16 THE WORLD OF CLEANING & FACILITIES MANAGEMENT
Skanska partners with Ecocleen to deliver multi-site contract cleaning during COVID-19
Ecocleen
Established in 1887 , Skanska is one of the world ’ s leading project development and construction groups . The multinational company operates around the world with over 38,000 employees worldwide . In the UK , it is best known for working on a number of major projects , including the Gherkin , the M25 and Crossrail , to build , upgrade and maintain the country ’ s infrastructure for future generations .
Navigating the pandemic
As part of its infrastructure services business , Skanska maintains the highways network across Devon , which has the longest road network in England . It provides an essential service that has continued throughout the COVID-19 pandemic .
To ensure its operations were COVID-19 safe , Skanska had to make some changes in its approach to day-today operations . For instance , deskbased staff went straight to working from home , leaving the offices to those managing operations out on the network .
To maintain ‘ business as usual ’ out on the road network , the company had to think on its feet and find solutions , with the added challenge of government and industry guidance changing almost daily . With the common goal of health and safety for everyone , the team at Skanska pulled together .
Taking preventative measures
As a construction company , Skanska is following the guidelines set out by the Construction Leadership Council , which has shared regular guidance notes on what is needed to run a site during the pandemic , emphasising the importance of good hygiene practices .
After reviewing its cleaning regime with Ecocleen , Skanska introduced an enhanced cleaning regime for the Devon contract , covering all the touchpoints and other significant risk areas to reduce or remove COVID-19 transmission .
Skanska worked with Ecocleen to increase the frequency of cleaning in its main depots , used daily by operatives , and extended this to six satellite depots that aren ’ t used as regularly but are essential for Skanska ’ s winter maintenance operation . During the summer , these depots provided an extra stop-off point and welfare facility for operatives – 15 sites in total .
To ensure operatives had enough facilities available to them to enable the right levels of hygiene , Skanska also installed an additional five portable toilets at strategic points across Devon , with the Ecocleen team cleaning them twice each day . Ecocleen rose to the challenge , as they were in fairly remote locations .
With quieter roads , Skanska was able to deliver more of its planned road maintenance work , for which it needed on-site welfare facilities . Again , Skanska and Ecocleen worked quickly to make sure these sites are cleaned every day .
Delivering local expertise
The Ecocleen team tackled these challenges front on and delivered . Ecocleen was able to hit the mark and deliver the cleaning resources required for Skanska in a very timely manner . For this partnership to be successful , collaboration and speed of response were key . To stay efficient , Ecocleen set up a common Microsoft Teams channel , so that everyone from both companies had sight of all the information required to move forward quickly .
Skanska knew what it required as far as frequency and scope of cleanliness . Ecocleen took this one step further to provide the best advice from the team ’ s local experience , industry knowledge and understanding . Before COVID-19 , cleaning was a structured and planned thing , with a set cleaning regime for each Skanska depot . Now , it is a service that is operationally led to adapt to changing needs with the added benefit of a strong and transparent partnership with Ecocleen .
“ Since COVID-19 , everybody is more aware of hygiene and more sceptical when they walk into a toilet or even a building as to whether it has been cleaned sufficiently . Hopefully , this means that cleaners will be valued more going forward , because in the past it hasn ’ t necessarily been looked upon as the type of role that it should be - it ’ s a hard job !” said Gary Williams , operations manager for Skanska at Devon Highways . “ We have never been so close to a cleaning company before and we wouldn ’ t have been able to continue operating as normal without the help of Ecocleen .”
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