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Flexi cleaning on road to success

ECJ’s Lotte Printz takes another look at the flexible market meeting a Flex-job cleaner in Denmark.

One Monday morning at 8am, yours truly arrives at the old building where I used to study journalism. A building now a community and conference centre run by Skejby Rangers. It may sound like it, but this is not a football club, nor is my visit a trip down memory lane. I’m here to meet 54-year-old Tora Kerstens who starts her working day at the premises where Skejby Rangers, her current employer, resides.

Her bubbly energy and vigour fill the room, and as we make our way towards the storage where she is to fetch cleaning supplies for her working day, Tora also reveals there’s more to her than meets the eye.

Two years ago, she was diagnosed with ADD (Attention Deficit Order) and granted what is called a ‘Flex-job’ in Denmark. A scheme introduced in 1997 for those who are unable to work full-time on ordinary terms due to mental or physical challenges for example, but who are far too well to receive early medical retirement benefits. An employer pays for the actual hours people in flexible employment work and the local authority tops up to what amounts to full-time pay in that job. After a working life of several, often short-term jobs Tora is now working four hours three days a week – as a cleaner.

“I’ve been struggling with low self-esteem my whole life and for years I was extremely good at adapting to the wishes and terms of others. In the end causing too much strain on my brain which was already overloaded,” Tora explains.

Now this Flex-job as a cleaner, most days in the shared facilities at a place for refugees, helps her get out of bed and brings her a sense of success. She may still be tired, strained even, after her day cleaning, but her 12-hour working week allows a life outside of work and ‘time-outs’.

Rapportant du Danemark, Lotte Printz examine le programme des « Flex-jobs » offert à des travaillement incapables de travailler à temps plein pour cause d’incapacité physique ou mentale, mais qui se portent trop bien pour être contraints à une retraite anticipée.

“It’s great to make my own money and to feel I contribute rather than receiving full-time benefits,” she says. “I have an eye for detail and for the standards required. And even though my CV may tell people otherwise, I need a job like this where 95 per cent is routine.”

For one of Tora’s colleagues, it’s quite the opposite, and it’s important to understand and find the individual strengths and needs of the people in flexible employment, while still being flexible towards the customers, Mia Skovgaard, working in marketing for Skejby Rangers, explains.

“A Flex-job is not a job title! Yet there is still a lot of prejudice in the labour market about people in Flex-jobs. A low IQ being one of them. So, at the end of meetings with potential customers, I often spring on them, matter-offactly, that I too have a Flex-job,” she says smiling.

To make it easier for companies to take on people in Flexjobs, Skejby Rangers manages all the paperwork and dealings with the local authorities and the people are on Skejby Rangers’ payroll, currently 16 employees taken on for their drive rather than qualifications.

“Our employees fulfil facility service tasks, among others. We are not a charity, mind you! And we don’t want pity. But we do hope that in the end, the companies see the value and the idea of taking on an employee in a Flex-job themselves,” Mia concludes.

In ihrem Bericht aus Dänemark betrachtet Lotte Printz „Flex-Jobs“, ein Programm für diejenigen, die aufgrund psychischer oder körperlicher Herausforderungen nicht in der Lage sind, Vollzeit zu arbeiten, die aber zu gesund sind, um Vorruhestandsleistungen zu erhalten.

Folded microfibre still effective

VSR has been researching cross-contamination from folding microfibre cloths, writes John Griep.

VSR has been researching crosscontamination from folding microfibre cloths for some time.

I wrote about this last year after it was found that micro-organisms spread from a dirty surface to clean surfaces by the folding method. The microfibre cloth thus contaminates itself when the cloth is folded. Is that bad?

Despite the contamination, there remained a substantial reduction in micro-organisms by cleaning with clammy microfibre cloths. So the cloths do clean things. In fact, for cleaning, the microfibre cloth is extremely effective. Because by using it correctly, microfibres remove dirt more thoroughly than other cloths.

How does that work? Firstly, microfibres hold onto dirt better compared to traditional materials, and the cleaned surface is left virtually dry. Alongside that, the use of water and detergent is mainly unnecessary.

Secondly - and this may seem contradictory - the folding method also means there is actually less spread of dirt and micro-organisms. Because if a (clammy) microfibre cloth is folded two or three times, creating eight or sixteen sides, a clean part of the cloth can be used for cleaning each time. When all the sides have been used, the cloth is replaced with a clean cloth.

For the fanatics among us, the pattern of cross-contamination is important here in identifying the cause. The transmission is uneven. More micro-organisms are found on some surfaces after cleaning than on others. Significantly more micro-organisms were found on surface 12 than on all other surfaces except the soiled surface (surface 1).

Side 12 is the back of side 1, which could mean that microorganisms are squeezed through the different layers by the pressure of the hand. This may also explain the relatively higher numbers of micro-organisms on surfaces 15 and 6. These sides of the folded cloth follow side 12. On sides 2, 5, 8, 11, 13 and 16, the lowest numbers of micro-organisms were found.

Proper use of microfibre cloths is not just about folding. Because the cloths are no longer rinsed out in a bucket of water, dirt and micro-organisms remain in the cloth. This means they are no longer moved through the rinse water to other surfaces. Also important: working from clean to dirty. Even type of surface appears to influence the spread of micro-organisms. More micro-organisms are found on porcelain than on plastic and metal surfaces. Concern unnecessary

Conclusion: concern about cross-contamination from folding microfibre cloths is unnecessary, in our opinion. It is important to distinguish between cleaning, disinfecting and sterilising. When cleaning is required, the microfibre cloth (including folding technique) is extremely effective. In the study using humidification with demineralised water, we observed a 99.99 per cent reduction in microbial contamination in a single working pass.

So the effectiveness of the microfibre cloth remains impressive at this point. The digital research report ‘Cross-contamination when using folded microfibre cloths’ can be ordered through the VSR office.

Dalla Danimarca, la corrispondente Lotte Printz esamina attentamente ‘Flex-jobs’, uno schema per coloro che non sono in grado di lavorare a tempo pieno a causa di problemi di salute mentale o fisica ma stanno troppo bene per ricevere il trattamento pensionistico anticipato per problemi di salute.

Dans son compte-rendu des Pays-Bas, John Griep, de l’organisation VSR, explique que des recherches s’y poursuivent depuis quelque temps sur le problème de la contamination croisée produite par des tissus en mcrofibres.

In den Niederlanden wird die Frage der Kreuzkontamination durch faltbare Mikrofasertücher seit einiger Zeit erforscht, berichtet John Griep (VSR).

Nei Paesi Bassi, il problema della contaminazione crociata causata dal piegare i panni in microfibra è già da un pò di tempo oggetto di ricerca, come spiega John Griep della VSR.