Process Cleaning for Healthy Schools®
What McDonald's has done for Hamburgers and French Fries - standardizing, speed, cost and quality control - Process Cleaning for Healthy Schools® (PC4HS™) does for educational facilities – with “better and healthier” as the minimum standard.
Frederick Winslow Taylor's ideals of systemization and standardization, developed in the early 1900's, underpin Process Cleaning for Healthy Schools' mission to streamline cleaning processes through systematized methods and standardized products and equipment.
Finding the one best way to clean means analyzing the facility's needs and the tasks involved in meeting those needs. It means assessing method and equipment options and available workforce and then putting it all together in a systematic cleaning program that runs like a finely crafted watch.
Just as every wheel or gear in a fine watch performs a specific integrated function, so should every part of a viable cleaning program. By designing a plan, selecting the finest parts and fitting them all together in synchronized fashion, the watchmaker creates an accurate timepiece. Finding the one best way to clean begins much the same way - with a carefully devised plan.
A needs analysis, including the desired level of clean and the frequency of cleaning necessary to reach that level, can serve as the groundwork for such a plan. This often keys on the building's use, traffic flow and outside influences such as weather conditions.
Schools and universities require daily clean-up of classrooms and common areas, daily disinfecting or sanitizing of desk tops, water fountains and doorknobs, and more frequent restroom cleaning than many other facilities.
A thorough needs analysis should include any special needs the building may have. In addition to routine cleaning and monitoring, are there other tasks, such as window cleaning, that will need to be performed? What are the budget constraints? A clear understanding of the building's needs in relation to budget allows cleaning managers to develop a plan that works - for both the customer and the cleaning operation.
News
Make Training Easy, Effective, Affordable by Standardizing It
Training of cleaning staff is vital – and often daunting – in elementary schools where growing children are more vulnerable than adults; research indicates there is a link between the cleanliness of the environment, student performance and absenteeism; and budgets are fiercely tight.Read more…MD Stetson Company (MDS) and PCHS LLC Successfully Promote PC4HS in New England
MD Stetson Co., Inc. (MDS) and PCHS LLC signed an agreement last summer (2014) to promote PC4HS in New England, leading to a successful implementation at the University of Hartford, CT, with additional implementations expected in Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island.Read more…Process Cleaning for Healthy Schools (PC4HS) Endorses ISSA’s Cleaning Industry Training Standard (CITS)
PC4HS will develop PC4HS custodial training programs that can be accredited under CITS in the context of the Cleaning Industry Management Standard (CIMS).Read more…Train Don’t Strain - Update
Dr. Edwards Deming, the quality expert who taught the Japanese how to build great cars, said: “People do not fail – systems do.” If you put good people in a bad system, the results are still bad. If you put average people into a good system -- the right system -- and train them in it, the results are good.Read more…Handling Potential PCB-containing Dust
The 501c3 Process Cleaning for Healthy Schools® (PC4HS) group is providing guidance on handling potential PCB-containing dust from substances such as older caulking in schools.Read more…Process Cleaning for Healthy Schools® Provides Allergen Testing to Improve School IAQ
PC4HS uses the immunodiagnostics services of Indoor Biotechnologies (InBio) to improve school air quality.Read more…
Process Cleaning for Healthy Schools®
Start-up Information
PC4HS™ involves an easy start-up or implementation process - without disruptive impacts - because training and roll-out are carefully managed, and occur over a two week period.
Here is a short description:
- The PC4HS Representative (initially Rex Morrison) meets with the principal and head custodian at the first school to be implemented, usually at a convenient time on the first Monday of the program, to orient these stakeholders.
- The PC4HS Representative explains the nature and scope of the program and how it will work. He/she answers questions, allays fears, and reassures the principal and head custodian that the program will produce positive impacts and not disrupt normal duties. It will not interfere with the nightly cleaning of the school, and importantly, the school will be cleaner and easier to maintain after just the first day of PC4HS training.
- The PC4HS Representative strives to emphasize positive aspects of the previous work, for example, making statements such as: “I found the school to be well organized and generally quite clean during the pre-implementation review, although, as in all schools, there is room for improvement and refinement.”
- PC4HS begins actual cleaning by splitting (in half) the duties of one of the 8-hour-shift-night custodians to co-op those duties during a 4 hour training session consisting of both demonstration (as permitted under District or Union rules) and “train the trainer” orientation. This occurs daily during the first week.
- The second week PC4HS works with all night custodians in their areas to equip and train them individually.
- PC4HS allocates a few hours each morning of the second week to train the day and head custodian in the management responsibilities of the program.
Note: this is a simple and organized implementation of the PC4HS Process designed to emphasize and produce only positive impacts for the school, teachers and custodians. The purpose of the implementation is to provide a foundation for cleaner “more germ-free student and staff spaces” without increasing the workload of individuals or putting pressure on budgets.
Q: Isn't Process Cleaning Just Another Way to Eliminate Jobs?
Candidly, we do not believe in saving money by eliminating custodians.Read more…
Outlining What Custodians Need to Know
An outline of what Custodians need to know to be successful with their process.Read more…
Process Cleaning for Healthy Schools® (PC4HS®) - How the Non-Profit Got Started
An account regarding the origin of PC4HS®.Read more…
How to Choose Green Cleaning Products in a PC4HS Program
Information on selecting Green Cleaning Products in a PC4HS program.Read more…