How much time do you spend training your employees on how to properly implement your housekeeping program? Hopefully, your answer wasn’t “no time at all.” But in any case, it’s probably not enough. Here are three reasons you should add more employee training into your facility’s housekeeping program.
1. Training helps move good housekeeping from theory to practice.
This is probably obvious, but simply having industrial cleaning equipment in your facility doesn’t mean that facility is clean. You have to use the equipment, and you have to use it correctly. Providing housekeeping training ensures your employees know when, where, and how to use different cleaning methods and equipment to keep your facility in tip-top shape. Training also keeps employees from developing bad habits that might be making the problem worse. For example, in environments that contain combustible dust, workers who aren’t properly trained may use compressed air to blow the dust off of surfaces. But that just stirs up the dust, exacerbating the problem and increasing the risk of a fire or explosion. Learn more about combustible dust fire hazards.2. In many cases, OSHA requires it.
Some OSHA standards specifically call for employee training. The new silica dust standard, for example, states that employees must be trained on the following:- The health hazards associated with exposure to silica dust
- Specific tasks that put employees at risk
- Specific measures to prevent exposure, including engineering controls, work practices, and respirators
"By way of training and/or experience, a competent person is knowledgeable of applicable standards, is capable of identifying workplace hazards relating to the specific operation, and has the authority to correct them."
Learn more about OSHA’s competent person requirements.
