Who doesn’t love a good Matt Damon movie? One of his most famous is Goodwill Hunting. The movie focuses on a janitor who works at a college for a living. One day after classes are let out, he cracks a mathematical equation that was considered unsolvable. From that point on the movie shifts.
Someone who was once viewed as a “lowly janitor” now has a world of opportunities opened in front of him. It’s a great movie, winning several Academy Awards, Golden Globes, and Critics’ Choice awards. But it’s also a good example of how the public views a commercial janitorial company.
Too often janitors are viewed as the person who deals with other people’s trash and are thereby tainted by association. It’s excellent that Matt Damon’s character was able to overcome the stereotype of his position and find new opportunities in life. But not every janitor should have to be a tragically misunderstood genius to be valued and respected. That’s why we’re moving away from the term “janitor” altogether.
Who Are Environmental Hygienists?
Our employees are trained to go above and beyond the normal services of a commercial janitorial company. From day one, they undergo intense training in a wide variety of fields. Yes, we empty the trashcans. But we also handle emergency situations that could involve hazardous materials. Because of this, our employees are trained in handling everything from bloodborne pathogens to chemical waste. When a highly secure building needs to be cleaned, we have teams with federal clearances standing by.
Our teams are so much more than just the people who dispose of your trash.
At the Wilburn Company, we believe that our commercial cleaning teams are the stewards of the environment and the health of your employees. Stopping the spread of the flu throughout your office is part of our job description. Protecting the world’s waterways from hazardous chemicals is also listed on there.
This commitment to high standards and excellent quality is why we’ve moved away from janitor and towards the title “environmental hygienist.” This term encapsulates all of who we are. We do so much more than just clean. We create workplaces with the good hygiene that is crucial to the health of your employees. However, it can be difficult to respect someone if you don’t truly understand how they provide you with value.
The Daily Routine of an Environmental Hygienist
Many people only see their commercial janitorial company emptying trash cans, wiping down counters, and polishing floors. What they fail to see are the dynamic capabilities of our hygienists. The following are two scenarios that show the full breadth of our team’s services.
Our first scenario focuses on a building owner and a tenant. One of the tenant’s employees had an accident with the paper cutter. A small slip of the hand and an ambulance needed to be called immediately. There’s blood on the floor, the paper cutter, and on the new carpet. The tenant needs to handle worker’s compensation paperwork and his traumatized staff. The building owner is concerned about his insurance status and who pays for the hospital bills. Could he be implicated somehow?
Meanwhile, there’s blood on the floor, the paper cutter, and the carpet. The employees are traumatized and don’t have the training to clean blood. The building owner and tenant are too busy with paperwork and going to the hospital to handle clean up. That’s where our environmental hygienists come in. We take care of workplace accidents so you can get your team back on track faster. By the time you come back to the office from the hospital, everything will have been safely sanitized without a single trace of blood on the beautiful new carpet.
Our second scenario is a little more commonplace. The office secretary, Karen, is sick. But she’s the only one who can submit payroll, so she comes to work anyways. Another employee, Jared, has a weakened immune system and gets the flu shot every year. One bout of the flu could be life threatening for him.
Throughout her day Karen uses the office phone, opens the door, and sits in the kitchen for lunch. Jared, unaware that she is sick, goes about his day as normal. Every time Karen touches something, she leaves behind a small number of germs that could get Jared deathly sick. That’s where our environmental hygienists come in.
Our team’s day porter services go about the office, emptying trash, servicing the bathrooms, and cleaning up small messes per usual. But they also pay extra attention to sanitizing doorknobs, kitchen counters, sinks, and individual workplaces. This dramatically cuts down on the possibility of Karen’s sickness from spreading throughout the office and saves employees like Jared from having to take sick days.
A commercial janitorial company could be faced with these scenarios any day of the week. The Wilburn Company offers specialty services including emergency response, secure, and green cleaning. Each of these products come with big benefits for our customers.
The Benefits of Hiring Environmental Hygienists
At the Wilburn Company, our environmental hygienists provide you with all of the amenities of a commercial janitorial company, plus more. Whether you’re looking for a specialty team or normal commercial work, every cleaning solution has big benefits for your office.
We prioritize the use of green cleaning products that are better for the environment and can extend the lifetime of some of your building’s surfaces. For example, traditional carpet cleaners are harsh and break down the fibers in your carpets, shortening the longevity of the material. Carpets become threadbare and dirtier faster, leading to a vicious cycle of more intense cleaning, which caused the issue in the first place. Our green cleaning products are gentle on fibers while still providing a high-quality clean. This lengthens the lifespan of your carpets and keeps your building beautiful.
The use of harsh cleaning chemicals like bleach can significantly decrease indoor air quality. These chemicals release volatile organic compounds (VOCs) which can irritate respiratory conditions and lead to increased cancer rates. If your employees have to take more sick days due to head colds, stuffy noses, or more serious conditions, the cleaning products used by your commercial janitorial company could be to blame. To avoid this and maintain the health of your employees, the Wilburn Company uses certified green cleaning products which do not contain VOCs.
The cost of sick days adds up to fast. For example, in 2018, illness-related lost productivity took $530 billion off the bottom line of U.S. employers. Reducing the numbers of sick days your employees take by maintaining a clean and healthy environment can significantly reduce your expenses.
At the end of Goodwill Hunting, Matt Damon jets off for California to discover new opportunities and a better life for himself. At the Wilburn Company we believe that our customers can discover new opportunities to better their buildings and the lives of their employees right here in Maryland and Virginia. To meet our team of expert environmental hygienists and learn more about our commercial cleaning solutions contact us today.