Aclean, safe environment starts from the bottom up–beginning with proper floor care. Attractive, well-maintained floors signal to both customers and staff that the facility is clean, and is dedicated to high quality service. This is especially important in healthcare and educational facilities where cleanliness is a top priority in promoting a healthy environment.

Proper floor care does not only represent the facility image, but it aids in improving indoor air quality (IAQ), safety and preventing illness.

While many facility managers view floor care as a high priority, they must work within budget. As budgets continue to tighten everywhere, it’s important to utilize efficient systems that provide maximum results.

“With the availability of new-generation, sustainable cleaning tools, facility managers now have integrated floor care systems available that can increase productivity while reducing costs, enabling facilities to provide flawless floors for less.

Put the Mop and Bucket Away

Applying floor finish properly is a vital step in quality floor care, as it protects and maintains the surface. When applying floor finish, it’s time to put the mop and bucket away. This method requires floor finish to be applied by pouring chemicals into a bucket and then pushing a string mop over the floor. It is not only heavy and labor intensive, but often causes inconsistent application.

To simplify the process, facility managers and users can utilize ergonomic, floor finish applicator systems to deliver a consistent application while improving productivity and reducing costs.

Below are key factors to consider when selecting the right solution:

Employee Safety — Employee safety should be the top priority in every organization, especially when employees are performing physical labor. It is critical to provide solutions that are ergonomically designed to protect workers from injury.

Tools that complement a worker’s body reduce physical stress and the likelihood of developing musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs). Difficulties with these disorders can include pain, numbness, tingling, stiff joints, difficulty moving, muscle loss and in extreme cases, paralysis.

Be wary of floor finish systems that are equipped with straight handles, as they are not designed to properly fit workers’ hands. Over time, machines that do not work in conjunction with the human body result in higher risk of developing MSDs. It is also important to ensure a floor finish system does not require heavy lifting. Heavy lifting is the recipe for severe back injury.

It only takes someone one time to lift a full bucket improperly and throw their back out. Further, when workers suffer from such work-related injuries, department productivity suffers.

According to a study by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, 42,000 occupational injuries required time away form work in the janitorial industry.

To avoid this situation, departments should take the time to select versatile solutions that are easily adjustable for operators of varying heights and levels of experience. This will improve ergonomics and reduce worker strain, allowing employees to apply floor finish with ease. Doing so will result in improved employee health and morale while yielding quality results.

Indoor Air Quality — When it comes to floor finish application systems, a closed system is a must. Open systems not only result in chemical waste, but expose volatile organic compounds (VOCs), resulting in poor indoor air quality (IAQ).

Further, a variety of industry reports have revealed that poor IAQ has a negative impact on human health. According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), symptoms from poor IAQ include irritation of the eyes, nose, and throat, headaches, dizziness and fatigue. More extreme symptoms include respiratory disease and even cancer.

It’s important to employ a floor finish solution that utilizes a closed system to improve IAQ while limiting chemical exposure to both employees and customers. This is especially important in hospitals where many patients have weak immune systems, and in schools, where chemical odors can impact the ability to learn.

Further, the operation will also benefit from a closed system as the EPA has estimated the cost of poor air quality to U.S. businesses to be in the “tens of billions of dollars per year.”

Saving Resources — Using the traditional mop-and-bucket system requires users to pour finish from a container into the bucket. Consequently, workers often pour too much solution and/or spill it out of the sides, resulting in unnecessary waste. Studies have also found that when using this method, more than one-third of the finish is left in the fibers of the string mop, requiring an extensive amount of water to clean it properly.

By migrating to a new-generation floor applicator system, facilities can dramatically reduce setup and cleanup times. This is because innovative applicators dramatically reduce the need for water. Further, it is important to look for a solution with disposable connector tubes and applicator pads which eliminate the need to rinse mop heads, feed lines and buckets – saving both floor finish and water.

Lastly, the applicator should utilize floor finish packaged in cardboard containers versus plastic pails and jugs. Cardboard containers are easy to transport, lift, store and recycle. Such packaging will not only reduce the impact of the containers on the environment, but will reduce physical stress on workers as well.

A Bright Outlook

In the past, applying floor finish has donned the reputation of being a labor- intensive, daunting task. Traditional floor finishing techniques such as the mop-and-bucket method and other systems, while effective, have a tendency to cause not only fatigue, but work-related injuries as the systems are used.

These methods often result in unnecessary chemical and water waste or clogging, preventing efficiency and consistency of application. By seeking a new-generation floor finish applicator system with the key factors listed above, facility managers will promote a safe work environment with improved productivity, consistent application and the elimination of product waste – all within budget. ❑

Lance Brown is a floor-care specialist with JohnsonDiversey. For more information, go to www.johnsondiversey.com or call 262-631-4001.