The Standard Issue 4 2022

MY CAREER IN CLEANING
BY HAMID GHADRY
FBICSc
I began my career in the cleaning
industry almost by chance. Having
spent two years in the army as
corporal immediately after college
graduation, I initially started work
in a bank. First as a cashier and then
as a clerk in a clearing house dealing
with incoming cheques, which was
only supposed to be a temporary job.
I remember leaving the bank and on
my first day as a cleaning operative, I
was inducted, issued with a fresh full
uniform and introduced to staff and
working areas.
Luckily my new employer was a
BICSc approved training centre and
I was put through COPC stage 1 and
2, which is now CPSS. It was not a
case of you standing around with a
mop, this end for holding and that
end on the floor for mopping,
which I appreciated.
Initially I thought it was a lot of
details for a mere cleaning role,
maybe I was young or should I say
younger. As I started putting the
training into practice through daily
tasks as per given work schedules
based on specifications in reference
to dilution rates, colour coding,
COSHH, electrical safety, hand
hygiene, PPE, displaying caution
signs among others, I began to
understand the importance of each
element and how those interlinked
into other areas such as health
and safety, sustainability and
environment, laws and regulations.
I then learned more about
microbiology and chemistry
background to substances used
and interaction of cleaning agents’
surfactants with the surfaces, its
different types and how molecules
are differing and positively and
negatively charged. This intrigued me
so I delved more, researched more
and became involved with the training
side further. That is how I invested my
time more and more with training and
development over the years.
Since then I have been involved
directly in staff training and
development programmes
wherever I have worked across
the UK and have put through
almost 900 plus staff on the BICSc
Licence To Practice, and moved
on to do more skills – Base Units,
Additional Units and Specialist
Units. I enjoyed it then, and still
enjoy it now.
It’s no secret and I can’t hide the
fact that I love the Institute and I
have yet to come across another
set of nationally accredited
qualifications which come even
remotely close to BICSc skill
suite. This historical Institute has
been in place since 1961 and has
almost over 50,000 Individual and
Corporate Members globally and
continues to be industry leader in
training and development. Plus it
moves on with recent innovations/
technologies ensuring it remains
up to date and relevant.
What makes BICSc unique is its
emphasis it places on valuing
our unforgettable hard-working
domestic, cleaning and support
staff (considering they were our
heroes during the pandemic).
On the other hand, the BICSc
training skills suite is world
class, covering best practice
in detail, is delivered in two
formats of theory before
practical, then followed by
a thorough assessment and
eventually leading to globally
recognised accreditations.
I have personally witnessed
how this training transforms
our staff’s careers, improves the
cleaning services provided and
how motivating and engaging it
can be.
Within my current role as
Facilities Services Manager at
the University of Northampton
we have fully embraced BICSc
standards and our business
model for soft services is built
on its framework.
We are proud to be both a
Corporate and ATM member of
BICSc. We have so far Licenced
almost 100 staff members on LTP
and moved on to deliver a package
of 10 selected skills (combination
of Base/Additional/Specialist
Units) to all our employees. This
is parallel with our organisation's
visions and values and its mission
statement of provision of excellent
services for our students and
other stakeholders.
HAMID GHADRY
Facilities Services Manager
University of Northampton
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