subject: Contemporary Commercial Cleaning Services Have Reacted To Societal And Economic Change [print this page] Many people find it hard to be passionate about commercial cleaning services. They might think of it as a tedious chore, a business opportunity or a degrading job. However, the days when cleaning was a job for the dull and ignorant are over. Now it is a highly technical operation with both intellectual and ethical dimensions. Those who are emotionally stirred by working in the field have good reasons.
Whilst the idea that cleanliness is next to godliness may be somewhat out of date there is nevertheless an ethical dimension about making places clean. Not only is it a great deal more healthy but it is also uplifting. People who work in clean environments can feel good about themselves and about the work that they are employed to do. Though perhaps not universally recognized it is work that is the most useful performed in any society.
In the light of globalization and widely disseminated information the realization is growing that clean public conveniences represent civilized attitudes. There are still many filthy public places but they are increasingly seen to represent shameful and negligent attitudes on the part of those responsible for health and safety in the building.
The efficiency of new technology is another important factor in changing attitudes. A person who has been trained to operate an efficient machine and understand how and why it works is a different proposition to an untrained but intelligent person who is bound to a bucket and mop that slides happy but harmful bacteria from one section of a floor to another.
In the Post Modern period two important movements have contributed to advances in the industry. In the 1960s the Environmental Movement made people more aware of the unseen but long term detrimental effects of some chemicals used in agriculture and industry. In the 1980s humanity entered a totally new evolutionary phase with the advent of the Internet and the Information Age.
The environmental movement made individuals and therefore committees acutely aware of the unseen dangers posed by the use of chemicals such as organophosphates in agriculture and industry. Health and safety regulations have been promulgated across the world. They are purported to protect individuals and incidentally they happen to protect authorities and organizations from litigation that can follow irresponsible use of harmful methods. What once might have seemed like a clean restaurant kitchen could harbor long lasting poisons. This possible danger entails careful research into ethical materials.
In the age of the Internet information is widely available. The individual no longer gains information from an ill informed classroom teacher but from experts and online encyclopedias. People tend to know about where harmful bacteria lurk in homes and offices. They expect an efficient janitor to keep pace with their own health and safety practices.
Natural processes are ongoing. Animals lick their offspring clean and harvest residues must be cleared away or recycled. Commercial cleaning services are one aspect of the continuous cycle of cleaning and fouling that is natural. Some people find it depressing to be always involved on the dirty side of the cycles but others see a mission in it and also a source of employment that is continuously renewing itself.
