Earn an A+ in Bathroom Maintenance – Spaces4Learning

Healthy schools

Earn an A+ in Toilet Maintenance

By Jorge Mtanous

Clean school toilets are vital to student wellbeing and education. Research shows that dirty toilets can increase the spread of bacteria and viruses. The disease is a leading cause of student absenteeism, which can lead to poor academic performance and potentially dropping out of school.

To prevent truancy and promote a healthy learning environment, school leaders should prioritize clean restrooms at the beginning of the school year. Start the school year off right by reviewing your custodial team's cleaning methods and priorities and developing a cleaning plan with a focus on bathrooms.

How can you make a difference?

Before the hallways fill up again, there are some recommendations that can be implemented to improve the cleanliness of school restrooms and ensure a successful future for students this year. Use this time to connect with your school's care team to set expectations for each restroom and find ways to help students stay healthy.

• Use a Checklist – When school custodians have to complete many tasks throughout the school day, from cleaning up lunches to preparing for performance scenes, it's easy to forget about school bathroom chores. To continue cleaning bathrooms, consider using a checklist or online audit software that allows your maintenance team to keep track of what tasks have been completed in each bathroom.
• Reduce costly clogs: School toilets can be a messy place. Clogged toilets due to an oversupply of toilet paper or paper towels or social media trends can damage pipes and cause students to be dissatisfied with the condition of their school's toilets. To reduce costly toilet clog maintenance, look for toilet paper with active clog-dissolving enzymes or paper towels that dissolve within minutes. Both options can help make going to the toilet more comfortable.
• Emphasize sustainability: School administrators and maintenance departments should consider adopting automatic paper towel dispensers. If a school is striving to meet its sustainability goals, administrators should look for paper towel vending machines that help reduce single-use plastics, such as those made from ocean-derived plastic. Younger generations like Generation Z and Generation Alpha are more focused on climate change and sustainable practices than older generations.
• Gentle reminder: It's not just up to custodians to keep bathrooms clean and students healthy. Students also play an important role in proper waste disposal when using the bathroom and should learn proper handwashing techniques to minimize the spread of germs. Research has shown that more than 50% of students would be more likely to wash their hands if schools posted signs in the restrooms reminding them to do so. Printable resources are available on the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) website.
• Ask for Feedback – To show students and teachers that you care about their well-being, ask them for feedback on bathroom maintenance. Perhaps the soap your school uses leaves some students' hands dry, so they avoid washing their hands with it. Others prefer paper towels to hand dryers. It is important to ensure paper towels are available in all bathrooms to improve hand hygiene compliance. Set up a suggestion box or conduct a survey among faculty and staff.

Prioritize back-to-school restrooms

The new school year is just around the corner and students are preparing to return to school campuses in a few weeks. During this time, school administrators and facility managers must restore buildings, especially bathrooms, to pristine condition. Although school counselors often work behind the scenes, they play an important role in creating a successful learning environment.

Although various cleaning and maintenance tasks can take a custodial team in many directions, you should develop a cleaning plan that ensures all school restrooms are fully stocked and cleaned daily. It can be challenging, but there are products and resources that can help speed up the cleaning process and keep students happy and healthy for next year.

Jorge Mtanous, Sofidel America's Regional Sales Director - Foreign, brings more than 20 years of experience identifying opportunities, prospecting and closing deals. Through a combination of confidence and advisory expertise, he effectively engages decision makers, addresses their challenges and delivers tailored solutions in global markets including Mexico, the Middle East, Asia and the United States.

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