feature hospitality cleaning solutions
Solutions to ease the hotel cleaning burden
The hospitality sector in Africa is growing. Market revenue across the continent is expected to reach $13.80bn by 2027, according to Statista projections. An average annual growth rate of 8.68 percent is forecast for the sector over the next five years, and the 2023 Hotel and Hospitality Industry Confidence Index indicates that hospitality chiefs are optimistic about the future. This is great news for hoteliers – but the fallout from COVID-19 means they continue to face crippling staff shortages. Tom Marshall from Tork manufacturer Essity looks at solutions that can make life easier for the hotel cleaner.
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otel cleaners have a tough job, particularly when they are overstretched. They are typically allocated around 30 minutes to prepare a room for a new guest and just 15 minutes to service an occupied one. And each room must be left spotless because any stray hair or dead fly will be spotted, photographed and uploaded onto social media where it will create horror and outrage. Cleaners are expected to sanitise all other areas of the hotel thoroughly and unobtrusively too – and in the shortest possible time. And the job is also hazardous, since injury rates among hotel cleaners stand at around 50 percent above those of other hotel workers due to the need for stretching and bending, lifting mattresses and moving furniture aside to vacuum floors. Staff members are also often expected to cover a great deal of ground, particularly when cleaning a large complex incorporating pools, guest rooms, restaurants and wellness suites. So, what can be done to make life easier for the hotel cleaner?
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African Cleaning Review November/December 2023
Tork Vision Cleaning also allows cleaners to check remotely whenever a washroom is experiencing high usage or when a dispenser is running out of soap, toilet paper or hand towels. This allows them to stay on top of the game and removes the need for multiple unnecessary physical checks on the washrooms. A growing number of hotels are now deploying robots to carry out tasks such as floor cleaning and delivering toiletries to guest rooms. These can operate throughout the night and will take some of the strain away from human cleaners. High-capacity trolleys will also aid the cleaner, particularly if these are lightweight and manoeuvrable. A larger trolley will avoid the need for repeated trips to the stockroom for extra supplies of soap, paper and toiletries. Where trolleys are not viable – in narrow corridors, between guest lodges or in constricted areas for example – it might be necessary to
physically carry boxes of products to guest rooms and washrooms. Here an ergonomically designed packaging system such as Tork Easy Handling will make life easier. Tork Easy Handling Carry Packs and Carry Boxes have comfortable handles to allow staff to carry two packs at a time, while Tork Carry Boxes fold flat when empty and can be taken to the recycling facility using the integral handles. When forced to work under strict time pressures, it is all too easy for cleaners to overlook some tasks. Hotels should therefore provide a checklist for each cleaner to ensure that all tasks are completed. A ‘smart’ checklist is
