SAFETY
Top of Words Cameron Cooper More than ever before, cleaning companies and their employees are facing mental health and on-the-job safety issues, which makes it essential for management to provide systems, support and coping strategies for their teams.
30 INCLEAN March / April 2022
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or rehabilitation consultant Libby Roberts, the plight of one small business owner encapsulates the mental health challenges the pandemic has raised for the cleaning industry. With lockdowns, shutdowns and staff shortages forcing the owner to get back on the tools, he is battling cash-flow and health issues. “The owner hasn’t slept for most of the year because he’s under so much pressure,” says Roberts, managing director of Workplace Rehabilitation Management, a business that helps people return to work following injury or illness. She is also CEO of LeapForward, a coaching platform that fosters wellbeing. At the same time, Roberts says some other cleaning operations are making lots of money because of COVID-19 hygiene demands, but they may not be able to keep up with the volume of work. As a result, their physical and mental health is suffering. “I’m concerned about what these people are going to do when they get back to
– why wellbeing and workplace safety must come first some sort of normalcy after COVID-19,” she says. “They’ve been under so much stress for so long that they’ll either keep operating at this high level of anxiety and keep running on adrenaline, or they’ll crash and burn.” Such sentiments are common in the cleaning and facility management sectors, in which managers and employees are dealing with a conundrum. Even though the pandemic has lifted their sense of worth and status as front-line workers, their wellbeing is often taking a back seat.
PLAY IT SAFE
Workplace safety is also on the radar for cleaning operations as their teams operate in high-risk COVID-19 areas such as healthcare, aged care, hospitality and retail. The need for positive, proactive and preventative safety programs is more critical than ever. Given that human error is responsible for many accidents in the cleaning industry, it is incumbent on bosses and management teams to address workplace safety.