Author: Andy Lindsley – Director

Version Control

Version	Summary of amendment	Date
1	Original document	23rd March 2020

STATEMENT

The COVID-19 pandemic will have a serious impact on the business of Pile Up Cleaning Ltd and this policy is vital to enable the company to primarily mitigate against risking public health but also to preserve sustainability of the business long-term.

Firstly, there are several cleaning companies claiming to be able to kill the Coronavirus COVID-19. This is serious misinformation. COVID-19 is an enveloped virus, and at present there are NO KNOWN products certified to break that envelope. Pile Up Cleaning Ltd will not make any such guarantees that cannot be backed up scientifically.

Regardless of what chemicals may be able to destroy the Coronavirus, there are no current products that will kill the new strain, COVID-19, that have legal backing. Scientific tests on COVID-19 are no doubt underway but are in the very early stages of testing.

All requests for service will be considered on a case-by-case basis, but the overriding factor will be to preserve the health of customers, the wider population, my family and I.

The key is to be able to maintain social distancing in order to prevent the virus from spreading across the population. Therefore, if a job involves cleaning empty premises (Eg. End of tenancy cleaning) this will be an example of the type of work that will be considered. Even in those cases, as a professional cleaning company, Pile Up Cleaning Ltd will ensure maintaining the correct hygiene practices to the highest standard, regularly disinfecting equipment and wearing personal protective equipment.

This will reduce the likelihood of spreading the virus based on official guidelines provided by GOV.UK and the NHS. Technical cleaning advice issued by the British Institute of Cleaning Science via the NCCA will also be adhered to.

REQUESTS FOR SERVICE

Before any request for service I will consider the following issues:

Is the location to be cleaned in a healthcare setting? If yes, this would involve at risk groups being exposed to unnecessary risk and will not be taken on at this time.
Is the customer over 70 years old? If yes this would involve at risk groups being exposed to unnecessary risk and will only be taken on if social distancing can be maintained (at minimum, separate rooms).
Do the customer have underlying health conditions? If yes this would involve at risk groups being exposed to unnecessary outside influences and will only be taken on if social distancing can be maintained (at minimum, separate rooms).
Has anyone in the household displayed symptoms of C19? If yes, the isolation period must have expired and then cleaning will only be taken on if social distancing can be maintained (at minimum, separate rooms).
Is cleaning deemed essential at this time? If specific public health issues identified (blood, vomit etc) or essential due to tenancy changes, cleaning can continue.
Can the premises being cleaned be vacant at the time of cleaning? If yes, cleaning can continue.
Can payment be made online, immediately and electronic invoicing be used? This will be required to 1. Limit physical contact with customer 3. Ensure future cashflow problems can be alleviated 4. No requirement to attend bank unnecessarily to pay in cash/cheques

GENERAL OPERATING CONDITIONS

• Only essential travel will be undertaken by Pile Up Cleaning Ltd.
• Previous policy involving pre-visiting all requests for service to carry out a ‘quotation’ will no longer be undertaken. Following assessment as to whether the job will be possible, details will be requested from the customer over the telephone (area of carpet to be cleaned, seating units etc) and an ‘estimate’ given based on that information. This will enable all customer/premises contact to be halved. On the date of the job the price will be confirmed as a ‘quotation’ based on examination and if agreed the cleaning will commence.
• Only one job per day will be considered thereby minimising and risk of cross-customer contamination and enabling daily sanitisation of clothing and equipment.
• Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) will be worn. This will include disposable gloves, mask and overshoes and goggles and disposable suit if necessary.
• All disposable PPE will be double-bagged and disposed of after 72 hours storage.
• Clothing worn will be the same and washed at the end of each day.
• Van refuelling will involve wearing gloves and payment at pump to negate cross-contamination and maintain social distancing.
• All payments MUST be made on-line prior to or on immediate completion of the job and no cheques or cash will be handled.