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The past year has made us question the very basics of cleaning. It has made us question the hygiene practices that we followed before the pandemic. It has made us revisit every aspect of cleaning - schedules, frequency, checklists, chemicals and equipment alike. Housekeeping has played a pivotal role in forming hygiene protocols that adhere to the new normal. They have been at the forefront of the pandemic in every country. Let’s take a brief look at what experts from different countries have to say about best cleaning practices.
EGYPT
Maria Vekakis, Executive Housekeeper, Cairo Marriott Hotel and Omar Khayyam Casino, Egypt, says that after the COVID-19 pandemic, cleaning has been more about keeping surfaces shiny and removing debris. It is about sanitation and disinfection and maintaining healthy indoor environments for occupants.
According to Maria, best practices that will benefit the cleaning/hospitality industry must be broken down into guest rooms and public areas. Guest rooms after checkout are to remain closed for 24 hours. This will give adequate time to air the rooms, apply the suitable chemicals for disinfection and proceed the following day with a thorough cleaning. Steam cleaning the room is also advisable. Attention must be given to high touch points: Telephones, door handles, furniture knobs, sockets, A/C thermostats, bathroom fixtures. Last but not least in cooperation with the hotel’s Engineering department A/C filters must be cleaned.
When it comes to public areas, maintaining a designated team or person who will disinfect high touch points, elevators and countertops, every hour or once people have moved away from the counters is important. Through their vigilant watch, these dedicated employees show customers that companies are caring for the health and wellbeing of guests and employees.
Maria suggests the following best practices to be followed while cleaning:
- Maintain quality control systems by inspecting and auditing facilities. Quality controls are a very important component for any facility, as they provide continuous improvement, increase guest satisfaction, limit rework, guide in keeping environments cleaner and healthier and controlling costs.
- Inspect what you expect.
- Look after repeated trends. Data can be retrieved either by guest surveys or by findings after physical checks.
- Work out a plan and focus on inspecting during the following 7 to 10 days the deficient item or area. By checking and reminding the cleaning attendant to focus on that particular task a habit is created. In the end the area of concern will be improved and the cleaning attendant will not forget to overlook that area or item.
SAUDI ARABIA
Ahmed Anwer, Executive Housekeeper, Mansard Riyadh, A Radisson Collection Hotel Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, believes that housekeeping and hygiene standards are more important than ever to today's guests. Therefore, he is always updating the best practices and updating the team training program.
Some of the best practices Ahmed adopts are:
-Utilizing technology to ensure the highest levels of hygiene and sterilization. These include special disinfectants, UV scanning kits, and high-level filtration cleaning equipment.
- Ahmed’s hotel has partnered with SGS, the world’s leading inspection, verification, testing and certification company to give our guests greater peace of mind.
- Ahmed believes that every new technology adds more value to the cleaning machines and saves time, effort and cost. We are using ride-on and walk-behind machines that have wider cleaning areas, so that more surface area can be cleaned in less time.
- In the laundry facility, Ahmed uses detergents & chemicals that increase efficiency and reduce water usage.
“Our best practices and most important resource to ensure the highest level of hygiene in our hotel are our dedicated team of housekeeping professionals trained to do whatever is necessary to ensure the highest level of guest satisfaction. The super clean and comfortable room will be a constant concern of guests when they start to venture out and travel again!,” says Ahmed.
Syed Usman, Soft Services Manager, Saudi Arabia, says that GCC redefined itself as rising from ashes and deserts at least for 5 to 6 decades, and it is not only known for spending billions on building just skyscrapers but made its presence tangible in the economy, world class tourism and facility, military, safety, reaching Mars, in technology, etc.,- you name it the GCC has it.
Having said this, the GCC is still undergoing a rapid speed of changeover and redefining itself out of which one of the very important fields is in cleaning. Syed gives a shout out to how the industry has moved from the typical and unsafe practice of cleaning the façade using a cradle with chemicals to rope access steam cleaning which is highly user friendly. Secondly, cleaning and disinfection has moved on to the use of advanced cleaning chemicals, which clean and disinfect at the same time from a single specialized chemical. Thirdly, cleaning has been phased out from multiple steps of cleaning to just one or two steps of cleaning as advanced chemicals do not not reduce the life of or damage the surface in the long run.
OMAN
Eng. Mohammed Salim Al Ghafri, General Manager Shared Services, Mwasalat, Oman, highlights three best practices that have made a difference for Mwasalat:
1- Continuous cleaning on frequently touched surfaces
Mwasalat has deployed an in-depth cleaning for the daily services. This was reflected in distributing the cleaning staff in all main bus stations to clean the frequently touched surfaces in all busses such as the hand rails, chairs and door handlers to ensure the passengers safety.
2- Provide an enhanced sanitization:
Mwasalat has provided an enhanced sanitization process to all public transport buses by using a Nocolyse solution that contains Hydrogen Peroxide. The process is done without human interaction while disinfecting the buses to ensure fully safe and clean sanitization. This solution is an advanced sanitizing product which is similarly used in
the disinfection of the surgery operation room in the hospitals.
3- Ensure efficacy and effectiveness:
Mwasalat demonstrates a continuous check on the efficacy and effectiveness of the cleaning and sanitization process. This started with a process to approve the chemical product by referring to the List N Tools to find the approved disinfectants from the body of Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Further, the cleaning process is evaluated, and risk assessed with the supplier to include all health and safety mitigations. Then, during the day to day sanitization, a quality check is conducted by putting a tablet in the corners which is supposed to change in its clear when completed the sanitization process provides insurance for an effective cleaning process.
UNITED ARAB EMIRATES
ABHISHEK GHOSH, Executive Housekeeper, Howard Johnson By Wyndham, Bur Dubai, UAE, takes forward the legacy of Indian hospitality ‘Atithi Devo Bhavan’ (Guest is a God). According to him, it is not an easy task to maintain a bunch of 123 rooms, restaurants, conference halls, pools and recreational areas in these revolutionary times.
It needs an implementation of planning and persistent training of staff to improvise with a detailed schedule of cleaning of public areas and rooms with ingenious equipment including water filtration vacuum cleaner for cleaning mattress, sofa and carpet to remove mites, bodily fluids and microorganisms.
Additionally, Abhishek is upgrading the skill of each staff member by providing them with Certification of Wyndham School of Hospitality, Health & Safety courses, Intra & Cross departmental training.
“Moreover due to this current scenario, to retain precise safety we are putting an effort to move forward towards a NO-CONTACT cleaning regime. We are practicing the Steam machine for High Touch points, ULV fogger for fogging in public areas especially in guest’s room before conducting proper cleaning regime. Currently an individual packed bed and Bath Linen for each room has been assigned from laundry itself,” says Abhishek.
GO-GREEN is one of Abhishek’s key prioritizing practices. Power of triple “R” - Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle liaising by using larger quantity of wall mounted guest washroom amenities with biodegradable packaging, substitution of plastic bottles with glass bottles and Reduction of carbon footprints by promoting Wyndham Green Programs to our guest not only initiate the venture of this environmental act but also symbolizes the sign of gratitude towards our guest.
A Cleaning Experts’s Words of Wisdom
“ As you reflect on this past year, it is good to be able to identify the practices that have contributed to the growth of your company up to now. It is important that we include these best practices in the coming year:
When the reoccupation of buildings starts, you will want to be a resource to your customer. New scopes of work may be communicated to your customer in order to provide a safer environment. Customers will want to know, what your approach to cleaning their facility has changed, because of COVID-19.
Disinfection Programs are now a part of your scope of work. Explain your program to your customer. They are going to have to share the information with their employees.
Share with your customers the New Technology that you will be using to clean their facility. More importantly, let them know the new technologies that are becoming available and how they will contribute to the productivity of the staff, cleanliness, and health of the building environment. Communication allows you to wave your flag and reinforce why you were hired!”
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SOME KEY TAKEAWAYS
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