For busy facilities like airports, shopping centers, grocery stores and stadiums, it can seem like foot traffic is never-ending. A constant flow of travelers, shoppers and attendees adds another level of difficulty to keeping these high-traffic environments clean. Facility managers should ensure their employees understand best practices for keeping cleanliness consistent during business hours. Not only do cleaner facilities contribute to the safety and health of occupants, they result in greater guest satisfaction and help uphold your brand image.
The Challenge to Maintain Cleanliness
High-traffic facilities face numerous challenges, including keeping floors clean. Patrons’ shoes bring in dirt and can even result in dark scuffs that impact the aesthetic of the facility. During colder months, everything from snow to salt to sand is scattered across floors. Without entrance matting in place and a diligent floor care program, wet puddles and de-icing materials can make floors appear messy and even result in slip-and-fall accidents.
It can also be difficult to keep up with restroom maintenance if facilities don’t have the right measures in place. Airports and entertainment venues are notorious for having long restroom lines, and the last thing visitors want to encounter after waiting their turn is a dirty facility that lacks the essentials they need.
High-traffic facilities can also have overflowing trash receptacles if these are not regularly emptied. When trash doesn’t fit in the bin, it may fall onto the floor and result in additional messes that employees need to clean. Unfortunately, guests may also fail to put their trash in receptacles throughout the facility. Facilities with waiting and dining areas, including food courts, often have leftover plates, utensils, napkins and cups scattered about.
Best Practices for Busy Times
Consider these best practices for keeping your facility clean during every hour of business:
- Let robots manage floor care - One of the biggest misconceptions about robotic floor care machines is that they eliminate jobs. In reality, these machines simply take one task off employees’ to-do lists to ensure that floor care is consistent and allow cleaning crews to dedicate their time to other important tasks like stocking restrooms and disinfecting and sanitizing surfaces. Look for machines that are easy to operate, have durable squeegees to ensure excellent water pick-up and use a comprehensive set of sonar, 2D LIDAR, touch shield sensors and floor-detector sensors to avoid obstacles and people while it cleans.
- Opt for compact ride-on scrubbers if you’d prefer not to use robots - While not every facility wants to invest in robotic machines, it’s just as important to carefully consider the features and design of a manual machine. Look for ride-on auto-scrubbers with large tanks coupled with a compact design. This reduces the number of time-consuming tank filling stops while also allowing operators to maneuver around a facility and its many occupants more easily, even during busy times.
- Regularly check the stock levels of restroom products - Keeping essentials like soap, paper towels and toilet paper stocked helps guests maintain hygiene and can also reduce complaints and long waits by keeping every stall functional. If possible, install connected paper towel and soap dispensers and trash receptacles with sensors so that staff can remotely check whether these need filling or emptying and address the most in-need restrooms first. If certain restrooms are located in more high traffic areas, like near a food court or entrance, make sure to check these more regularly.
- Install air fresheners to enhance the perception of hygiene - Odors play a big role in customer satisfaction. If a facility smells unpleasant, customers will equate this with a lack of cleanliness. In high traffic facilities, especially in places like restrooms, strong smells can linger and may even spread to hallways and other areas. Consider installing air fresheners that provide an appealing and clean scent. A wall-mounted dispenser should provide a fresh scent for at least 30 and even up to 60 days to avoid having to refill it too often.
Lapses in cleanliness can negatively impact guest satisfaction and safety, and thus brand image. By adopting the above best practices, businesses can make cleaning easier and more productive, resulting in a better-looking facility and cost savings.
For more information about cleaning solutions for high-traffic facilities, reach out to us at contact.us@diversey.com.