Creating cleaning champions
October 1st 2008 EuroSkills is a biennial European skills competition for young people, with a Cleaning Services category.Contrary to popular belief, it takes a lot more than donning a pair of rubber gloves and being handy with a mop to be the best in Europe.Gerardine Coyne spoke to the UK Team and trainers from Merton College just before the event
The Cleaning Industry is sometimes dismissed by those not directly connected with it.“Tell all cleaners to go on strike then people will realise how much they need us,” is the suggestion from Kirsty Steel, one of the UK cleaning team entering EuroSkills.
Joking aside, Steel is helping to raise the profile of the UK Cleaning Industry with positive action by demonstrating cleaning skills at the EuroSkills competition in Rotterdam. EuroSkills is a biennial skills competition event primarily focusing on young people under 27.The very first one was held on 18-20 September 2008. It aims to offer European countries the opportunity to demonstrate excellence in the field of skills, VET (Vocational Education and Training) and craftsmanship.Cleaning Services is one of 49 trades demonstrated and falls under Social, Personal & Hospitality Services. Apart from the UK, the other countries in the cleaning finals were Austria, Poland, Hungary and Turkey.
Merton College trained the UK team at OCS premises, (it is carrying out the practical training for its cleaning courses at OCS for the next three years while the college is rebuilt). Mary Schramm is director of employment skills. "When I tell people I teach cleaning, they say, 'Well that can't take very long'. But it's an important profession for the country and cleaners have to have someone championing them." Schramm hopes EuroSkills will raise the profile of cleaning and gain the profession some recognition. "Most people don't even think cleaning's a skill."
The criteria being judged in the Cleaning Services competition will include:work preparation,work planning,work processes, evaluation of completed work and justifying actions. Possible tasks to be performed are: cleaning soft and hard floors, window cleaning,wall washing and cleaning furniture and work stations, and biological spillage/infection control.
The teams are made up of four people, a manager, a supervisor and two cleaning operatives.The UK team are Mitie North employees Kirsty Steel (21) Cleaning Manager and Craig Robinson (20) Cleaning Operative, and Principle’s employees Fabio Silva (22) Cleaning Supervisor and Sandro Nobrega (26) Cleaning Operative. All team members have undergone a long process to win their places.The companies that win the UK Skills competition can nominate their employees as entrants for the EuroSkills competition. There are then several knock out rounds, with Merton College providing the judges.After selection, the final team along with Schramm and a couple of Merton staff went to the Lake District for a spot of bonding and team building exercises including outdoor activities.
The team were trained by Merton College using BICSc training methods, and have received about 12 days intensive training overall. As if this wasn't enough, the team continued to do their day/night jobs. On the Friday morning training session that Cleaning Matters witnessed, Silva had been up since 3am to carry out his shift, while Robinson had carried out a night shift the evening before.The dedication of the team is clearly evident.
The team practised office cleaning using a Host von Schrader dry carpet shampoo. For the hospital clean, a practise contaminated spillage was set up using fake blood.As Cleaning Matters arrives, the team are stripping and repolishing the floor.The product they use is a new Johnson's quick dry floor polish, Jontec Timesaver.As the team are still getting used to the new product, it is a case of trial and error. Schramm after inspecting the floor says there are still patches of the polish left, and advises leaving the stripper chemical on for longer next time.All the countries will be using this product in the competition, so there is a level playing field.
During competition intervals, sponsors such as Wetrock, Johnson and Host, will be giving product demonstrations. As the competition covers several sectors of cleaning, the training has had to encompass areas that the team has not covered. No one in the team had performed hospital cleaning before the training, and Robinson had never done a floor strip and reseal, having had no cause to in his role at Wormwood Scrubs. Everyone has had to adapt to different methods and practices, especially as the team consists of employees from two different companies. Steel says she has already implemented what she has learned from the training in her current job. She is now aware of neutralizing the floor during a strip and polish, has had training in different machinery, and has been training staff she works with using the training techniques taught by Merton. By entering the competition, all entrants gain a City & Guilds certificate Level 3.
Sue Pritchard is a tutor at Merton, who is also helping train the team. "I've really enjoyed it. It does raise the profile of cleaning.Too many times the cleaning industry is blamed for things." Steel agrees, chipping in,"We never get thanked. It's always what the cleaners haven't done. If something's missing 'Oh the cleaners have stolen it'". Pritchard and Schramm are both proud of the way the team have handled the training. Says Schramm,"We had no idea what we were getting in to. It's been full on. Not everyone can cope and we've lost people along the way. People have to be able to cope under pressure." Pritchard agrees,"They are very hard-working and we have witnessed how they've bonded.They've come on in leaps and bounds.
The benefits of education
Most people that train at Merton College are already working in the industry.As it is London based there is a huge diversity in pupils, ranging in age from 18 to the over 70s, doing everything from NVQ2 to Management.Government initiatives have given a chance to people who may not have otherwise had the opportunity to get qualifications.The qualifications are worth the equivalent of 5 GCSES. Benefits to employers are improved productivity, improved health and safety as accident rates decrease, and lower insurance premiums for employers. Schramm believes the most important thing a student at Merton can leave with is confidence. "Confidence in their ability to do their job well. If they've got that they've got everything."
Cleaning team confidential
Craig Robinson's (bottom right) favourite cleaning job is kitchen cleaning. "You actually see a difference." The worst aspect of cleaning? "Stubborn clients." Future plans are to get as high up in the company as possible. "Hopefully doing EuroSkills will help." How clean is your house? "You'll have to get me ma onto that one!"
Fabio Silva's (top right) favourite job is stripping and repolishing floors, as seeing the final result is so rewarding. "Dealing with people is the most challenging. Floors don't talk back!" Silva says the fact you have so many other people to deal with, other cleaners, security and clients can be very demanding. With EuroSkills he feels really confident about the team's performance because "We have bonded and had the chance to see the other sides of everyone".
Kirsty Steel (top left) says she likes everything about her job, even the fact that she can never plan anything. "It's like a rollercoaster, something always comes up." She feels cleaning deserves a higher profile. "It's not just about getting a mop out. I always say to people if the MD's not in, no one notices. If the cleaner's not in they riot! 'My bin's not been emptied! There's no soap in the toilet!'"
Sandro Nobrega’s (bottom left) favourite tasks are floors and carpets where he can give them a nice finish. He says there's nothing difficult about his job – bar the 13-15 hour days and the 5am starts.
A clean sweep of golds
Two weeks later, all the team won gold with every single member winning their category. Gold medals were awarded for Cleaning Manager, Supervisor, and Operatives and the UK also won the Team gold. Cleaning Matters spoke to Mary Schramm after the results came out. "It was amazing.The team were ecstatic.We thought we'd do it but you never know until the last moment." The only technical difficulty that came up was in the hospital facilities section, "There were no spill kits as apparently they don't exist in the Netherlands," so the team had to make up their own, putting together a compound that absorbs blood/bodily fluids, gloves, aprons and pads. "And of course it always hard to get judges in any competition to agree on standards."
The victors were awarded their gold medals at a big closing ceremony and celebrated with all the other participants at a party. Schramm believes that the competition is fantastic for encouraging skills in young people. "We've put cleaning on the map by showing we're the best in Europe,” and sensing an opportunity adds “so if you want the best cleaners – train them at Merton!" Shramm says the result should be good for the UK cleaning industry and hopes it will have a knock-on effect. "Our gold medals show that cleaning is a valuable skill, and not just anyone can do it." (The next EuroSkills takes place in Poland in two years time.) | 
