Hi I am making enquiries, with various forums, about how cleaning staff operate in a lab setting. I most labs the job of keeping the place clean is split between the scientific staff and the cleaning staff. How this split actually works varies, with some labs expecting the cleaners to do all sorts of activities and in others cleaners are simply forbidden from going into the labs at all. The questions that I need answering are what based on your experience of what cleaners are or be should doing in labs, in particular: 1. Do they clean floors and empty bins containing normal waste(minimum I’d say) 2. Do they empty other types of bins containing more specialist types of waste 3. Do they clean the work surfaces as well as the floors 4. If they clean the work surfaces (benchers etc) is this a routine part of their job or a one off, ”deep clean”. 5. Do they clean anything else such as cupboard tops or even lab equipment 6. What do they do about spillages 7. Finally what sort of access do they have to the labs- are they allowed in unsupervised or are they always working under some scientific person’s control? Do they have swipe access to controlled labs? Thanks for any advice you can give.

Cheers Chris Yes there are risk assessments both from the lab users and the cleaners’ employers. What I am really asking for is; what is the expectation in this sector? Is it usual to employ cleaners in labs as oppose to the scientists doing their own cleaning? If cleaners are used; what would they be expected to clean? What is the expected level of supervision from the scientists? I’ll have a look at the British Institute of Cleaning Science website for any information? Thanks again