In this the fourth and final part of articles about how to obtain the best service from your contract cleaner I look at the remaining three questions, that can to some degree all be grouped together.

• Are your staff fully trained in appropriate Health and Safety practices? Can this be verified?
  
  
• Can your staff speak and understand English?
  
  
• Will your staff be able to understand written instructions?
  
  

In part 1 of this series I referred to the survey of the top 150 UK wide cleaning firms and I shall do so again. From this survey it transpired that over 60% of the people employed as cleaners by these firms were of non-UK origin and of these 68% could not speak or understand English to a satisfactory level. The remaining 38% of cleaners were British born but unfortunately a massive 72% of these were considered illiterate.

Consequently when firms claim they give health and safety training and all their cleaners are up to date with the COSSH regulations you must take this with a very large pinch of salt. If you have ever read the COSSH regulations or a safety data sheet for a cleaning chemical then you will appreciate that to actually understand them you have to have acquired quite a high level of education.

On a far simpler level it may be that on occasions you wish to communicate with the cleaners about some point or another. So you leave a little note. The following day you question as to why your note was ignored!

Very little more needs to be explained about this. The figures and the possible consequences leading from them should speak for themselves

If you follow these simple guidelines when next putting your cleaning out to tender then you should gain a firm who will provide you with excellent cleaning at a fair price but probably not the cheapest. You pay your money and make your choice..