Sanitation Engineers: The Value of Training

 

Disinfecting a patient room involves more than "dipping a rag in a bucket," Zoutman added.  Bacterial spores require hospital-grade level disinfectants.  It can take 90 minutes to two hours to do a thorough and complete clean if a patient with an infectious disease has occupied the room.

 

But Zoutman isn't convinced more money is the answer.  "We need to look at how we're cleaning, and what we're doing, before we just say we need to hire more people or pour more money into it."

 

Smart man, this Zoutman.  Money isn't a solution; it is, in some cases, a facilitator for a solution, but money by itself does nothing.  We're too quick to spend (and too quick to cut) without actually making an effort and investing the time to find where the problem lies.

 

First and foremost - how are hospital cleaners treated?  How much training do they get?  Do they have HR support to turn to if they have pressing issues, especially if the wages aren't fantastic, or are they expected to leave personal problems at home and thoroughly clean room after room in monotonous yet rapid fashion?

 

I don't know.  I haven't done any research on this front.

 

That's what we pay policy people for, isn't it?