Janitors are on the front line cleaning schools, businesses, and more. Cleanliness is key to fighting back COVID, and custodians are essential to keeping the world going.

Now more than ever, we need to keep our commercial janitor businesses safe in an unsafe world. Besides massive OSHA citations that can range as high as $136,000 for repeated violations, accidents and exposure to COVID-19 can put custodians out of work for days or weeks. But how do we keep them safe? Luckily, we have three safety tips to help keep your commercial janitorial clients safe.

Always Wear PPE

Even before the COVID-19 pandemic, proper personal protective equipment (PPE) is essential to keeping the janitorial staff safe. Without proper masks, gloves, and goggles, some custodians are susceptible to various chemicals that might be in the air or surfaces.

Even though wearing protective equipment might sound like an obvious tip, janitors have one of the highest on-the-job injury rates. Ensuring your janitorial services clients have the latest PPE for their safety prevents them from adding to the statistic.

Communication is Key to Safety

If you see it, report it. Communicating spills and other safety issues in the workplace helps clean up issues and avoid accidents. Custodians face hazards every day, but they could easily be the first ones hurt on the job without proper communication.

You can quickly tell someone to watch for danger, but what if you aren’t around? Signs are perfect for conveying messages in short, intuitive messages and pictures. Everyone knows to watch out when a stick figure is slipping on the floor!

Maintain Training

While a new custodian might think they know how to operate a backpack vacuum, their height and endurance can throw them off balance. As you might have guessed from this example, training on equipment is essential to help janitorial staff avoid safety hazards. Not only can you hurt yourself with heavy machinery, avoiding basic ergonomic practices could lead to injuries in the long run. Staff should be trained yearly on heavy machinery, chemical hazards, and other safety warnings to prevent accidents and cut back on lost time.

At Normandy Insurance, commercial janitorial businesses are one of our top industries. Injuries do happen, and unfortunately, janitorial staff are usually the first ones to experience accidents. When an injury DOES occur, your ability to address the incident swiftly greatly helps your insurance business, as you can see from our Agent Resources. If you are interested in getting appointed with Normandy Insurance, please check out our website for more details: www.normandyins.com/become-agent

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