Facility Management and Maintenance

The chill of winter is almost here, and the vibrant colors of the last few weeks are exchanged for numerous shades of gray. While many of us struggle with shorter days, cold temperatures, and lack of color, about 5 percent of people find themselves grappling with another unwelcome guest: seasonal affective disorder (SAD).

Considered to be a seasonal form of depression, seasonal affective disorder typically manifests during the later parts of the Fall and Winter months, when sunlight starts to become scarce. Shorter daylight hours combined with less overall sunlight lead sufferers to both an imbalance of chemicals in the brain as well as a shift in their biological clock or circadian rhythm that can cause people to be out of tune with their daily schedules. While affecting only 5 percent of people seems low, it’s important to note that SAD is more common in people living far from the equator and can last around 40 percent of the year, making our area a good candidate for the disorder.

So, how does facility management play into all of this? Broadly speaking, a facility management team aims to ensure that a facility operates efficiently, safely, and in ways that support the well-being and productivity of its occupants. Below, we’ll explore effective strategies to combat the effects of SAD, as well as provide tips for keeping productivity and morale high during the least productive months of the year.

Increase natural light. During the darker winter months, it’s no surprise that the first defense against the winter blues is through increased natural light. Consider keeping the curtains open, ensuring occupied areas are well-lit, and replacing old bulbs with LED bulbs that provide a light spectrum similar to sunlight. In addition, allow employees to bring in a “lightbox” for their desks. Sitting in front of a 10,000 Lux or brighter lightbox for at least 30 minutes in the morning can increase serotonin and endorphins, decreasing brain fog and fatigue throughout the day. Recent studies show light therapy improved symptoms of SAD in between 40 to 60 percent of people.

Add some color around the facility. This can be anything from adding some green plants around the office, hanging colorful pictures around the workplace, or even adding a fresh coat of paint to one of your walls.

Promote nutrition. A healthy and balanced diet is important for regulating our mood and energy levels. Keeping the break room stocked with healthy choices such as fruit, nuts, popcorn, coffee, and water can have a positive impact on employee well-being.

Encourage mobility on breaks and lunch. Engaging in physical activity during breaks benefits both physical and mental health and stimulates creativity and energy levels.

Declutter. Untidy environments often increase stress. If it has been a while, consider getting your facility cleaned by professionals. Not only can a thorough cleaning increase mood and focus, but it can also promote health and wellness for occupants inside the facility in a season when germs are rampant and doors and windows remain closed.

Gather employee feedback. No one knows your facility like your employees. Through them, a facility can identify problem areas, innovate solutions to those problems, and continue improving them over time.

Everyone’s experience with the winter season is unique, so it’s important to find a combination of strategies that work best for your facility. By incorporating some of the tips above, you can create a workspace that is both healthy and productive.

While warmer temperatures continue to linger, the first week of fall has already passed. In the coming weeks, colors will change, leaves will fall, and the days will become shorter.

While the days may be shorter, a 2019 study shows that fall is the most productive season of the year. Here’s how you can ride that productivity wave and what tasks you should focus on to ensure your facility is prepared for everything that the fall season throws at you.

Though it may seem like fall is all about raking up leaves and disposing of them, a thorough cleanup is a proactive process that can offer a wide range of benefits for your facility and its inhabitants through safety, appearance, building protection, employee morale, and risk mitigation.

Let’s explore how these benefits align with the various tasks involved with a proper cleanup.

Leaf cleanup. It’s no surprise that the first task on your checklist is raking up those leaves and sticks. While it might seem like a no-brainer, people often overlook why it’s so important. Sitting leaves offer a damp surrounding environment, which provides an excellent habitat for mold growth. Allergy sufferers might find these mold spores are the culprit for worsening symptoms. In addition, these wet areas pose a slip-and-fall risk for those entering your facility. Since leaves fall over time, it’s best to routinely rake up and dispose of the debris throughout the season.

Windows and Seals. According to the U.S. Department of Energy, heat that either escapes or enters windows accounts for roughly 30 percent of the energy used to heat and cool buildings. Rising energy costs mean you want maximum energy efficiency. Consider sealing gaps with insulation, sealing windows with caulk, investing in double-paned windows, and utilizing curtains that can create an insulating barrier between the cold windows and your warm office space.

Roof and Gutters. Checking rooftop areas and gutters for fallen leaves is an important maintenance task, as it ensures the functionality of your drainage system. Clogged gutters and drains can lead to water buildup and leakage.

Exterior Inspection. The fall season offers a good time to inspect your facilities’ external areas before the rain and snow arrive. Precipitation can fill these cracks and freeze, worsening conditions in the future. Replacing outdoor bulbs, putting outdoor furniture away, turning off water supplies to sprinkler systems and hoses, and inspecting trees around your property for potential risks are all critical tasks to ensure a safe, hazard-free facility.

HVAC check. The arrival of lower temperatures means windows stay closed; therefore, it’s vital to check your facilities’ ventilation system, as it controls everything from heating, circulating, and filtering the air. Maintaining good indoor air quality provides comfort for those in your building while also reducing the chance of illness due to harmful allergens. If it has been a while, consider having your system inspected. A professional technician should inspect the entire system, cleaning problematic areas while also replacing filters and verifying the system is running at maximum efficiency. Your HVAC system has been working non-stop during the previous months, and fall is the perfect time for a maintenance check.

Don’t think of fall as a season of chores; consider it an investment toward the safety, aesthetics, and overall success of your business. Through the implementation of these practices, you can create a secure environment that is both clean and welcoming to anyone who steps foot through your door.

Insects tend to migrate indoors during the winter in search of a warmer climate and waste no time building a home and reproducing, which evolves into a much bigger problem in the warmer months. A pest or rodent problem in and around a facility poses threats to productivity, employee health through the spreading of contamination and diseases, and structural integrity and safety of the building.

Keep reading to learn the most common pests that you might find in and around your facility, as well as tips for how to identify and deal with them, whether through commercial management practices—trapping, baiting, insecticides, and pesticides, or through secondary practices—insect repelling plants and flowers, potent smelling ingredients such as peppermint oil and garlic, and for some friendly tips on handling minor problems on your own.

Ants

Social insects live in colonies of hundreds to thousands and are attracted to places where food has been left out or dropped. Ants are one of the most problematic pests, as they’re often hard to see and blend in with darker surfaces. Moreover, if you see one, there are many others nearby. Common control techniques include cleaning up spills, routinely removing trash, and applying bait stations and traps.

Box Elder and Stink Bugs

Drawn to warmth and exterior walls facing the sun, these insects are not a risk for damage or biting. However, they can stain surfaces as box elder bugs produce liquid feces, and stink bugs secrete a yellow liquid. Practical prevention methods for minor problems include sealing windows and cracks, removing box elder trees around the area, or a simple solution of warm, soapy water that can deter and even kill box elder and stink bugs.

Flies

Drain flies, cluster flies, gnats. Flies are insects with various species that have adapted to living in many places (drains, inside walls, trash bins). Most flies are only a nuisance, though some species can bite. The bigger issue that flies bring is the threat of infestations, as flies can produce more than a million offspring in weeks.

For minor problems, a spray bottle with soap and water can take down and kill flies.

Cockroaches

The most problematic insect, and for a good reason. Roaches pose significant health risks, particularly in people with asthma, and can cause respiratory and gastrointestinal illnesses. Also, they carry the potential for other diseases, such as dysentery, giardia, salmonella, and gastroenteritis, to name a few. Roaches are hard to kill, as insecticides are not effective against them. Along with the myriad health problems with roaches are your brand or company’s image and reputation damage.

Ticks

Generally overlooked as problematic, ticks pose a significant health risk to employees and customers. A study from the Minnesota Department of Health states that one in 3 adult ticks have Lyme Disease, and one in 5 nymphs (immature stage) also contain the bacteria.

Good management techniques include clearing overgrown grass and weeds and removing grass and leaf clippings.

Bees

While some bees benefit ecosystems versus some of their counterparts, a business is no place for a bee. Carpenter bees cause structural damage when they nest in walls of buildings, yellowjackets are aggressive and can deliver a painful sting, and most bees cause a certain amount of panic. It’s important to know which type of bee you’re dealing with, as it might be better and cost-effective to re-home “good” bees versus dealing with them as a pest.

Rodents

Rodents pose a high risk of damage to your facility. Squirrels, rats, and mice present a fire hazard due to their ability to chew through wiring, wood, and insulation. In addition, rodent feces are both unsightly and cause allergic reactions in people.

Pest control is essential to facility management to ensure a safe and healthy workplace environment for employees and customers. Effective pest control can have the most impact by following a few steps.

1. Conduct regular inspections. Identify signs of infestations (feces, carcasses, chewed items) and locate potential nesting areas, in addition to property walk-throughs and assessment of systems where nests or destruction may have occurred (pipes, wiring, vents)

2. Implement preventative measures: Seal cracks and gaps in windows and walls, routinely declutter, keep the facility free of debris, and properly store food and dispose of food waste.

3. Educate employees: Teach employees about proper food storage and management and identify signs of a pest problem.

4. Hiring a professional pest control service. A good, quality pest control service not only deals with removing unwanted guests but also works with your wants and needs to develop a plan that will keep your facility running smoothly and critter-free. These professionals have the knowledge and the techniques of treating and eliminating pests which allow these methods to be applied most effectively and efficiently, reducing recurrence and saving you long-term money.

At CorpClean, our team of professionals and those we work with can inspect problematic areas, identify threats, develop a plan of action that includes treatment options and preventative measures, and continue to monitor the overall progress of the process while providing minimal disruption to your business.

People make judgments almost immediately, and your commercial building’s exterior appearance can make or break their perceptions. If your business looks clean and well maintained on the outside, people will assume the same is true inside.

You want to present an inviting environment that shows you care about the products and services provided within the building’s walls by its people. Here are a few steps you can take to improve your facility’s curb appeal:

1. Clean your building’s exterior seasonally or at least annually.

Brick or other siding materials, the roof, and gutters tend to get neglected until they look bad. Staying ahead of the cleaning will keep your building looking fresh and new and may cut down on repair work.

2. Keep sidewalks swept and parking lots free of debris.

Be sure to fix any cracks that develop right away. Not only does this improve the appearance, but damaged and uneven walkways are a potential hazard and insurance risk.

3. Wash windows inside and out at least monthly.

Sparkling clean windows show attention to detail and make everything appear brighter and more hygienic.

4. Manage your company’s waste.

Schedule regular trash pickup. Don’t leave dumpsters in a visible location on your property. If the containers get old and battered, request your waste management company to provide new ones. Create a fenced area to provide screening. No one wants to see yesterday’s Taco Tuesday lunch remnants.

5. Keep pests at bay.

Pest control inspections and treatments should be scheduled quarterly or more frequently, depending on the property’s location and internal activities. Specific factories may require unique applications depending on their production. Visible signs of rodents, cockroaches, and other unsightly critters are an instant turnoff to anyone entering your building.

6. Install proper exterior signage.

The right signage will make way-finding easier for everyone entering your site. Make sure all signs are visible from a distance. Customers and visitors will appreciate the easy navigation directing them to their desired destination.

7. Make certain designated smoking areas are not visible as visitors approach or leave the grounds.

Every worker is entitled to their breaks; however, having idle workers gathered outside your building does not convey a message of confidence.

8. Landscaping is one of the best methods to improve your building’s curb appeal.

It goes a long way in providing a welcoming and uplifting atmosphere for both visitors and employees. A few simple plantings of trees, shrubbery, and flowers can make a huge difference. It’s a low-cost investment that will last for years. Don’t forget to schedule pruning and trimming to keep everything looking good as seasons change.

Curb appeal should be a vital component of your ongoing cleaning and maintenance regimen. The outward appearance of your company is a direct reflection of your brand. If people see a well-kept and inviting property upon their approach, it will generate an immediate positive opinion about your company and its products and services. Taking these extra steps will create a professional environment. Take pride in your building, and employees will respect it as well. And customers will take notice and appreciate your attention to detail.

Office managers don’t always know how to secure these services and who to contact, so they hire multiple services—one for cleaning and property maintenance, another for grass cutting or snow removal, and a third for window washing. CorpClean can help reduce redundancy by providing many of these services. We’ll assess your company’s needs and make the proper arrangements.

Let us make your job easier and coordinate your cleaning and maintenance services. Then you’ll know, “It’s taken care of.”

Janice Stillman, the editor of The Old Farmer’s Almanac, has a warning for her readers. “This coming winter could well be one of the longest and coldest that we’ve seen in years,” she says. 

This year’s edition of the Almanac predicts a “Season of Shivers” featuring bone-chilling temperatures throughout much of the nation. The publication has forecast the country’s weather for more than two centuries with an 80 percent accuracy record.

Winter’s inclement weather can suddenly strike in Northwest Ohio, pushing idle heating systems into service, weakening roofs, and damaging outdoor landscaping. With that in mind, here are a few suggestions for preparing your facility for winter. 

Check the Furnace

At this point in the year, your facility’s furnace has probably sat unused for months. Will it fire up reliably when the first cold snap hits?

Autumn is an excellent time to arrange preventative furnace maintenance before outdoor temperatures drop too low. Professional HVAC technicians will check your system for efficiency and overall condition. Services typically include: 

• Examining pilot safety switches and temperature controls—and replacing, if necessary
• Inspecting the heat exchanger, motor, fan, and drive-belts
• Testing the thermostat for accuracy
• Cleaning or replacing air filters

Now is also ideal for checking air ducts for dust or debris, damage, and leakage. 

Inspect the Roof

Just as a flat roof’s membrane responds to summer’s heat by expanding, it shrinks in winter’s cold. Those fluctuations can take a toll on roofing over time and weaken the structure’s defense against ice, snow, and water.

Prepare for heavy snowfall by having your roof inspected for membrane damage, obstructed drains, and pooling water that could cause leaking. Make any necessary repairs now—before winter increases the danger of working on the roof. 

It’s also important to clear gutters of leaves and other debris that lead to clogging, standing ice, and the formation of dangerous large icicles.

Plan for Snow and Ice

Don’t wait until the first significant winter storm hits to begin thinking about snow and ice removal. Having a snow management plan is vital to keeping your facility accessible and safe for employees and visitors.

Start by determining how you’ll remove snow from parking areas, delivery zones, and walkways around your building. If you plan to hire an outside company for snow removal, contracting for those services well in advance can secure your place on their priority list. If you intend to use internal maintenance staff, ensure your snow-blowing equipment is in good working condition.

Next, be sure to map out where to pile all the snow you remove. Mounded snow can take up needed parking spaces, block entrances or exits, and damage landscaping. Find a place that causes the slightest impact, and be sure to communicate your wishes to those removing the snow.

Whenever possible, apply deicing salt on paved areas before winter storms to prevent snow and ice sticking and provide a bit of traction for walkers.

Step Up Your Floor Maintenance

Winter and its elements cause added wear and tear on commercial flooring. Snow and ice get tracked indoors, causing buildups of mud, salt, and moisture. Therefore, facilities should increase floor maintenance efforts throughout the winter months.   

A winter floor management plan should include adding indoor and outdoor safety mats at entryways to capture snow and salt and keep interior floors clean and dry. 

It’s essential to wet mop hard flooring surfaces frequently during the winter using a neutral cleaner that removes salt residue while protecting against damage. Soiled floors create dirty mops and mop buckets, so be sure to replace mop water often.    

While it might seem counterproductive—and an uphill battle—increasing deep cleaning efforts throughout the winter helps extend your flooring’s lifespan. Whether it’s having the carpet cleaned professionally or scrubbing your hard surfaces often, you’ll keep your floors looking their best all winter.