I came across an article at cmmonline.com written by Tobi
Colbert “
Combating “Improvement Blindness”: Becoming
blind to necessary improvements can hurt BSCs
”.
While the article focused on areas that are
often overlooked such as fraying carpets, dirt building up in corners or dirty
janitor closets within the building service contractors (BSCs) it made me
pause.
It made me rethink my approach,
or the approach I could take from an education perspective when talking to
people about the use of cleaners and disinfectants.
The author noted that people often get “comfortable” in their
choices of product. We know that
changing products, changing cleaning procedures, etc. is not easy. It’s time consuming. Some staff need more hand holding than others
and some staff down right rebel! It can
be easier to stay with a product we’ve been using for a long time because we
feel we get good pricing, we know and like the sales rep and our staff do not
complain. The “blindness” in this case
is not being willing to look at new products and technologies that may improve
the way of cleaning or decrease the time it takes to get the work done. That of course is the manager’s
blindness.
Staff can also be blind.
I had drinks with a friend this week and we were chatting about a
situation she had with a facility. The
manager had not been blind. The manager
investigated and brought a new product in because of its attributes. The staff on the other hand….. Well there was a full blown rebellion in the
works. My friend came in to talk with
staff again and hear out their concerns.
One very vocal person went on and on and on. Eventually the employee stopped, looked at my
friend and said “you’re not going to help
us get rid of this product are you”.
My friend replied “no, the
facility has chosen this product because of the attributes....” But before she could go any further the staff
member turned on her heel and left. The
employee was blind to considering a new product and blind to the reasons why
the new product was chosen even when one of the attributes made the product
safer to handle!
Conversely, there can be other forms of “blindness” when it
comes to choosing a disinfectant. This
one is, in my mind, far more dangerous. Unlike the above situation where the manager
does not want to investigate or consider alternative products, the opposite
situation is one where a manager is willing to try new products – particularly
if they are trying to address a problem such as reoccurring outbreaks. In this case the need or want to address a
singular concern often creates tunnel vision where the focus becomes looking
for a product effective against “bug
X” without taking into consideration other key considerations in choosing
a disinfectant such as safety,
compatibility,
environmental
profile, etc. The problem with this
method of product selection is that you will end up with unintended
consequences such as ruined surfaces or staff complaints.
Bugging Off!
Nicole
