Who is best suited to perform housekeeping in a clean environment? Those that work in the cleanroom, a special in-house cleaning team, or an outside cleaning service? There are advantages and disadvantages to each, say cleaning supply representatives.
An in-house staff will be most familiar with the facility equipment and, since they are already employed by the company, it is easy to keep track of their progress. However, while the company employees may be specialists in the manufacturing, technical, or research work performed in the cleanroom, they may lack the skills and knowledge to properly clean the area. Adding cleaning responsibilities will reduce the amount of time available for performing assigned tasks. The lack of third-party verification is another issue.
The biggest disadvantage of outside [cleaners] is lack of knowledge as to the machines, the chemicals, the equipment and the procedures. The best advantage is they will have a routine and follow it.
As for in-house staff, an advantage is that they are taking care of the area where they have to do their work, and as such they take pride in their workspace and understand the material flow within that workspace. The downside to using in-house cleanroom staff is it can be easy to become complacent and usually the cleaning takes place at the end of a potentially long work day.
In-house staff can be monitored and adjusted easily, while an outside service may have more experience.
An obvious advantage of using in-house cleaning is cost. While using and outside contractor would cost more. Contractual accountability, certification, and taking the guess work away from the company are advantages.
The fact that cleaning cleanrooms is so difficult and underappreciated, it can also result in poor adherence to cleaning protocols and inconsistent results, whether done by direct employees or an outside contractor. But this condition is greatly exacerbated by a lack of sufficient supervision and high worker turnover that is not uncommon when using an outside cleaning service.
Cleaning contamination that cannot be seen is a challenge. The work can be difficult, especially when performed in garments, gloves, masks, and head coverings. The best strategies, the experts say, is to establish proper protocols, provide the proper cleaning tools, and communicate the importance of the housekeeping processes.
This goes to the heart of the manufacturing operation: What do we (the manufacturer) make? Why do we make it in a cleanroom? What are the risks to our products? Why do we follow the cleaning protocols as we do? What is the impact of my role in all this? While these topics may seem a bit ‘touchy-feely’ and one might assume cleaning staff should know the answers to these questions, the reality is far different. Once knowledge and understanding of the need for cleaning is achieved, consistent and exemplary results are possible.
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