Why Warehouses Need Professional Cleaning Services

Why warehouse cleaning services start with safety

Most warehouse housekeeping hazards are small things in the wrong place: a strip of stretch wrap in a forklift lane, a patch of hydraulic oil by a dock door, broken pallet boards and banding in a staging area, or a fine layer of dust that turns concrete slick. Each one is a slip, trip or traction problem for people and lift trucks that share the same floor.

Cal/OSHA's working-area rule, Title 8 section 3273, expects floors, working areas and passageways to be kept free of dangerous obstructions and reasonably free of oil, grease and water. Clean floors also keep painted pedestrian lanes and hazard markings visible, and clearing cardboard, wrap and debris reduces the material available to feed a fire.

Protecting inventory, equipment and customers' goods

Dust settles on everything stored below it. Cartons arrive at a customer's dock looking old, shrink-wrapped pallets carry grime to retail backrooms, and clean-goods customers such as electronics and medical supply firms may reject product outright. High dusting of racking, beams and fixtures removes that dust before it falls.

Debris and spilled product also attract pests, especially in buildings that store food, pet food or seed. Keeping floors clean along walls and under the bottom racking level removes the harborage pest control contractors look for. Equipment benefits too: scanners, chargers and conveyor drives run cleaner, and forklift tires and brakes wear less on a floor without grit.

The importance of warehouse cleaning when auditors arrive

Warehouses are inspected from several directions. Logistics customers audit the buildings that hold their goods. Facilities that store food fall under FDA food safety rules and often third-party audits, which look closely at sanitation, pest evidence and records. Fire inspectors, insurers' loss-control engineers and Cal/OSHA all notice housekeeping first.

A building that is cleaned to a written schedule, with logs showing when each zone was last scrubbed, dusted and inspected, answers most of those questions before they are asked. A building cleaned in a rush the week before the visit usually shows it.

Scrubber vs sweeper: the basics

Sweepers and scrubbers do different jobs, and most warehouses need both. A sweeper uses a rotating main broom and side brooms to throw loose debris into a hopper, with a filter to control dust; it handles wrap, paper, gravel and grit, indoors and on outdoor docks and lots. A scrubber lays down cleaning solution, scrubs with brushes or pads, then a squeegee and vacuum pick up the dirty water, leaving the floor nearly dry and removing the film, tire marks and spills a sweeper cannot.

Sweep before you scrub, since loose debris jams squeegees and tears pads. Use brushes on rough or textured concrete and pads on smooth, sealed or polished floors.

Warehouse cleaning benefits for the people on each shift

Warehouse work is physical, often hot and often around the clock. Clean restrooms, break rooms and locker areas on every shift are basic respect for the people doing that work, and they matter in a labor market where workers can choose between several nearby warehouses. A cool, clean break area also supports a heat illness prevention plan during inland summers.

Clean buildings also make a better impression on prospective customers touring the site. A tidy dock and bright, clean aisles tell a visitor the operation is controlled before anyone shows them a metric.

How EBS keeps warehouses clean

EBS Maintenance cleans warehouse and distribution floors with machine scrubbing, clears docks and bays, high-dusts racking and beams, and keeps restrooms and break areas stocked for every shift. Overnight and weekend schedules keep cleaning out of the way of operations, and service logs and supervisor inspections give your safety lead a record to point to. With more than 10 million square feet serviced, crews are dispatched from Corona. Call (949) 375-3305 to request a walkthrough.