Many warehouses are quite large spaces with a lot of activity going on. People are constantly moving about, products are being moved and deliveries are coming and going. It doesn’t take long for a warehouse to get quite dirty when it’s seeing so much traffic.
While the main focus might be on business tasks, no one wants to have a dirty warehouse. It’s not good for business on any level and certainly won’t do anything to attract new customers.
Let’s look at some handy and practical tips to keep your warehouse clean all throughout the day.
#1 – Clean As You Go
One of the simplest and most effective ways of keeping any business premises looking clean most of the time is by cleaning as you go.
If staff is trained to clean up any mess left behind after an activity has been completed, the warehouse will rarely look dirty or messy. It’s really just a habit for people to get into, rather than waiting until the end of the day to do a cleanup.
#2 – Allocate Various Cleaning Duties To Employees
You could draw up a roster that changes every week or two, allocating various cleaning tasks to members of your workforce. Some of these tasks might be daily activities, while others may only be required once a week or so.
If cleaning duties are allocated evenly and fairly, no one will feel like they’re getting too much work to do compared to another employee.
Having a roster located in a place where it’s highly visible – such as a lunchroom – will serve as a constant reminder for staff to get onto their cleaning tasks when time permits.
#3 – Hire a Cleaner Full-Time
If you have to budget to hire a cleaner or janitor on a full-time basis, this will ensure your warehouse is always clean and tidy. It also means that employees who have other tasks to do won’t be taking time out of their schedule to clean.
Anytime a mess occurs in the warehouse or outside on the grounds, the janitor can be there to quickly sort it out.
#4 – Buy Or Hire a Dust Control Push Sweeper For the Floors and Grounds
Having a push sweeper with dust control is a very practical way to keep the floors of your warehouse clean. These models are a manual push sweeper and the idea of the dust control function is to stop dust from being circulated back into the air and onto the floor while sweeping.
Unlike sweeping with a regular broom, which basically sends dust in all directions, the walk-behind push sweeper with built-in dust control actually sucks up the dust and traps it. It can also be used outdoors to clean up those pathways and entrances and offers an easy way to keep the driveways swept and clean.
For really large floor spaces, you could upgrade to a ride-on on style of floor sweeper or scrubber.
#5 – Have the Necessary Cleaning Equipment On Hand
If your employees or a full-time janitor have been tasked with keeping the warehouse clean, the job will be made a lot easier if everything that’s required is on hand. Obviously, this will include things like mops, buckets, and brooms, but even in the kitchen or bathroom areas, cleaning products need to be stocked there so the areas can be readily cleaned as required.
It’s going to be hard to keep toilets cleaned with no cleaning products, or to wash those dishes in the lunchroom if there’s no detergent, hand towels, and so on.
#6 – Call-In Commercial Cleaners
Even if you task your staff with cleaning duties, hiring professional cleaners to give your entire warehouse a thorough clean up once in a while is also a practical idea. While your staff may generally be keeping the place clean and tidy, to really get it sparkling again, a commercial cleaning company is a way to go, as they’ll more thoroughly clean areas that perhaps your staff don’t have the time to be so meticulous about.
The Wrap
While warehouses might be large and busy places, there are ways to keep them clean and tidy all day long. If everyone in the workplace is assigned a task, no one employee will be snowed under with too much work and your business premises will always look presentable.
