How do you keep fitness settings clean?

Slips, trips and falls are the largest cause of accidents in all workplaces, including those offering fitness services. Generally, simple measures can be taken to reduce the risk of injury. These are often outlined in a simple housekeeping checklist, which is developed either by the management or by staff with their own work area and responsibilities.

In a fitness centre, these general workplace housekeeping procedures can include the office environment, but also the exercise areas and other areas that staff and clients use.

The main housekeeping duty is ensuring the workplace is clean, tidy and free of waste at all times. Effective housekeeping must be done regularly, not on a one-off basis.

Common waste in fitness settings

• Foodstuffs
• Spillages
• Blood
• Bandages
• Sanitary bins
• General rubbish

Many hazards and biohazards are effectively eliminated or minimised by regular workplace housekeeping activities.

Housekeeping in exercise areas

In exercise areas there are numerous housekeeping activities that will ensure the area is safe to use for both staff and clients.

Housekeeping activities

• Carpets and mats kept clean and torn carpets or mats repaired or replaced
• Floors cleaned regularly and spills wiped up immediately
• Mirrors cleaned and cracked mirrors replaced
• Fitness machines regularly checked, adjusted, cleaned and tagged if requiring repair
• Fitness machine cables placed so as not to be a tripping hazard
• Exercise equipment (such as weights, balls, and other items) stored properly when not being used
• Benches inspected and regularly wiped down with disinfectant
• Burnt out lighting replaced
• Air-conditioning adjusted to meet suitable exercising environmental conditions
• Changing rooms cleaned daily
• Showers and toilets cleaned and disinfected daily or when required during the day.

Depending on the type of fitness facility, housekeeping duties may also include cleaning swimming pools, spas and saunas. Larger fitness facilities often contract out the general cleaning to specialised cleaning contractors and the small, daily housekeeping duties are performed by staff during the day.

Equipment you might need

• Cleaning chemicals
• Cleaning tools such as brooms, mops and buckets
• Cleaning equipment such as vacuums and floor cleaners
• Personal protection equipment such as gloves, masks and closed in shoes
• Hand tool kits for tightening and/or adjusting fitness machines and small exercising equipment
• Minor maintenance materials such as lubricates, tape, wire and fasteners.

Housekeeping in office areas

The office areas that will most likely need your attention are:

• Your desk or working space
• The area surrounding it

A clean and tidy desk promotes efficiency. Papers or documents are not lost in the piles, and tasks are not misplaced or forgotten. Small office tools such as staplers, scissors, pens or computer disks should not be mixed up with piles of paper.

Your equipment (computers, calculators or telephones) should be clean and dust or dirt free. A dirty computer screen causes glare and encourages eye strain. Dust is not good for a computer or any other office equipment and is a health hazard.

Your immediate area will include filing cabinets, rubbish bins, bookshelves, counter tops and open walkways around your area. Overflowing rubbish bins look untidy and can be a fire hazard. Neat filing helps quick and easy retrieval of files from filing cabinets. Keeping the tops of the cabinets clear or tidy stops you from using them as a dumping ground for papers, documents or files.

Your area may have counter tops used for binding, collating or preparing documents or parcels for delivery. Keeping this area clean and tidy prevents important documents from getting marks or dirt smudges on them. Binding tools and equipment should be easy to find and use.

The walkways surrounding your work area should be kept clear. This is a safety issue. People could trip over items left lying about. It could also prevent a quick evacuation in the case of an emergency and obviously it makes the rest of the office look untidy.

Staffrooms, storage and public areas

Staffrooms often have kitchen and/or food preparation areas and need to be cleaned regularly, which includes cooking utensils such as microwaves, and food storage areas such as refrigerators.

In and around the facility there will be hallways that need to be kept clear and floors or carpets that need to be cleaned regularly. Cluttered hallways can be a hazard in the event of an emergency evacuation.

Storage rooms also need to be kept tidy and uncluttered. This is to ensure that items being stored are not damaged and anyone in the storeroom is able to get out quickly in the event of an emergency.

Public areas include the foyer, reception area and any displays. From an image point of view, clean and tidy public areas enhance the professional look of the facility, and protect the health & safety of both clients and staff.