Cleaning Company calls for better practices

Media release                                                                                                                4 June 2009

Cleaning Company calls for better practices on World Environment Day

New Zealand businesses are being urged to do their bit for their employees and the environment on World Environment Day by making the switch to green cleaning products.

“New Zealand businesses need to lead the charge to not just clean their offices, but to look after the health of their staff by using environmentally friendly cleaning products” says Grant McLauchlan of Crest Commercial Cleaning, “Conventional cleaning products and practices can have an impact on the health of staff, causing respiratory, skin and eye irritation, allergies, headaches and nausea.”

He says keeping a workplace clean is vital for employee health and morale, but many employers don’t realise that the products used to clean their workplaces could actually be making their employees sick.

 “It costs employers in terms of lost production and sick leave,” he says.

Mr McLauchlan says the health effects of many common cleaning products were well-documented. For example, chlorine bleach could irritate the lungs and eyes, alkylphenol ethoxylates were suspected of disrupting hormones, many fragrances contained phthalates, which have been linked to asthma in children and sodium lauryl sulphate, a common sudsing agent, could cause contact dermatitis.

International studies show that environmentally friendly cleaning products are healthier for the people working in a building.

“Green cleaning programmes could save businesses money in other ways too,” he says “We suggest to our clients, where possible that they carry out cleaning during the day, rather than at night. This can produce energy savings of 5-12% compared with night cleaning.”

Minimising water waste could cut a business’s waste disposal and water costs too.

“Being environmentally responsible is now routine in many workplaces,” he says. “But adopting a green cleaning programme is another way that businesses could show they care about the environment they operated in and the people who work for them.”

“Some businesspeople want to do their bit for the environment, but think that it is going to cost their business too much money. However, if they look past the headline costs, to issues such as employee health and decreased energy and waste disposal costs, they might be pleasantly surprised at how they can be green and cost-effective at the same time”

World Environment Day (WED) was established by the UN General Assembly in 1972 to mark the opening of the Stockholm Conference on the Human Environment. This initiative is commemorated yearly through the week of June 5 and is hosted by a different city every year to stimulate worldwide awareness of the environment.

Ends

© Scoop Media