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Explaining the Health and Safety at Work Act

Often overlooked or relegated to one of the low priority jobs, industrial cleaning is a necessity. At the most basic level, the Health and Safety at Work Act demands that you, as a manager or employer, provide and maintain “a working environment for his employees that is, so far as is reasonably practicable, safe, without risks to health”

Whilst this doesn’t explicitly refer to cleaning the workplace, it must be done otherwise the environment will be neither practicable, safe nor without risk to health. Not withstanding the requirements of the Health and Safety at Work Act, providing your staff with a clean, ordered working environment is more pleasant and you will benefit from better productivity.

Inevitably, in an industrial situation, plant and equipment will become oily and greasy. This then traps airborne particles which build up over time to coat your high value assets in grime. Even though the most important parts of the mechanism are sealed and protected, there is no guarantee that this grime won’t be transferred accidentally to places it should not be. Regular use of industrial degreasers will ensure that the longevity of your machinery is not compromised.

Industrial Cleaning requires planning

With many years of heavy and light industrial cleaning experience, we know that the most effective cleaning is carefully planned and regular. By its very nature, cleaning can be disruptive to industrial production. When you contract APT for your cleaning project, we start first with a survey – different areas require different treatments, the use of industrial degreasers here, the use of a hard surface sanitiser there and so on. We then plan an ongoing programme that will work round your requirements; cleaning out of hours is not unusual for us in order to ensure the smooth-running of our clients’ businesses.

All of our work is planned and organised in compliance with the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974. Using the Health and Safety at Work Act as a base, allows us to target your cleaning requirements and provide specialist industrial cleaning products. Ensuring compliance with the Health and Safety at Work Act is our priority. We want to ensure that you pass your industrial audits. However, not only do we want to remain complaint with the Health and Safety at Work Act, we also want to ensure you’re industrial facility is operating at its optimum and your staff are safe at work.

Industrial means heavy duty

Mention industrial to most people and it will immediately conjure up a mental image of a factory. Because of this strong imagery, many manufacturers market their cleaning products as being industrial strength simply to signify that they are concentrated and powerful.

In actual fact, industrial cleaning is not just limited to the cleaning of factories as British industry is so diverse, industrial cleaning includes light industry and the service industry too. The range of tasks that an industrial cleaning company is called on to perform is astonishing. Our industrial cleaning products are ISO approved and accredited by the British Standards. This means that they are compliant with the Health and Safety at Work Act and are appropriate to be used in any industrial facility.

  • Factory and warehouse high and low level cleaning
  • External cleans of cladding, roofs and gutters
  • Office space cleaning including computers, furniture and communications equipment
  • Car park, paths and access road cleaning
  • Machinery and plant degreasing
  • Cleaning of production lines including the specialised needs of the food industry
  • Cleaning dead spaces, confined spaces and high bay lighting
  • Boiler and pipework cleaning
  • Laboratory and clean rooms
  • Deep cleaning of kitchens, industrial ovens and canteens
  • Spillage containment and removal
  • Control of combustible dust, flue, exhaust and dust collecting systems
  • … and more!

For more information, you can visit our cleaning services page.

Industrial cleaning equipment

A company in the business of industrial cleaning has a high capital expenditure on specialised cleaning and access equipment. Setting up an industrial cleaning business is not for the fainthearted.

Here at APT, we have cherry pickers, scissor lifts and other specialised equipment to allow safe access at height. For those jobs that are too high to be reached using hoisting machinery, we send in our rope access teams who are accredited to provide such services. Using a professional industrial cleaning company means you’ll be complying with the Health and Safety at Work Act, rather than encouraging your staff to carry out the cleaning themselves.

Some companies believe that they can save on money by using their own maintenance crew for specialised cleaning jobs – give them a pressure washer and a couple of 25 litre containers of industrial degreaser and send them out to clean plant, machinery, production lines and floors. This is false economy because a pressure washer can cause a lot of damage when used inappropriately. There are much less damaging yet more effective cleaning methods available – TORC, DOFF, soda blasting our own specially designed ‘Hot Box’ steam cleaning system – all of which require high levels of training to get the best out of them.

Contracting your industrial cleaning to a professional company with many years of experience and well trained operatives is the best way forward. All areas of your premises will be cleaned properly, including dead space and awkward to access spaces. APT hire only staff who are passionate about doing a thorough and excellent job.

Could you say the same about the staff you use for cleaning?

Contact us now for an initial informal chat about your cleaning projects on 0800 0723 773, our friendly and helpful customer service team are waiting for your call. Our industrial cleaning is always carried out in compliance with the Health and Safety at Work Act to ensure your compliance.

Industrial Floor Cleaning & Health and Safety at Work Act

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