James Cook University Cleaning & General Services

The Estate Office provides a cleaning service to all buildings on Townsville and Cairns campuses.

Our objective is to:

• Maintain all areas to a high standard of hygiene and tidiness
• Implement best practices in cleaning operations
• Achieve efficient and effective performance
• Ensure the health & safety of staff, students and users of campus facilities.
• Reduce our carbon footprint by implementing ‘green’ procedures.

Cleaning services are undertaken from Monday to Friday between the hours of 0600 and 2400. Frequencies are outlined in communication folders found in tea rooms/common rooms and are specific to each space.

The cleaners are also responsible for the cleaning of covered external areas such as entry and exit areas, verandahs, balconies and undercrofts.

Requests for services or queries outside of the normal cleaning specification including quotations for additional cleaning, moving of furniture, exam set ups, carpet cleaning and sanitary services, should be submitted by the MEX Request Maintenance System with an accompanying account code.

Note: without an account code a request cannot be formulated into a work order enabling the work be carried out.

General information

All cleaning contractors, are required as far as is practicable to use materials supplied by a Quality Assured Company as defined by the relevant standard in line with our “Green” micro fibre system introduced in 2010.

All cleaning staff are easily identified by their company uniform with company staff identification at all times.

Cleaning staff have been instructed not to move or touch items left on desks including items of equipment, papers, documents, books extra, regardless of whether they obstruct the cleaning services. Cleaning staff will only remove rubbish that is placed in a rubbish bin.

Quality Assurance checks are carried out weekly to ensure the terms of Contract are upheld and cleaning is evaluated against specified criteria.  Ad-hoc inspections are also carried out regularly by Estate Directorate staff.

Any cleaning issues or complaints can be registered in the communication folders that are held in tea rooms/common rooms or submitted using the MEX system. It should be dated and signed by the requester. Once actioned, the item will be signed off by the cleaner.

Where there are ongoing problems please contact the Customer Service Desk extension 14444.

Since 2010 cleaning staff have been working with a complete environmentally responsible cleaning system.

Environment/cost/OH&S benefits

• Reduced chemical use resulting in cost savings
• Up to 95% less landfill
• Reduced carbon footprint for users
• Easy to dispense and store
• Recyclable packaging
• Reduction of manual handling when mopping and wiping
• Significant bacteria reduction when compared with standard cleaning cloths

In conjunction with this system we use steam mops and Microfibre products for cloths, mop heads and dusters: the technology of these products is being hailed as one of the most significant product innovations to the cleaning industry in the last century.