Should Commercial Cleaning
The Government just published their plan for Autumn and Winter 2021 to combat COVID-19 and keep the economy going. It is clear that they are not keen on imposing another long-term national lockdown and some of the preventive measures to achieve that may be re-introducing masks in public places, booster vaccine doses and limiting the number of people indoors. But will that be enough to keep the businesses open?
As we saw recently, almost any industry is heavily reliant on commercial cleaners to continue its operation in pandemic times. So, this poses an important question – should commercial cleaning become a mandatory government requirement?
Reasons For
We know that the new variants of coronavirus, Delta and Mu, are more transmissible and their particles can survive on different types of surfaces outside of the human body for up to 3 days. That makes the spread of infection much easier, unless all spaces a positive person has been in contact with are thoroughly cleaned and disinfected.
In the recent past, the government used to deal with infection control by closing down venues and asking all close contacts to isolate for a period of 10-14 days. That’s more than detrimental to any type of business. Being short of staff most of the time or completely seizing operations for 2 weeks, could be the last nail in the coffin of small businesses, who struggled a lot in the past 18 months.
Instead, the government could make it a legal requirement to arrange professional commercial cleaning for the premises if someone tests positive while at work. This will allow the business to spend less time out of operation and therefore continue generating income. It will also ensure that the rest of the employees work in safe conditions.
Making commercial cleaning a legal requirement after a positive case can further aid the infection control and boost the economy.
Reasons Against
As with every product or service that is mandated by the government, there is sometimes room for loopholes and monopol of the market by certain firms. Similar scenario happened with laboratories supplying PCR tests for travel, when politicians made it compulsory for everyone to buy one or more tests before arrival in the UK. Many of those labs provided poor service, but continued generating income due to being approved and listed on the gov.uk website. It caused others who didn’t make the list to lose business, even though they may have been equipped to provide a better service.
Commercial cleaning companies should be careful not to fall into the same trap where they compete with unfair and low quality service providers. This could negatively affect the industry for the long term.
Another reason against making commercial cleaning a mandatory requirement for businesses after a positive COVID case on the premises is that the cost may have to be monitored and controlled by the government. While it may be good for the customer, it goes against the freedom of a private business owner to set their own prices for the service they provide. This could demotivate many commercial cleaners and potentially even bring losses to their company as the government does not always take all operational costs into account.
What is your opinion on the topic? Should we have professional cleaning mandated in commercial properties to keep us all safe and the economy moving, or should it be left to every business owner to decide what’s the best approach for their company, following a positive COVID case?
