellence and in maintaining a pristine facility that protects the health of every animal patient, human visitor, student, medical staff and associate.
Having developed a thorough understanding of the school’s immediate and long-term goals, UG2 quickly brought in account director Elizabeth Lanzaro and an environmental services team who together had deep expertise in infection controls, environmental services, linen procedures, client services, operations leadership, health care, labor management, and strategic advising.
Because performance was a high priority from the outset, UG2 leaders partnered with the customer to initiate a quality score program. The new program utilizes detailed job tasking, computerized inspection software, adenosine triphosphate (ATP) testing, black light audit tools and customized periodic schedules that are adjusted to meet customer demands of the physical environment and procedure types. Performance is measured by the customer, UG2 and a third party reported back to the team to create a culture of accountability down to every member of the environmental services team who in turn understand their ability to impact the care and health of the patients.
When implemented programmatically, the program yielded an immediate impact, with a performance rate that has remained consistently high, and a culture focused on the elimination of carbapenem-resistant enterobacterales (CRE) as well as other common community acquired and/or health care associated infections (HAI) since the program’s implementation. CRE are different types of germs (bacteria) that commonly cause infections in healthcare settings. Examples of germs in the enterobacterales order include Escherichia coli (E. coli) and Klebsiella pneumoniae. These germs represent a risk to our patients and to the public health.
With the right staff on board, Elizabeth and her team strategize daily with hospital and UG2 leadership to advance a wide range of improvements:
- Focusing on a proactive/task-based work process versus an on-demand model of responding to issues after the fact.
- Reducing dependency on a medication management provider through a proactive approach to meeting department needs.
- Routinely rounding with staff to identify and address evolving support or training needs.
- Working with key leaders to identify the right skill set for their environmental services staff—non-clinical healthcare staff who work to ensure a safe environment for everyone in the facility.
- Completing extensive restoration and improvement to public areas, waiting areas, lobby entrance flooring and terrazzo flooring in surgical areas and wards and completing restoration of exam rooms, cages, emergency, and primary care departments.
- Upgrading to innovative new equipment, training staff on a customized environmental services approach, and introducing a color-coded microfiber cleaning program.
Hiring to fit the culture, training to fit the program
Elizabeth has a team of 25 full-time employees who were carefully selected and trained to match the unique needs of this customer. They credit their success to getting to know each individual, placing team members in the right position and departments, and providing an excellent onboarding experience along with ongoing training.
“Creating a safe work environment is paramount to maintaining strong teams that work well together,” says Elizabeth. “It is essential that you welcome and promote diversity and inclusion, and that you work to create a culture of shared governance, accountability and respect.”
Elizabeth credits the strong, recurring training with the advancements her team has made in infection prevention.
“We are very proud of our training programs,” she says. “When we clean an area, we swab and test the area to see how efficient our cleaning has been. On the ATP equipment we use, 250 as a spore count threshold, so 249 and below is a passing grade. Our surfaces here are 50 and below, going down into the single digits is the staff’s goal.”
Leveraging UG2’s health, safety, and infection control protocols
UG2 implemented evidence based, data informed practices around employee health, safety, and infection control from ensuring standard precaution protocols and hand hygiene to operating high-performing disinfection processes and UV light delivering robots and to preventing slips and falls. The company’s deep expertise meant we were ready to hit the ground running when it came to the importance of ensuring pristine high-touch surfaces, effective laundry processes, and unmatched terminal cleaning.
The impact has been profound. A recent assessment by an independent auditor afforded the customer a cleanliness rating above the 90th percentile – a rare achievement in health care circles and near elimination in CRE. The accomplishments the customer has achieved by partnering with UG2 have not gone unnoticed in the field.
“Our customer is developing a reputation among the veterinary educational industry for having an excellent infection prevention program,” says Elizabeth. “Other universities are reaching out to them for guidance. They wanted to know how they accomplished such success and what programs are in place. The first thing the university leadership tells them is, ‘Partner with UG2.'”
How to Keep Your Campus Safe and Running Smoothly
Matthew Randall, UG2’s Director of Facilities, recently published a timely article on facilitiesnet discussing back-to-school season—and the key components to earning stellar grades in facility management on campus.
In “Get Ready For Back-To-School With A Facilities Management Score Card,” Matthew offers a checklist of items to keep in mind that is tailored to the unique circumstances facility managers face in the current climate. Students, faculty, and staff are navigating a complete return to campus while COVID-19 continues to hover and, potentially, cause disruption. Still, facility managers can leverage the expertise gleaned over the past two-and-a-half years to earn top grades across the board—and finish the semester with high marks.
Safety is at the core of Matthew’s guidance, which touches on a number of considerations and strategies:
Health and the Community Nature of Campus Life
Creating and maintaining connections has never been more important to students, faculty and staff. Encouraging community while keeping people safe involves particular attention to disinfection protocols. Matthew highlights best practices to consider.
- Give common spaces a break. When possible, close off common spaces for 24 hours to allow HVAC systems a chance to mitigate airborne particles.
- Stagger the schedules of mission-critical employees. Assigning alternating shifts for key staff will decrease the possibility that essential players will be waylaid by an outbreak at the same time.
- Track visitor activity with sign-in stations. This practice allows you to follow up with someone who tests positive by targeting appropriate disinfection protocols.
- Continue to prioritize disinfection. Make sure teams are systematic about cleaning and consider leveraging digital tracking technology such as Near Field Communication (NFC) tagging.
- Stay well-stocked. Keep supply chain challenges top-of-mind and at a minimum, store a month’s supply of key custodial supplies.
- Broadcast your care and attention. There is a public relations aspect to facility services. Use signage, targeted communications, and even “Disinfection Team” t-shirts for custodial staff to let visitors know their safety is your priority.
Optimization of Operations and Maintenance
Your O&M team relies on you for help with the challenge of keeping equipment up and running while keeping costs in check. Matthew shares the strategies that have worked for him.
- Prioritize preventative maintenance. Don’t let your plan fall through the cracks.
- Tweak equipment for efficiency. Make sure equipment is operating within its design specifications and monitor for emerging issues.
- Track equipment lifecycle. Base replacement decisions on historical data rather than waiting for something to go awry.
- Optimize energy consumption. Leverage your Building Management System, follow schedules and use motion sensors.
Worker Safety as Top Priority
Packed, busy campuses can make for added safety hazards. Matthew shared some of the safety strategies he has refined over his career.
- Guard against distraction-related injury. Remind workers to pause the task they are engaged in if someone interrupts.
- Avoid injury from repetitive motion. Organize equipment, systems, and schedules to minimize risk.
- Conduct Job Safety Analysis. Make sure your existing JSAs are aligned with your current environment.
- Be strategic about signage. Use signs to mitigate risk in appropriate locations without overwhelming the space.
Like all members of our leadership team, Matthew is happy to share the wisdom he’s gained with experience. Are you looking for more guidance on earning top grades in facility management this semester? Read the full article at facilitiesnet, or contact Team UG2
It Could Make or Break a First Impression
When people enter your facility, there are many things you want them to notice. You want them to see how clean it is, how orderly the lobby and rooms are, how surfaces sparkle. There are also things you don’t want them to notice. Topping the list? Smells that make people wrinkle their noses.
Smells are one of the impactful senses we have. But too often, buildings smell stale, musty or, in some cases, pungent. Even cleaning products can be off-putting when their odors are overpowering. And as the CDC has noted, some can be hazardous to health.
Strong smells may make people avoid certain places in your facility. Or, in today’s world when everyone is hyper-aware of cleanliness and health risks, they may leave the facility and choose not to return.
The Most Common Problem Areas
Odors can impact every part of your facility. For instance, carpets or even nearby dumpsters can infiltrate the air with bad smells. But certain spaces – like bathrooms – are more common offenders.
In one study, 77% of respondents said smell is the first thing they notice when they go into a bathroom. In men’s restrooms, urinal cakes are one of the biggest culprits. Custodial staff sometimes pile them up to mask the smell, but the high-perfume scent can be overwhelming.
Other areas where smell can be an issue are custodial closets. If used supplies and buckets of dirty water are stored there, their smells can seep into the hallway. In older buildings, sewer smells can also come up through custodial closets and from other sources.
And what about food areas? People don’t typically think of them as places that give off unpleasant odors. But nobody wants a cafeteria that smells like grease or when break rooms and surrounding office spaces smell from the microwaved fish or popcorn. Not only can the smells be offensive to the point where people start to eat and congregate elsewhere, they can also distract people from their tasks at hand.
Fresh Smells Have Far-Reaching Impacts
Facility services teams should aim for the highest air quality with a fresh-smelling environment that is free of pollutants. Not only is this comforting to occupants, it can positively affect their moods and performance.
For instance, studies reported in Scientific American show that odors affect how people think and behave. They found that people who worked in the presence of a pleasant-smelling environment reported higher self-efficacy, set higher goals and were more likely to use efficient work strategies than participants who worked in a no-odor environment.
Pleasing smells were also found to improve vigilance during tedious tasks, whereas foul odors impaired people’s judgments and lowered their tolerance for frustration.
Preventative Maintenance Eradicates Foul Odors
Preventative maintenance and frequent cleaning go a long way towards helping your facility stay odor-free. Here are a few of the practices UG2 staffers are adamant about following:
- Cleaning bathrooms regularly so you don’t have to use urinal cakes to mask smells, and taking care to use strong – but not potent-smelling – cleaning products everywhere in the facility.
- Containing and eliminating odors that would otherwise seep out of custodial closets by emptying pails of dirty water, adding water back into sewer traps, and ensuring appropriate air filtration systems are in place.
- Paying special attention to maintaining HVAC equipment, using MERV 13 filters, and scheduling frequent fresh air exchanges.
- Maintaining kitchen equipment, filters, and ducts so the mechanicals don’t break down, and keep air circulating so that cooking smells can be whisked away.
Fresh-smelling facilities are inviting. They provide a sense of cleanliness and can even help lift people’s moods and make them more productive and energized.
Want more tips on how to make your facility even fresher? Contact Us
First impressions form quickly, last long and are very hard to overturn. Studies have shown that it takes less than 27 seconds of meeting someone to create an impression. The same thing happens when people walk into your facility.
Impressions are formed through 5 senses: sight, smell, sound, touch and taste. A positive encounter can contribute to your success. These days, everyone expects facilities to be clean and comfortable so it’s important to take all the measures you can to keep your facility feeling pristine clean and safe.
In our 5 senses blog series, we’ll look at each of the senses and how to make them shine, starting with Sight.
Seeing is Believing
What do people see when they drive onto your campus, walk into your building, and step into your restrooms? Are the lawns manicured? Is the parking area well-lit and free of debris? Are floors sparkling? Is signage clear?
When it comes to sight, lots of little things can add up to create a positive or negative impression. One piece of trash on the floor may go unnoticed, but four or five won’t. Smudges on a glass door may be forgiven, but not if they’re followed by overflowing trash bins.
Your facility’s appearance can have larger impact on visitors or occupants than you may realize. For instance, one study found that in offices where employees thought cleanliness was lacking, 72% said their surroundings made them less productive. Nearly half (46%) took longer lunch breaks and spent less time in the office, and a quarter said they took sick leave because their surroundings were depressing.
Remember also that tenants and visitors may adjust their behavior to fit the environment they’re experiencing. Seeing your facility service team mopping spills right away, wearing fresh, clean uniforms, or straightening out a chair as they pass through a room, may inspire others to keep their surroundings clean and orderly.
Here are just a few of the ways UG2 ensures our team continually creates the best visual impression for your facility:
- We communicate regularly so everyone understands what each of our customers expect in terms of facility cleanliness and staffing.
- We discuss how to best interact with your facility’s occupants and visitors, including how to listen and react to their feedback.
- We encourage our team to take their jobs personally, to care about the smallest details, and we recognize and reward them when they do.
- We are proactive in order to deliver the highest standard of facility services.
- We adjust schedules based on your occupancy and traffic.
- We conduct cleaning and landscaping inspections, review results with our team and yours, and course correct whenever needed.
- We provide staff with the best-suited cleaning and landscaping tools and technologies, so they have everything needed to make your facility shine, inside and out.
How Each of the 5 Senses are Important in a Facility
John Harris, Director of Facilities Management and one of our resident experts, recently shared some intriguing insights in a recent issue of FMJ.
UG2’s stellar reputation for customer service is no accident. We consider every aspect of customer experience on both the micro and macro levels, including some details that might surprise you. In the article, John discussed how customer experience begins the moment a person steps onto a property and takes in a space through their senses.
A customer’s sensory experience of a space can lead to a range of reactions from lingering and recommending the space to others, minimizing time spent there, or avoiding the space altogether. John explained the key points for facility managers to keep in mind:
Sight: It’s all in the details. As you would expect, a facility’s appearance makes a huge impact. In one study, 72% of employees said they were less productive in an office environment where cleanliness was lacking. Nearly half took longer lunch breaks and a quarter said they took sick leave because their surroundings made them feel depressed. What helps? Details like fresh flowers and potted plants, orderly lobbies and green water filter lights demonstrate a level of care that resonates with every visitor.
Smell: Fresher is better. Stale-smelling environments and those emitting too-strong scents of fragrance or cleaning products are all a turnoff for visitors. Air quality matters now more than ever, and people prefer spaces that smell naturally fresh and free of pollutants. Frequent cleaning, well-maintained HVAC equipment, the use of MERV 13 filters and frequent fresh air exchanges all make a major difference. Special attention to cafeterias, restrooms, and custodial closets is essential.
Sound: Strive for quiet. Research has found that noise negatively impacts concentration, productivity, and creativity. FM teams should take a broad approach to reduce unpleasant sounds. That means ensuring air vents do not rattle, equipment doesn’t have any loose parts, vacuums don’t disrupt, and hammering isn’t happening while people are trying to work. Managers can help by scheduling cleaning off-hours when possible and prioritizing preventive maintenance.
Touch: Keep it smooth. Surfaces like elevator buttons, counters and desktops are an immediate turnoff when they are sticky. That makes frequent cleaning a must. Facility managers should be aware of the cleaning products in use, and ensure they aren’t leaving behind sticky residues that collect dust and grime. Effective ways to counter the problem include keeping hand wipes at the ready and using door hangers that say “Please disinfect” on one side and “Office is Clean” on the other.
Taste: Consider the literal—and the metaphorical. No one wants their meal to taste like the equipment it was cooked in or the last dish that was warmed in the microwave. Properly maintained equipment, including air exchanges, makes a difference in food preparation and the overall experience of visiting a facility. And, in a literal and figurative sense, facility managers don’t want customers, visitors, tenants or employees leaving a space with a bad taste in their mouths. For more guidance on keeping customers happy in your facility, read the full article at FMJ, or get in touch with TeamUG2.
Operations & Maintenance Tips For Your Facilities
From vulnerability to mold issues to COVID concerns to overextending the grid, your HVAC and refrigeration systems warrant expert attention year-round — but we are entering the season that really taxes these systems.
We asked our TeamUG2 experts to weigh in with their best tips for preparing your systems for summer:
Stay on top of the guidance. Best practices have evolved over the course of the COVID-19 pandemic. Building owners and managers should review and understand the newest guidance from the American Society of Heating Refrigeration and Air Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) on air exchanges within a space, temperature, humidity and pressure relationships, filtration requirements, and the use of ultraviolet germicidal irradiation (UVGI) to protect building occupants.
Take steps to increase air circulation and filtration. Ask your facility services partner what more you can do to comply with Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommendations, including the advice that facilities maximize the use of outside air.
Replace, upgrade and seal filters. A full assessment of filters includes those in air handling units, VAV boxes and fan powered terminal boxes. You can also look to increase the minimum efficiency MERV rating value on air filters. (ASHRAE recommends MERV 8 or higher) You can also tape the seams of your filters with duct tape to keep unfiltered air from penetrating coils.
Perform a deep cleaning. Disinfect cooling and heating coils and condensation pans, as well as all parts of a system involved in air exchange. Cleaning coils with an antibacterial cleaner will mitigate the risk of many viral contaminants making it to the airstream.
Consider Ultraviolet Germicidal Irradiation (UVGI). This strategy uses ultraviolet light to disinfect HVAC coils in large air handlers, killing microorganisms including mold, flu viruses and bacteria on coils, surfaces, in water and in the airstream. The approach is to improve indoor air quality, provide clean, efficient HVAC operation, and reduce maintenance and energy costs.
Coat floors in mechanical and equipment rooms with microbiological paint. This low-cost, high-impact strategy reduces dust and other particulates that can get into the building’s air handling system. Not only does this type of paint kill multiple types of contaminants upon application, it also makes surfaces resistant to microbes for years afterward.
Install/change your water filtration media. If you don’t currently have water filtration, this is a great time to install them. This will eliminate potential contaminants, such as those that develop when water sits stagnant in a system and can turn into a potential legionella risk.
Identify the right level of cooling and ventilation for unoccupied areas. Whether you’re responsible for a school that’s closing up for the summer or an office that is partially occupied post-COVID, low-cost corrective measures and increased attention to preventative maintenance and energy management systems can reduce energy costs and prevent mold growth.
How Commercial Buildings are Leading the Way
Commercial office buildings and properties are the pulse of our cities and suburban centers, and, after two years of upheaval and uncertainty, their robust return is delivering communities a much-appreciated sense of normality and optimism.
Visitors, tenants and employees are back, and they deserve to be welcomed by pristine workspaces, gleaming conference and kitchen spaces, neatly kept trash and recycling areas, and well-stocked and sanitized restrooms. Ensuring that even the highest-traffic areas remain squeaky clean builds confidence, comfort, and a competitive advantage for our customers. TeamUG2 account managers, porters and janitors are out front and ready to ease concerns about safety in the workplace.
Day after day, long before visitors arrive and well after the last employee has gone home for the night, TeamUG2 professionals are taking expert care of commercial properties, from Class A office buildings to office parks and lifestyle centers.
Our teams bring the benefit of having worked on the frontlines through the pandemic, adapting to new information and refining best practices. As thought leaders, we take pride in sharing our insights so that the industry and larger community can benefit from all we’ve learned.
Here’s how TeamUG2 is making commercial building maintenance better than ever:
360-degree cleaning services. We continuously refine our cleaning practices to respond to changing conditions and to your evolving needs. We excel at everything from core services like restroom, conference room and kitchen disinfection to specialized offerings like green cleaning/LEED Compliance and quality management reporting, and waste stream and recycling.
Stellar operations and maintenance. Our O&M track record is unmatched, and we have an expansive menu of services to meet your needs, from plumbing and electrical to wastewater treatment and critical alarm monitoring. We hire and train top talent, provide ongoing professional development, and boast an employee retention record that outshines our competitors — so our front-line employees and their managers know their role inside and out.
Responsive tenant services. We know that today’s environment demands that you maintain a competitive advantage as you work to attract tenants or employees and keep them happy. Our à la carte menu of services allows you to tailor our expertise to your precise needs, from event coverage and moving services to snack wall provisioning to concierge and workplace services to porter services.
Meaningful adoption of innovation and tech. Data and technology are becoming more and more integrated with building management systems. Staying on top of our game means understanding how data analytics can drive preventative, corrective, and predictive maintenance. We know that different customers have different levels of in-house expertise when it comes to using data, and we prioritize taking the time to interpret and communicate an understanding to tenants, property managers and stakeholders.
Elevated services for a higher level of confidence. UG2 ReNew was developed to keep everyone safe by minimizing risk of infection and ensuring that we are taking every measure to protect our customers and their visitors, tenants, and employees. The program delivers heightened levels of cleaning and disinfection along with maintaining adequate levels of staffing with employees who are specially trained in the services our customers rely on.
When it comes to the big picture, what makes these services work is our willingness to work with you. Together, we can come up with an effective plan to give your property the attention it requires, so that you can focus on your core business.
While every industry has unique needs when it comes to facility services, life science environments are in a class of their own.
Fortunately, so are we.
Our life science customers benefit from our breadth of experience in maintaining sensitive environments. Partnering with UG2 means expanding your team’s reach and gaining expertise in risk management and compliance, streamlined business processes, and reduced long-term costs.
We’ve built long-term partnerships with the companies at the forefront of technology, medicine and innovation. How do we excel in such unique, demanding environments?
Our teams are specially certified to work in life science environments, with niche expertise in everything from room pressurization and fume hood disassembly to glass washing and inventory restocking to sterilization and vivarium care. We have an unmatched track record in specialties like HVAC, clean power supply, plumbing, wastewater treatment, formal lab services, and cell culture.
We leverage our advanced training modules — and yours — to build an in-depth understanding of your space. We start with highly motivated and extensively trained teams, and then we provide them with the time and opportunity to master your standard operating procedures and unique process needs. Our employees continuously build on their institutional knowledge of your facility — including your people, processes, and equipment.
We take ownership. In these high-stakes environments, accountability must go beyond self-performance checks. We build safety into all we do and take responsibility for our work every step of the way, prioritizing transparency, and communication so that our customers are never left in the dark. We partner with you closely to maximize prevention and to anticipate and reduce risk.
We tailor our team and services to your needs. Our expertise extends outside the lab. Some customers require a C-level executive, a risk management expert, or an expert in process refinement. Our teams can turn to highly skilled executives and managers who have decades of specialized experience.
We put safety first in all we do. UG2 was built on a foundation of safety first.We incorporate safety checks and communications in every action and interaction, and we enforce rigorous safety standards tailored to every property and facility we service.
Your workspace is important to your mission — and ours. That’s why we structure our services to ensure pristine facilities, sound protocols, and a productive, mutually beneficial relationship for the long-term.
Feel Confident with Facility Services Experts You Can Trust
More and more businesses are dipping their toes into return-to-work scenarios, and while some employees are excited by the prospect of reuniting with their colleagues, reconnecting with their workspaces and cutting down on the video meetings, others are understandably feeling more hesitant.
Throughout the pandemic, UG2 has been on the frontlines of making spaces safer—from schools and universities to office buildings, public venues, retail establishments and more. One thing we know for certain is that information is power. That’s why we’re taking this opportunity to review some of what we’ve learned over the past two-plus years and share how it informs our confidence in our approach to protecting our customers, their facilities and the people who rely on them.
Preparedness pays off. Because we built UG2 on a foundation of safety, we have always prioritized PPE and skills-building around specific resources and technology. We had deep reserves of supplies at the onset of the pandemic, and our employees were already well-versed in adopting different protocols to meet the varying needs of our customers.
Innovation and technology lead the way. Our approach has always been to augment proven processes with state-of-the-art equipment and an emphasis on innovation and technology. Those core tenets allowed us to ramp up quickly when customers required enhancements like mobile geofencing or touchless technology to increase safety and security.
Training and reinforcement. From our very first day in business, UG2 was committed to developing the most highly trained teams in the industry. Before they even begin working with customers, our employees have been through extensive training, and we build on that knowledge continuously. That means when situations require a shift in practices, we can introduce the change seamlessly and we have the processes in place to assess progress and reinforce learning.
Adaptability is essential. The pandemic served to demonstrate just how nimble TeamUG2 can be. Our employees were already accustomed to cross-training and adjusting because we continuously refine our practices. That proved essential with ever-shifting guidelines and mandates, and time and again, our teams showed that they were more than up to the task.
Communication allows for true customization. We take pride in developing custom services for our customers, and our ability to do so allowed us to bring in best practices and adapt them for different facilities — or for a single facility’s evolving needs. Tailoring processes and protocols to our customers’ needs instead of relying on a cookie-cutter response means a safer in-person experience for everyone.
The past two years brought into sharp focus the essential role facility services and janitorial staff play in our economy, and our health and well-being.
Those of us in the industry already knew of the incredible behind-the-scenes dedication demonstrated by our TeamUG2 pros. The pandemic gave us a crystal-clear reminder of how fortunate we all are that our essential workers have our backs —and it also magnified our gratitude for our customers who partner with us and entrust us with this critical work.
Our cleaners are the best in the business.
You don’t have to do the math to know how much value our teams bring to our customers’ (although we are always happy to show you the numbers!). It works out because we provide our janitorial teams with industry-leading training, resources, professional development, and support — while they bring a level of care, commitment, tenacity, and unflappability that frankly leaves us in awe.
Working for TeamUG2 means mastering all of our own best practices as well as the processes and practices we tailor to individual customers’ needs. Being on our team also requires the ability to pivot and re-train to meet the demands of ever-changing protocols.
Our management teams gain their experience from the ground up.
UG2 prides itself on hiring from within. Developing talent at every level benefits our employees and our customers, because it means that the professionals running your project or site bring first-hand knowledge to their roles.
These opportunities for advancement allow us to attract and promote top-tier talent, leading to exceptional leaders who outshine the competition and go the extra mile to surpass your expectations.
We deliver state-of-the art technology and innovation along with proven practices.
We strike the right balance with a “keep it simple approach” that is accessible and scalable – and informed by the latest innovations and technology. Our data-informed, transparent services give customers exactly the level of insight they require to be confident their facilities remain safe, welcoming, and squeaky-clean.
From deep cleaning and disinfection to waste stream and recycling to green cleaning and quality management reporting, our processes and practices set the industry standard. And every move we make is driven by rigorous safety standards informed by ongoing training and the latest research.
We’re incredibly proud to partner with you.
Our people-centric approach means that our employees and our customers tend to stick around for a long, long time. That allows us to learn your organization and your industry, to excel at what we do, and to build the strong relationships that make us so proud to be on TeamUG2.
Success Achieved by Working Hard and Making a Positive Impact
Imelda Martínez Hernández’s hard work, generous support for her peers, cheerful demeanor and stellar reputation with customers have propelled her up the professional ladder at UG2 since she first joined the company in June 2021.
After starting with UG2 as a night custodian, Imelda earned promotions to night lead and day site lead before her most recent advancement to site supervisor.
Imelda takes tremendous pride in her work and loves helping her team succeed. Our customers have frequently expressed their deep appreciation for her, and West Coast Regional Operations Manager Alex Romano shares their gratitude for Imelda’s contributions.
“I was really happy to be able to offer Imelda this position,” said Alex. “It’s rewarding to see someone grow into a role where you know they will have a positive impact for customers and for our teams.”
Imelda was thrilled to accept the promotion and cannot wait to take on the challenge of her new responsibilities. She hopes her fellow employees working on the front lines in this challenging time are motivated by her story, and that it helps them dream big— because, as she says, “Anything is possible!”
Imelda lives in San Diego, and when she’s not busy providing above-and-beyond service to every UG2 customer she encounters, she loves spending time with her close-knit family.
When she looks ahead to her future with UG2, she is most excited about helping and supporting the up-and-coming generation of UG2 employees, and witnessing how they grow and thrive in the company, as she has.
How UG2 Stands Out Ahead of Our Competitors
Even though the COVID-19 pandemic wreaked havoc and caught our communities off guard in many ways, UG2 had long-established processes that enabled us to respond quickly and effectively on behalf of our janitorial teams and customers. Our mission — which includes setting the standard of excellence for facility services — left us well positioned to assess and implement data-informed best practices as understanding of the virus has evolved.
Our success in keeping our employees and customers safe by developing COVID-specific practices and protocols reflects the commitment to service and innovation that are foundational to UG2.
Here’s how we stand head-and-shoulders about the competition:
Hiring and training the best talent. Delivering the highest quality customer service starts with valuing our own people. Our very low turnover is a testament to how we treat our teams. We recruit employees who care about their work; provide them continuous training, mentoring, and opportunities for advancement; and prioritize hiring from within.
Adapting quickly to local, federal, and customer-specific guidelines. Our communications with our teams and customers have always prioritized emergency planning, safety preparedness, process improvement, and ongoing training. Incorporating our customers’ specific needs and practices into our approach is just one example of UG2 acting as an extension of our customers’ leadership teams.
Utilizing only the highest-quality products and delivering sustainable cleaning practices. Our bench of cleaning products and chemicals includes those that are not only proven to be highly effective, but they also comply with OSHA regulations consistent with the U.S. Green Building Council LEED EB-OM’s specifications.
Implementing UG2 ReNewSM. We launched UG2 ReNew to ensure we are taking every measure to protect our customers and their visitors, tenants, and employees. The program delivers heightened levels of cleaning and ensures that we maintain adequate levels of staffing with employees who are specially trained in the services our customers rely on.
Prioritizing technology and innovation. UG2 works to stay on top of technological innovations and to apply existing technologies in new ways, from communication chips embedded in badges and self-checks on facial recognition clocks to disinfection tracking with QR codes and air quality monitoring through wall sensors.
Emphasizing proven processes. Process is quality control and that is a differentiator that sets us apart from the competition. Long before COVID, we were keeping our teams well-supplied in PPE, cleaning, and janitorial products; continuously training employees on best practices; and conducting ongoing assessments to refine our approach.
Above all else, we are proud of our transparency, communication, and deep relationships with our customers, and we are grateful for the partnerships we continue to build on with long-time janitorial customers and newcomers to Team UG2.
Embracing Each Step Towards a Successful Career
Kevin Arzu had plenty of experience managing customers and employees when he joined UG2 in February 2018. He had spent three-and-a-half years as a store manager in technology retail, and had demonstrated tremendous success increasing his store’s sales, profit, and conversion rate.
“I’m a little bit competitive,” he laughs. “I took a store from having a conversion rate of 8% a month to a steady 13%. It was a hard road, but the biggest thing is finding the right people. One thing I’m grateful for at UG2 is it’s kind of the same thing – you want to find the right person to do the right job, and I was able to bring that experience into my role here.”
Well before coming on board, Kevin knew firsthand that UG2 was a company that invested in its employees for the long term. His wife, Nereida Barbosa, has worked her way up from cleaner to account manager with the company.
Despite his previous management experience, Kevin chose to start as a cleaner in the Boston Back Bay area.
“I was initially hired to be a manager, but I had been out of the cleaning industry for a few years,” he says. “I took a step back and asked Greg Lanzillo, my operations manager at the time, if it was okay for me to go up the (career) escalator ladders, learn the rules, and get a better understanding of what we do.”
Kevin spent nearly nine months working for Jose Lagares, who quickly saw Kevin’s potential and served as a key mentor in supporting Kevin’s advancement through the company.
“Jose challenged me to see what we were missing, to find the inconsistencies,” says Kevin. “He is just an awesome guy who can help people see things as a coachable moment versus just being told how to do their job.”
Looking to challenge Kevin, Jose put him in charge of a project, and Kevin embraced opportunities to not only learn and excel at his own job but to pay close attention to others’ jobs and how they approached them. His attention to detail along with his penchant for problem solving proved essential when Boston experienced back-to-back snowstorms and Kevin proved himself adept at crisis management, prioritizing jobs while juggling equipment issues.
That hard-earned success brought a new opportunity: working with Alex Pena as assistant area manager for his portfolio of 50+ buildings.
“It gave me a bigger horizon,” says Kevin. “I was able to experience what a manager would do on a day-to-day basis managing multiple accounts. It gave me almost two years of great experience, and then working with Alex when COVID-19 happened was an even greater learning experience. I learned more in-depth about using the right chemicals and avoiding cross contamination and got a better understanding of what we do here and how to be successful.”
When Kevin eventually earned another promotion to his current position, account manager, he wanted to give back by spending time with his replacement, Christian Aguilar, to convey some of what he had learned along the way which is what he had experienced from his own colleagues and mentors.
“One thing I will say about UG2 is the way that I was received when I came on board,” Kevin says. “It was always open arms. It was always, ‘Hey, listen, do you need this? Do you need that?’ And that’s what made me fall in love with the company.”
Innovative, continuous training that is part of UG2’s dedication to service delivery
From day one, UG2 has implemented extensive and ongoing training for employees, as a way to ensure our customers are provided with the latest innovation and techniques. We’ve never been a “one and done” kind of company that offers training and then maybe an annual refresh — instead, we see continuous education as part of our service delivery model.
That’s why we’ve been moving toward a more formal, certification-based milestone for our innovative program known as UG2 ReNewSM, a comprehensive solution launched in April that mitigates the risk of infection from COVID-19 and other viruses. UG2 ReNew includes operating procedures, communications strategies, and technology enhancements that align with the company’s mission to deliver pristine and healthy environments with a five-star level of customer service.
By creating the UG2 ReNew training program, UG2 is providing assurance to customers and facility occupants that we are holding our employees to a high standard, one that maintains the elevated level of facility services we have always had as our mission.
UG2 ReNew consists of two programs, tailored to the unique needs of each client:
- Cleaning4Health: New protocols for cleaning, sanitizing, and disinfecting all high-touch surfaces in areas throughout a facility, from those used by individuals and small gatherings to large groups and the general public.
- Engineering4Health: New operations and maintenance protocols for environment management that help prevent the spread of infectious disease through HVAC and refrigeration systems, such as filtration, air exchange, air stream disinfection, and the use of advanced technologies such as HVAC needlepoint & tube-style bipolar ionization and ultraviolet germicidal irradiation.
Each program includes three phases that enhance technology, operations, communications, and protocols. While UG2 employees are extensively trained in these programs before being part of ReNew teams, they have ongoing support and education to ensure that they’re getting the most up-to-date and comprehensive training possible.
The UG2 ReNew certification program is still in progress as a formal milestone, but the training has been ongoing since the launch of our UG2 ReNew program. We’re proud to offer this level of education to our employees, because we know it impacts our customers directly, and maintains our level of excellence in how we assess, respond, and manage infectious disease prevention.
As we’ve all learned in the past six months, virus threats change quickly. At UG2, we’ve developed this level of training to make sure we always stay more than a few steps ahead.
Returning to work is important, but even more crucial is an effective, long-term plan
Understandably, many companies, schools and organizations are laser focused on getting back to normal but there’s going to be a “new normal.” As people begin to occupy shared spaces again, of course it’s important to make sure those areas are ready, including implementation of protocols that will emphasize health and safety. Are you prepared for the new normal? Without a solid plan in place that anticipates needs for facilities management, you will be forced to take a reactive approach—trying to solve problems and put out fires as they happen, while other issues are fueled by a lack of a cohesive strategy.
That’s why it’s vital to think beyond Day 30 or Day 60, but even further ahead to Day 180. What protocols will you have in place six months after you re-open? Answering that question now can help ensure you actually get to that milestone.
Looking Ahead
Obviously, with a pandemic like the coronavirus, there is still much uncertainty, especially about potential future waves that could send us all back home again. But that should enhance your momentum and focus, not cause you to take a “one day at a time” approach. The more stability you can put into place now, the better prepared you’ll be if you do have to pivot and change your operations.
The goal with a 180-day plan is not to eliminate risk completely—an impossible task—but rather, to mitigate the risk of infection while offering assurance to everyone who is in your facilities. That peace of mind is essential to getting operations running again.
To meet that need, UG2 has developed a 180-day operational roadmap that includes four main pillars of recommendations:
- Operational Changes: As cleaning protocols ramp up, there needs to be a multi-phase plan that reviews building occupancy specifications, repurposes staff, identifies areas that need to remain closed to building tenants, anticipates ramp-up levels of occupancy, and evaluates cost management.
- Communication Strategies: When it comes to health and safety, communication is key, and those who use a building should have a wealth of information when it comes to strategies like desk sanitization, social distancing, fitness center usage, cleaning protocols, breakroom usage, security desk processes, conference room use, and more. These are important to put in place immediately, and to augment with longer-term efforts like ongoing training and program enhancements.
- Technology Enhancements: Every facility will have distinctive needs when it comes to implementing technology, and it’s helpful to look ahead at what may be required months down the line. For example, it may be helpful to install more automatic cleaning and disinfection products before a workforce returns, and later augment that with enhanced scrubber options.
- Contract Structures: With changes in operations, increased scope in terms of cleaning and disinfection, and new requirements for managing a facility, contracts need to be reviewed and likely amended to accommodate these shifts. Defining staff hours and basing that on occupancy should be clearly articulated. Contractual requirements that were sufficient just a few months ago may fall short now as you’re redefining what you need to move forward.
As you plan the months ahead, consider implementing UG2 ReNew, a program that helps you navigate, adapt to, and thrive in the “new normal”, with elevated services that provide exceptionally pristine and healthy environments.
You need more than just “deep cleaning” to maintain a healthy environment
As campuses prepare for reopening, all of them are emphasizing a strong focus on extensive cleaning and disinfection to make spaces safer for staff, faculty, and students. But what does that mean? Even the phrase “deep cleaning” doesn’t necessarily include the multi-level, multi-stage effort that’s required to mitigate the risk of infection—while keeping maintenance and janitorial staff protected.
By understanding the main protocols of a comprehensive cleaning program, you can put your campus on track to have a meaningful and effective approach to reopening. There are four key phases that can take any campus from a reactive to a proactive approach, based on the UG2 ReNewSM Cleaning4Health program. Listed below are the four main cleaning protocols for campus reopening:
General Housekeeping: This is the deep cleaning and disinfection that will be required to keep every occupied space cleaner and safer. Not only will all high-frequency touch points be cleaned, but they’ll also be disinfected using an EPA-registered antimicrobial product suitable for non-enveloped viruses. Housekeeping should also involve pre-cleaning heavily soiled non-contact surfaces like walls, followed by antiviral disinfectant.
Response to Isolated Incidents: What if a faculty member tests positive for COVID-19 but has been using her office and lecture hall for the past few days even though she had symptoms? Or if several cafeteria workers test positive and the kitchen needs to be closed down? The fact is, outbreak events will occur on your campus. Not having a cleaning plan for them—including training on how to handle contaminated materials—in advance could put you at a significant disadvantage.
Disinfectant Spraying Systems: When it comes to optimizing your cleaning protocols, automated systems can be a boon. Innovative spraying technology such as electrostatic sprayers allow for 360-degree surface coverage and sanitize rooms 80 percent faster than conventional methods.
Personal Protective Equipment: Absolutely, you need to do everything you can to keep your facility services team members safe. That means supplying all cleaning personnel with the right kind of PPE, such as gloves, goggles or face shields, and making disposable particulate face masks available.
While a more extensive plan for general housekeeping is crucial, having only that phase in place can cause campuses to fall short of what they really need to maintain health and safety on an ongoing basis. Although the emphasis right now is on reopening, that is only a short-term situation—for more insight about longer-term approaches, see our recent blog post, The 4 Phases of Reopening for Higher Education—and focusing only on deep cleaning could expose you to risks, potentially just weeks after opening.
Most significantly, these cleaning protocols don’t follow one another, they coincide. They happen simultaneously, which means they make each protocol stronger and boost protection and safety throughout a campus.
Expanding Your Knowledge
In other previous posts, we’ve covered why colleges and universities have unique needs for reopening and what your institution will need to get ready for re-entry. Check back next week for insights on how engineering can boost health on campuses.
As you consider the phases of reopening and everything that needs to be put in place for short-term and long-term success, don’t hesitate to contact UG2 to talk about your specific needs. If you’re in higher education, now is the time to build capability and resources for reopening, and UG2’s deep experience and insights have proven valuable to a range of educational clients.
We can offer operations, maintenance, custodial, and management resources, and also work with your in-house facility services staff so you get additional industry expertise, operational knowledge, greater purchasing power, and more access to specialized equipment, all without adding to headcount. Our new UG2 ReNew Cleaning4Health and Engineering4Health programs are designed to ensure you have what you need, well before anyone returns to campus—and long after they’re back, too.
How to prepare for health and safety, now and into the future
Prevention is a powerful strategy for creating higher education spaces focused on health and safety—both now, for reopening campuses, and into the future, as a proactive way to keep those campuses pristine, cost effective, and well maintained.
By putting the right amount of preparation and planning into the process and understanding that reopening and maintenance will involve different phases, higher education can achieve a comprehensive prevention approach. These are four main phases that can take any campus from a reactive to a proactive track, based on the UG2 ReNewSM program:
ReSet: Preparing for day one. This is when the cleaning, disinfecting, and sanitizing can be intensive, and it’s also when updated maintenance schedules and protocols should be established. The campus should be deep cleaned, and prepared for occupancy through a wide range of operations updates, from changing all the filters to flushing the plumbing to cleaning HVAC coils. All of these steps play a critical role in virus prevention, and in offering safety assurance to faculty, staff, students, and parents.
ReTurn: This phase begins when some campus buildings open, with limited occupancy. This is usually a shorter phase, but an incredibly important one, because it will give you an idea of the comfort level for those who are returning. It can also show gaps and shortcomings in your plan, such as inadequate signage, changes in shared space usage patterns, and mechanical and maintenance issues that need to be addressed.
RePopulate: In this phase, the campus has fully opened and buildings are functional and adjusting to new protocols. This is where communication is paramount, conveying details and expectations about new rules, changes, and updates on the importance of prevention strategies so that everyone on campus knows their role in health and safety. This is also the phase where observation is key, to understand how spaces are being used, whether airflow is sufficient, if more disinfection is required, and whether cleaning specifications needs to be adjusted.
ReCalibrate: This will be the ongoing phase of continuous operation, where that observational data is used to inform modifications and improve planning and prevention. Unfortunately, health experts believe Coronavirus will be with us for a long time, possibly even after a vaccine is developed. Every campus needs to keep that in mind, and continually pivot based on what students, faculty, and staff require. That requires ongoing recalibration of protocols and processes.
Right now, as campuses plan to reopen and take the first steps toward creating a plan, most are in ReSet mode. While that’s crucial to implement, that’s not a phase an educational institution can maintain prospectively, months after reopening has occurred and needs have changed. Knowing the different phases—and, crucially, when to transition into each–will be an integral part of keeping a campus healthier and safer for months and even years ahead.
Expanding Your Knowledge
For more insight, check out our last post, What Your Institution Will Need to Get Ready for Re-entry. In upcoming posts, we’ll continue to do a deeper dive into the specific phases of cleaning protocols, and how engineering can boost health on campuses.
Be sure to check back weekly for these posts, and don’t hesitate to contact UG2 to talk about your specific needs. If you’re in higher education, now is the time to build capability and resources for reopening, and UG2’s deep experience and insights have proven valuable to a range of educational clients.
Our new UG2 ReNewSM Cleaning4Health and Engineering4Health programs are designed to ensure you have what you need, well before anyone returns to campus—and long after they’re back, too.
Opening the doors again is only the first step—here’s what you need to maintain health and safety
As more states ease stay-at-home restrictions, thoughts naturally turn toward what’s needed to maintain a safe and clean environment. As part of the UG2 ReNewSM program, reopening involves three phases that can ensure operational efficiency, greater security, and higher levels of cleaning and disinfection.
ReTurn
Zero to 60 days and/or 50% office usage
As buildings begin to be occupied again, this phase is about reviewing building occupancy specifications and repurposing staff to meet the needs. For example, more cleaning personnel may be added at during the day to ensure a higher level of disinfection.
This phase also comes with identification of high-touch points in shared spaces, with a plan on how to keep those clean throughout the day, not just during a once-daily cleaning. This might include entry doors, elevator call buttons, handrails, door handles, faucet handles, coffee machines, vending machines, copy machine touchpads, and conference room tables.
Cleaning protocols will be reviewed, especially for open work areas and shared spaces, and most likely, certain areas may be closed to all building tenants to maintain cleanliness, such as break rooms or fitness centers.
To help returning tenants, this phase also includes increased communication, including signage that reminds them about social distancing, handwashing, desk sanitizing, and safety protocols.
RePopulate
60 to 120 days and/or 50% to 75% office usage
After a few months as tenant occupancy increases, UG2 and building management will increase staffing levels to compensate for additional activity. For example, day porter staff will likely be increased to provide greater awareness and services within a space.
At this phase, it’s likely that places previously closed—fitness areas, indoor seating spaces, and shared kitchen areas—will begin to be opened, as long as social distancing can be maintained. Because of this, new cleaning procedures and equipment will be implemented, particularly if occupants are using these spaces frequently. Communication in this phase includes program enhancements, safety updates, and changes in protocols.
ReCalibrate
120 to 180 days and/or 75% to 100% office usage
As tenant occupancy increases towards full usage, UG2 and building management will again evaluate staffing levels to ensure that additional activity and use is not compromising cleaning and disinfection protocols. Most likely, day porter staff levels will level off while night cleaning staff will be increased, to account for greater building occupancy.
With more staffing and disinfecting needs comes incremental costs, so an important part of this phase is to look at procedures that can help offset cost. For example, that might mean centralizing waste management services, or leveraging supply chain partners in a more effective way. Communication efforts will continue to emphasize program changes and safety updates.
Recognizing that our customers have different needs and timetables for reintroducing people into the workplace and onto campuses, UG2 ReNew offers a comprehensive, methodical approach aimed at mitigating risk and providing a healthy and safe environment for all.
Follow these 8 tips for a healthier, better-protected, well-prepared workforce
With conferences and events getting cancelled and novel coronavirus COVID-19 spreading to more states and communities, employers need to act now in order to maintain health, peace of mind, and productivity for their workforces. Some planning now can help you mitigate the risk of exposure while still keeping your company running strong.
UG2 offers these tips on how your company can be proactive:
1. Focus on social distancing
This is the buzz phrase of the moment and for good reason. The more people there are in a space, the higher the risk that coronavirus can spread. That’s why we’re seeing sporting events without attendees, cancelled events, and the Pope conducting Mass through Skype. But social distancing can be useful and achievable in the workplace, too. Consider using teleconferencing via technology like Zoom, Skype, and Slack instead of having in-person meetings, and limit or cancel company events to mitigate exposure.
2. Limit non-essential travel
Another important tactic when it comes to social distancing is cutting down—or even cutting out—travel (for now). Even though the coronavirus hasn’t (as of this writing) hit every state yet, health experts are already advising that people should travel only when necessary and to avoid being around large groups of people. Also, there is a possibility that some areas may go under quarantine if the situation worsens. You don’t want your employees stuck for weeks, or even months, away from home—only to come back and face additional weeks of quarantine because of their travels.
3. Encourage working remotely
Particularly for those who may be at higher risk—older employees and those with chronic illnesses that affect their immune systems—being able to continue working safely is crucial. Employers should be thinking about how to set up workflows that utilize technology like shared online documents, instant messaging, and video conferencing. This is also a good way to be proactive when it comes to potential school closings, which is already happening in certain U.S. locations. Check with your technology team to ensure that you can put secure network resources into place to support the workload of the entire company if all employees are told to work remotely. It may not come to that, but you want to be prepared if it does.
4. Make disinfectant wipes available
Shared spaces should be kept cleaner than ever at this time. Have disinfectant wipes handy can prompt employees to use them more often. For instance, place some wipes in kitchens and bathrooms, as well as other common areas like conference rooms. Also let employees know that it’s important to keep workspaces clean, whether that means desktops, the handles of warehouse loading equipment, or inside the cabs of delivery trucks.
5. Promote healthy habits
Although many of the current coronavirus strategies are short-term solutions, some experts are noting that those with less-than-ideal health habits, like smoking, may be at higher risk for infection. As part of your prevention plan, emphasize that keeping your immune system strong means not just frequent hand washing (although that’s crucial), but also eating fruits and vegetables, getting enough sleep, exercising regularly, and lowering tobacco and alcohol use.
6. Prep for staying home sick
It is important to tell employees is that they should stay home if they’re sick. This is relevant not just for coronavirus, but also for flu season, which is still in full force. Encourage employees to prepare in advance if this should happen, so they don’t have to run out to the grocery, pharmacy, and other locations when they may be contagious. Help them set up technology resources they may need, and suggesting having enough food, water, pet supplies, and medication on hand for at least 30 days.
7. Look at your policies
The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) suggests that employers revisit their sick leave policies and ensure that they are flexible enough to allow any sick employee to stay home. The CDC also advises that companies not require a healthcare provider’s note for return to work, since doctors’ offices and medical facilities may be extremely busy and not able to provide documentation in a timely manner. Also, that policy may expose employees to illness unnecessarily.
8. Increase cleaning procedures
Even if you have a cleaning plan in place, you may want to consider additional cleaning services that can provide more extensive disinfection. Talk with your UG2 contact to ask about what’s available.
The CDC emphasizes that the best strategy for employers is to “plan, prepare, and respond” to COVID-19, which includes staying on top of ongoing developments. Know what’s happening in your area, and let employees know that you’re there to support them.
The heart of every educational institution is its people – the educators, staff, and students who compose the community. In order to flourish and learn, the community needs a clean, safe, and well-maintained campus. While every school needs a year-round facilities program, there are some tasks that are tougher to tackle during the busy academic year. Summer is a great time to do some off-season work to get ready.
Here are some facility services elements to consider for your campus
Trip and Fall Hazards
Summer is a great time to scan the passageways and walkways for potential hazards such as loose bricks, crumbled cement, overgrown roots, and unseated thresholds. Assign each team member a zone of campus for a walk-through to discover any obstacle or problem that needs repair. It’s easier to shut off an area for maintenance before the students come back to campus. And it’s far better to take the time to conduct the repair now than risk harming anyone in a trip or fall accident.
Deep Cleaning
People are germy, and campuses are loaded with touchable surfaces in classrooms, lecture halls, cafeterias, and dorms. A typical cafeteria checkout keypad has more than 13,000 organisms, this fact derived from a cleaning product firm SaniProfessional. Doorknobs in men’s dorm rooms contain more than 1.5 million bacteria colony forming units per square inch, this fact derived from College Stats. That’s one thousand times the CFU per square inch of a typical toilet seat. Bacteria can live on gym equipment for days.
These germs are just as harmful as cracked pavement to your community’s health. Preventing the spread of bacteria and germs can reduce illness and absenteeism. The summer is a perfect time to deep-clean every surface and to establish a disinfecting and sanitizing routine for year-round practice.
Systems Check and Maintenance
Campuses require significant HVAC and other facilities systems – now is the best time of year to perform routine cleaning and maintenance and to repair any faulty systems. Don’t wait until a plumbing issue creates a no-water situation for an entire dorm or cafeteria; invest in preventive maintenance to minimize impact to the community. Routine cleaning and repairs cost less in time, money, and stress than those done under emergency situations. Schedule systems maintenance for the slower summer months and ensure peak performance for the busy seasons ahead. An added bonus: many routine maintenance tasks result in changes that save energy and improve systems efficiency.
Energy Efficiency
It may be more than just a poorly functioning boiler that is driving up your campus energy costs – every campus should conduct a top-to-bottom energy audit twice a decade. At UG2, we partner with energy specialists to check all energy and engineering functions of the campus, including HVAC systems, hours of operation, occupancy, and sequencing for all controls. The resulting energy profiles enable us to recommissin controls, profile energy usage, and review all energy control measures (ECMs).
These audits often identify more than two dozen conservation measures that pay for themselves over time in reduced energy costs. We also can work with utilities to defray the up-front costs of implementing changes.
Grounds and Landscaping
Well-maintained campuses can be visual show stoppers – students, staff, and visitors all enjoy strolling the grounds. First impressions matter for prospective students, too, so campuses should invest the time to stay on top of the maintenance. Trim low branches and overgrown shrubs, weed and mulch all beds, and review all pathways for obstacles that could hinder leaf and snow removal. Because before you know it, the seasons will turn and we’ll be ready for a new cycle.
Many higher education facilities have the luxury of a “slow” season to manage these tasks. Take the time now to do the deep work and it will be easier to implement a strong routine for facilities maintenance that keeps your campus at its best year round.