9 minute read
Outsourcing School Maintenance: A healthy
For most people, the weekend is the time for all the DIY and maintenance jobs that need doing around the house – mowing the lawns, fixing that annoying leak, sprucing up the paintwork, getting rid of ever-accumulating rubbish and tracking down the source of that bad pong.
After all, we want our homes to look their best (what would the neighbours think!) and it’s just common sense to sort out the little things before they become big – and potentially expensive – problems.
It’s the same with school maintenance – except, of course, that there are more buildings to keep an eye on, more grounds to keep in check and a whole heap of overly-energetic young people adding to the daily wear and tear.
This is why Outsourcing School Property Maintenance is likely to be a cost-effective means of looking after a school’s physical assets.
Quent Brown, regional manager of cleaning provider Jani King, emphasises the “crucial nature” of building maintenance.
“A regular, programmed maintenance regime needs to be in place - especially on aging buildings,” he says. Quent also points to the importance of good communication between outsourced maintenance staff (such as cleaners) and the school management team “to make sure that any small issue is immediately brought to their attention before it becomes bigger and more expensive”.
More than mowing
Similar issues arise with school grounds and playing fields, according to Turftech director/ founder Rob Briscoe
“There is more to maintaining a sports field than mowing – neglecting correct field maintenance can result in expensive restoration costs,” he says. “Knowing the importance of physical activity for children, schools should be committed to providing a properly maintained environment for students and the wider community to use.” For Rob, making sure that those employed in maintaining school grounds and green spaces have relevant experience is of paramount importance, otherwise schools do not get proper “value for money”.
“Sports fields are a valuable asset that require specialist knowledge to be maintained cost effectively,” he says.
“[Maintenance staff] must understand the importance of working in a school environment with respect of hazard identification – for example, have a robust health and safety system – and of working around children; for instance, be aware of debris, noise and school rosters to avoid their maintenance work intruding on daily school activities.”
Much the same things can be said about the professionalism of an outsourced school cleaning service, Quent says. “Managing the day-to-day cleaning of a school requires not just keeping the school clean and at a consistently high standard but management and knowledge in multiple areas: collective and individual employment agreements; supervision and training of staff; health and safety, and compliance; hardware and chemical knowledge.”
Clean bill of health
According to Quent, engaging a dependable and efficient cleaning provider “not only provides you with the certainty of a clean school, but gives you more time so your staff and teachers can focus their energy on what’s of prime importance – to teach and inspire their students to love learning”.
“A clean school with good property maintenance is important to every member of the school community. A clean school helps improve indoor environmental quality, reduces the spread of infectious illness, as well as the triggers for asthma and allergies. All of these issues impact absenteeism for both students and staff alike,” he says.
“One of the biggest concerns we find are with the amenities, with poor cleaning increasing the risk of cross contamination. A teacher who is frequently absent [due to illness] can have serious effects on the quality of education that a student receives over a school year. In fact, a study by Harvard researchers found that a teacher
missing up to 10 days of school is equivalent to a student being taught by a novice teacher rather than one with several years of experience.”
A touchy subject
Due to the nature of schools – with large numbers of students sharing facilities in common – ‘touch point cleaning’ must be emphasised, Quent says; that is, cleaning of the areas must often touched by diff erent people.
“This is a health and safety issue and your cleaners should have touch point cleaning in their daily schedule. Touch points can be everything from restroom doors, push plates, light-switches door handles, etc. The inclusion of a sanitary wipe of these areas daily is key to keeping a safe and healthy environment, particularly during the flu season,” he explains. “While many deep cleaning activities can be reasonably achieved over the term breaks, touch point cleaning is a fantastic way to keep children and teachers at school.”
Both Quent and Rob agree that doing the job well in the first place by using qualified staff from reputable companies is most cost eff ective in the long run. A little time spent doing regular upkeep of things like window and carpet cleaning can save greater expenditure later, Quent says.
“Build a plan around ensuring regular window and floor maintenance is built into your cleaning schedule. This will ensure that window cleaners don’t have to spend extra time scrubbing off scum, build-up and baked on debris – which of course you will end up paying for.”
After all, a healthy school is a happy school is a wellmaintained school.
By Patrick Whittle
See us rst for the professional maintenance of: • Sports Fields • Arti cial Turf • Lawns and gardens • Trees
TURFTECH
leaders in turf management
SPORTS FIELDS
TREES, LAWNS & GARDENS ARTIFICIAL TURF
For more information please contact Luke on 021702270 or 09 2703367 or email: luke@turftech.co.nz
www.turftech.co.nz
Keeping New Zealand’s education facilities clean for
20 years
Get in touch with us today!
reception@janiking.co.nz Phone: 0800 526 454
REHARVEST TIMBER PRODUCTS
Cushioning wood chips setting the standard in playground surfacing
PREMIUM PRODUCTS
Reharvest® Timber Products Ltd was established to manufacture premium products from waste wood that are eco-friendly and safe for children, animals, and nature alike. We have been undisputed in leading the market in this area for 20 years.
Our name sake says it all; we REHARVEST used and unwanted timber to make a variety of products ranging from garden mulch, to playground Cushionfall, to animal and equestrian mulch. All of which are biodegradable.
ENVIROMULCH is our wood chip product created for your gardening needs. It can be laid on flat or sloping surfaces since it is self stabilising and wind resistant. It is excellent for inhibiting weed growth, aids in moisture retention and is nontoxic being free from seeds and disease. Available in 5 colours.
PLAYGROUND CUSHIONFALL
As with our Enviromulch, is self stabilising, inhibits weed growth and is non toxic, but because Cushionfall is installed to help with the impact absorbency on playgrounds it is also rigorously tested and the only 5 star rated wood chip surfacing in NZ. Cushionfall is the preferred choice of multiple councils, Ministry of Education, Kindergarten Associations, Playcentres Associations, and Pre School Centres.
ECO-FRIENDLY
OCEANIA New Zealand Business Awards
Reharvest Timber Products Ltd
2017AWARDS Best Recycled Wood Products Manufacturer 2017
We are the recent winners of the 2017 Oceania Business Awards for Best Recycled Wood Products Manufacturer and we pride ourselves in being part of a sustainable future.
Our wood chip mulch products are made from 100% recycled waste wood, reducing landfill and helping in waste minimisation eff orts.
And they are bio-friendly as the mulch aids in moisture retention in gardens, drainage in playgrounds, is excellent for promoting healthy plant life, wind resistant and selfstabilizing. Cushionfall for playgrounds has been rigourously tested. Prior to product launch we conducted 2 years of product development and did 3 years of onsite playground testing. Materials used as safety surfacing require certification to validate their shock absorbtion. These certification tests require surfacing to achieve a test of 3.0m with a product depth of 300mm. Cushionfall has the highest test results in Australasia with 4.5 to 6.15m. Also, US testing laboratories have found wood chip surfacing to be 25% more shock absorbent after 5 years of use - so it doesnt get older, it just gets better. Cushionfall is the undisputed best-by-test, chased by the rest for the last 20 years.
SAFETY CONFIDENT
We are so devoted to ensuring supreme quality and safety that we have spent 15 years perfecting our grinder that produces our wood chip so that it removes all traces of nails, staples and all metal/hazardous materials. Our techniques ensure there are no “sharp edges” and Cushionfall is made in strict votality from food-grade pellets and untreated timber so is non-toxic. Since safety is paramount we implement extensive testing at regular intervals evalutaing the impact eff icency of the wood chips being produced.
EASY INSTALLATION
Our wood chips can be pumped in through large hoses from the carpark or road, meaning there is no need for heavy bulldozers or machinery in your schoolyard or back breaking barrowing by your property manager!
Talk to our Sales Manager about your playground or garden requirements today Graham Villis - (09) 299 3999 - graham@reharvest.co.nz - www.reharvest.co.nz or follow us on Facebook
NZ’S 5 STAR RATED PLAYGROUND SURFACING
EXTENSIVE RESEARCH: 2 years of product development before launch
RIGOROUS TESTING: 3 years testing of Cushionfall by 3 councils in 5 RIGOROUS TESTING: playgrounds before council approval ONGOING QUALITY TESTING: HIGHEST IMPACT TESTS
ONGOING QUALITY TESTING: more than 50 tests in the last 10 years alone!
HIGHEST IMPACT TESTS in Australasia achieved
PREFERRED CHOICE: Councils, the Ministry of Education, Kindergarten PREFERRED CHOICE: Associations, Play Centre Associations and Preschool Centres Associations, Play Centre Associations and Preschool Centres
PLAYGROUND WOOD CHIP VS MATTING?
Choosing wood chips for playgrounds is a great choice in playground safety for 4 reasons:
1. Shock absorption: United States Testing Laboratories found that Cushionfall® playground wood chips absorb shock better than rubber mats 3.75 inches thick. 2. Durable: the same laboratory found that Cushionfall® playground wood chips are 25% more shock absorbent after five years of use. 3. Even temperature: Reharvest Cushionfall® does not change temperature in hot or cold weather unlike synthetic surfaces can. 4. Eco-friendly: playground wood chips are more environmentally-friendly than playground matting. Whereas playground matting is generally manufactured from rubber, Cushionfall® playground wood chips are manufactured right here in New Zealand by recycling waste timber.
No other product comes close to 5-STAR rated Cushionfall.
The undisputed BEST-BY Test with a performance history of 15 years.
Phone (09) 299 3999 www.reharvest.co.nz
