Housekeeping Best Practices for Saving Costs and Safety in Apartment Common Areas

Housekeeping is not just cleaning and sanitizing kitchen and bathroom areas of an apartment. Effective housekeeping include sweeping and mopping all floors, providing better hygienic conditions leading to improved health, reduce property damage by improving preventive maintenance, maintaining halls and floors free of slip,  trip hazards, eliminate accidents and fire in apartment complex etc. Housekeeping best practices in apartment results in more efficient equipment cleanup, maintenance and manages orderly storage and movement of materials from point of entry to exit.

Elements for effective housekeeping

Effective housekeeping increases productivity of tools and materials or appliances in your apartment and reduce property damage ensuring long run of building and increasing asset value of building. Elements for effective housekeeping includes following.

• Cleaning and sanitizing kitchen and bathroom: To accomplish the disinfecting or sanitizing process, an appropriate cleaning agent must be used. Regular cleaning and sanitizing should take place in order to protect your family from germs and bacteria. Remove debris in a timely fashion and sweep the area.

• Clean Light Fixtures: Poor housekeeping results in dirty light fixtures reducing essential light levels. Cleaning light fixtures improve lighting efficiency and its lifetime.

• Sweeping and mopping all floors: Cleaning up spilled oil and other liquids at once is important. Areas that cannot be cleaned continuously, such as entrance ways, should have anti-slip flooring. Trapping chips, shavings and dust before they reach the floor or cleaning them up regularly can prevent their accumulation.

• Keeping aisles and stairways clear: Arranging aisles (passageway) properly encourages people to use them so that it does not cause accident or slip. Adequate lighting for stairways and aisles should be provided. Keeping aisles and stairways clear is important.

• Providing waste basket in each floor: The regular collection, grading and sorting of scrap contribute to good housekeeping practices. Placing scrap containers in all floors makes collection easier. Segregating wastes also makes it possible to separate materials that can be recycled. Keeping a place tidy also depends on providing enough wastebaskets, bins, cans, and other proper containers so that building users will find tidiness convenient. Rubbish handling is essential to the housekeeping process.

• Daily checklist: Each floors of apartment should be inspected daily and given the authority to remedy any problems found. Review regularly for a contingency plan for spills, leaks, weather extremes etc.

• Maintenance of buildings and equipment: Maintenance involves keeping buildings, equipment and machinery in safe, efficient working order and in good repair. It is important to replace or fix broken or damaged items as quickly as possible. The maintenance of buildings and equipment may be the most important element of good housekeeping.

• Storage of materials: Good organization of stored materials is essential for overcoming material storage problems whether on a temporary or permanent basis. Stored materials should not obstruct aisles, stairs, exits, fire equipment, emergency eyewash fountains, emergency showers, or first aid stations. Storage of materials should meet all requirements specified in the fire codes and the regulations of environmental and occupational health and safety agencies.

• Dispose of wash water or fluids properly: Post “waste disposal charts” in appropriate locations detailing for each waste its hazardous nature. Allowing material to build up on the floor wastes time and energy since additional time is required for cleaning it up. Regularly inspect, clean and dispose wash water, sediments and waste properly.

• Flammable Cleaning Solvents: These cleaning agents are hazardous and flammable if not handled with care. There are number of non-toxic and effective cleaning agents available.

Effective housekeeping is an ongoing operation. When spills do occur, it is important to clean them up immediately. Absorbent materials are useful for wiping up greasy, oily or other liquid spills. Regularly inspect, clean and repair all tools and take any damaged or worn tools out of service. When the numbers of the units in the complex are very large, the Apartment complex needs a professional agency to take care of it. Some builders extend their facility management service even after the sale to earn the good will of potential buyers who will be visiting these apartments.

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