If you own or are thinking of owning a small business, you may not be paying a lot of thought to issues such as maintenance and hygiene just yet. These considerations often take a backseat when planning a new business. We are more concerned about securing the financial and logistical aspects. There are some businesses where hygiene plays an important role, and lapses of judgment about hygiene can make or break these businesses. Here, we talk about some of them.
Hotel management
It is extremely important to maintain hygiene protocols in the hotel industry. Not only are a broad range of people entrusting your business with your stay, but hygiene failures can also lead to your entire facility getting shut down. Your hotel needs to ensure that rooms are not just vacuumed and dusted. Certain surfaces need to be disinfected, and the laundry settings need to be just right to make sure that sheets and towels are properly sanitised. As hotels often have gyms and spas attached, special attention needs to be paid to these facilities to ensure cleanliness.
Nursing homes or assisted living facilities
Anywhere the ill and elderly are living should have extra attention to hygiene. People with compromised immune systems are at great risk of catching contagious diseases. You need to consult cleaning professionals for help with keeping nursing homes and assisted living facilities (ALFs) sanitary. Some patients may even be sensitive to cleaning chemicals, so you will have to be careful about the products that you are using. Since the staff will come into close contact with residents, you need to train them on handling practices that keep both staff and residents safe.
Restaurants
These are closely monitored by public health officials. If proper hygiene is not maintained, this can result in lots of people getting sick. Train all your staff on cross contamination and possible allergenic things. To comply with hygiene guidelines, you need to maintain all your equipment properly. Storing things at the right temperature is also important.
Daycare centres
These are particularly sensitive places, just like nursing homes. Having children of different ages increases the risks of flu breakouts. All surfaces need to be kept clean as children are prone to eating food off the floor or table.
Salons and tattoo parlours
These can sometimes be lax about hygiene standards. But since invasive procedures take place and open wounds are dealt with in these places, it is crucial that equipment is cleaned properly. Serious diseases can be spread if there is cross contamination or negligence. The lawsuits resulting from negligence can also be very costly for your business.
As an entrepreneur, you need to be aware that lapses in hygiene can incur expensive costs. This includes costs of disease or pest control, having to pay enormous compliance and safety-related fines, loss of business from unhappy patrons, and class action lawsuits. It is always better to take steps to ensure that the quality of hygiene in your facilities is up to standard than deal with the consequences.
