The Science of Commercial Cleaning Blogs
Preparing Your Facility for the Cold and Flu Season: Janitorial Maintenance and Safety Tips
As the leaves change color and temperatures drop, it's time to prepare for the challenges of the cold season ahead. Facility cleanliness is essential during the winter months. The combination of snow, ice, and increased indoor activity brings additional challenges that require a proactive approach to janitorial services. Here are five essential maintenance and safety tips to help you get your building winter ready.
The Evolution of Facility Services: From Cleaning to Comprehensive Management
The facility services industry has undergone a profound transformation over the past few decades. An industry once primarily focused on basic cleaning tasks has evolved into a comprehensive management discipline encompassing a wide array of responsibilities. This evolution reflects the growing recognition of the critical role that well-maintained facilities play in the success of organizations across various sectors.
Cost-Saving Tips for Effective Facility Management Without Compromising Janitorial Quality
As a facility manager outsourcing janitorial services, balancing cost-efficiency with high-quality cleaning can be challenging. Here are actionable tips to help you reduce expenses while maintaining excellent standards of cleanliness.
Strategies for Managing High-Traffic Facilities: Lessons from Industry Leaders
Managing high-traffic facilities presents unique challenges that require strategic planning, innovative solutions, and relentless execution. The most successful organizations focus on six best practices to ensure cleaner, safer, and healthier facilities, from airports to factories to hospitals and universities. Drawing from the expertise of industry leaders, we explore the most effective strategies for managing high-traffic facilities.
Building Strong Client Relationships: A Guide For Facility Service Providers
Building and maintaining exceptional client relationships is essential for every business. Janitronics, a leader in facility services, has mastered the art of nurturing lasting client partnerships, rooted in effective communication, unwavering reliability, and personalized service offerings. This post delves into these three critical components, highlighting how facility service providers like Janitronics leverage them to cultivate long-term client relationships.
Innovative Tools and Techniques for Building Maintenance
As cleaning costs escalate, Facilities management (FM) and commercial cleaning professionals are witnessing a seismic shift towards more efficient, sustainable, and technologically sophisticated operations. This evolution presents a golden opportunity for businesses to streamline their processes and control costs. This post explores the cutting-edge equipment, software, and strategies leading this transformation, setting new standards for the industry.
Navigating Building Service Contractors
Selecting the right Building Service Contractor (BSC) is a pivotal decision that directly influences your business premises' operational efficiency and cleanliness of the most important factors to consider is the service model. Among the myriad of factors to consider, one of the most crucial is the service model adopted by the contractor.
High Dusting
The phrase “Out of sight, out of mind” shouldn’t be used when talking about cleaning for health. Many potential risks to health are from things we cannot easily see, including any dust or debris that accumulates near or on the ceiling.
The History of Soap
There isn’t a more basic combination in cleaning for health than soap and water, but most modern soaps today aren’t actually “soap” at all.
Fighting Fall Allergies
For some people, spring isn’t the only time that allergies strike. Ragweed pollen, leaf litter, and mold can all cause respiratory and sinus irritation, especially when paired with changing temperatures and any pre-existing respiratory conditions, such as asthma. Knowing how to prevent or avoid the triggers of fall seasonal allergies can help keep you, your families, and your employees healthier all year round.
Our Labor Commitment
When Janitronics commits to something as a company, we commit one hundred percent. That includes our commitment to every Janitronics employee, from the one who started ten years ago to the one who started yesterday. In an industry that can’t work without its people, we understand the importance of treating our employees well, building strong relationships with them, and ensuring the strength of their future careers.
The Benefits of Expert Facilities Management
Many companies, especially larger ones, believe that orchestrating their own facilities management duties will save money and reduce headaches because they’re the ones in control. This assumption is largely untrue. Here are the reasons why it’s time for you to entrust your cleaning and facilities management to the experts.
What Has Changed in 50 Years?
A lot has changed in the time since Janitronics was founded in 1972, especially in the ever-evolving fields of business, technology, and health. But we have always striven to meet the highest current standards, especially in cleaning for health.
Wildfire Smoke and Its Effects
Every summer brings news reports about wildfires and the resulting smoke. New York State is experiencing wildfire smoke firsthand this summer from Canadian wildfires. For several days, parts of New York had the worst air quality in the world. And, as the summer continues, we are continuing to have hazy weather and dangerous air quality levels.
Understanding how wildfire smoke travels and what makes it so dangerous allows us to better prepare for them. And, in turn, we can employ equipment and habits that can help us remain healthy.
How does handwashing work?
Everyone talks about the importance of handwashing. It is ingrained in society: wash your hands before you eat, after you use the bathroom, and during times of increased sickness (namely, fall and winter, when illness is on the rise).
But why is handwashing so important? We have all heard that it eliminates germs and stops you from becoming sick. The science behind these seemingly simple facts is very in-depth.
The Cost of Absenteeism and Presenteeism
At Janitronics, we have embraced the philosophy of cleaning for health. For over fifty years, we’ve brought that standard to our clients with stellar results.
So what exactly does cleaning for health do for your workplace?
Two of the biggest effects of health in the workplace are absenteeism and presenteeism. We’ll discuss the issues and look at the impact they have on the workplace as a whole.
Staying Safe and Healthy, Winter 2022–23
Going into the winter this year, there are a combination of factors which could lead to increased illnesses in the workplace, schools, or medical facilities. Being prepared and using scientifically-proven preventative measures are some of the best ways to keep you and your community healthy.
The History of the Vacuum Part 2: Improvements Made by a Harris
At Janitronics, we have a fondness for anyone with the last name Harris. Being family-owned and operated by Harris’ for fifty years, we know they’ve played important roles in the world of cleaning.
There have also been some notable Harris’ in the history of the vacuum. While all Harris’ are not related to each other (the US Census says it was the 25th most common last name in 2010), we still celebrate their contributions to the vacuum.
The History of the Vacuum Part 1: A General Overview
The history of any invention is muddled. Oftentimes, a combination of individual efforts leads to the modern-day technology we all know. Not all of these innovators make it to the history books, but their contributions can still be found in the final product.
The vacuum cleaner follows this trajectory: from idea to many designs and approaches, to pairing it down to a few core elements that become common throughout. In this post, we’ll explore the general history of vacuum cleaners.
Flu Season: What You Need to Know to Stay Safe
Many people think of flu season as just a winter affair, wrapping up around when Punxatawnee Phil tells us spring is coming. However, a typical season runs from October to March, and viral activity sometimes stretches as late as May. Proper planning, prevention, and preparation are key to maintaining a healthy and productive work space year-round.
How Can You Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle in the Workplace?
We all know the phrase “reduce, reuse, and recycle,” but how often do you actually apply it? Examining your daily habits and routines can help you recognize your own interactions with the environment and how you could be impacting it.
Reducing, reusing, and recycling does not have to go with grand gestures; seemingly small but powerful ways can leave a big impact over time. Not only do these practices help the environment, but they also can help your bottom line.
A Tale of Golf Ball Marketing
With fifty years in the business, we have our fair share of stories to tell. One of our favorites involves our founder, Jim Harris, Sr., and marketing with golf balls. (You read that correctly.)
What is CIMS Certification?
Janitronics remains dedicated to providing the highest standards of cleaning. We continue to prove our commitment through third party evaluation and certification.
Recently, Janitronics renewed our CIMS certification with ISSA. (More specifically, we received our CIMS-GB with Honors.) This will be our seventh time holding this certification, showing that our strive for quality has always been a part of our goals.
What is ISO Certification?
At Janitronics, we strive to meet the highest standard of cleaning. This goes beyond the products that we use; from training to management, we pay attention to every detail.
One way that we show our commitment is through our ISO 9001:2015 certification. It shows how we’re not only focused on good management, but also how we work to continuously exceed our own standards.
The Origins of the Words “Janitor” and “Custodian”
When someone says the words “janitor” and “custodian,” many people have an immediate image that comes to mind. After all, they are people that play an important role in our lives, even if we may not see them during usual business hours.
Both words have stunning origins that highlight their importance. Each can be traced back thousands of years.
What is the Omicron variant?
At the end of November 2021, scientists identified a new variant of the COVID-19 virus: the Omicron variant. Nearly two months later, it has seemingly outpaced the Delta variant and is the prevailing source of new infections.
We’ve discussed virus mutations in a previous blog, “What are virus mutations?” Like Delta before it, Omicron contains many mutations compared to the original virus. However, Omicron’s numerous mutations (said to number somewhere between 30 and over 50) have changed the virus in several key ways.
Why do we get sick during the winter months?
For many, colder weather is the start of everyone getting sick. "The stomach bug the kids caught from school” and “the cold passing around the office” are a near annual occurrence. No matter where you are or what industry you’re in, it seems inevitable. And it isn’t just you: data shows that the peak months of the flu season are December, January, and February. The common cold, stomach bug, and other illnesses see a similar trend.
Many will blame the cold air for increased sickness. The truth is surprisingly more complex.
What are virus mutations?
One of the hot topics of 2021 is the new and potentially dangerous variants of COVID-19. But what exactly are virus mutations? And are they really able to become more problematic than the original virus? The science behind them, and what we can do to prevent them, have as much importance as ever.
