Cleaners Delivering a Sheen Shine Clean!

Travel West Midlands is proud to announce today that the first members of the company’s cleaning team have trained and passed the final assessment to achieve the BICS (British Institute of Cleaning Science) Cleaning Operator Proficiency Certificate.The bus operator has been working closely with Birmingham-based Matthew Boulton College through a range of workshops and training - all aimed at improving bus cleanliness and delivering a higher standard of bus presentation to both existing and potential passengers. Madi Pilgrim, Divisional Staff Development Director said; "There is no doubt that this is an exciting and innovative training initiative that we’ve worked hard to develop with Matthew Boulton College. Our cleaning teams are a group of people who are critical to delivering an excellent, vital service to our customers and we are pleased to have developed their training to an unprecedented standard. The results gained from this new type of training have been successful and we’re now committing to extending the training across all 10 TWM depots, with the first beginning this summer.Madi added; "To supplement the training, we’ve also launched an Improvement Team which consists of our Cleaning Supervisors, where we have looked at all the products and equipment our cleaners use, trialed some new methods, and our cleaners then chose those methods which they preferred. This has made a huge difference to how our cleaners physically do their job and their involvement in this stringent process has been invaluable. We believe that our customers will see the daily benefits as they travel throughout the West Midlands, as we continue with our long-term aim of making travel simpler."The on-site training, undertaken by the cleaners via interactive workshops included areas such as; chemical competence and housekeeping, the safe removal of hazardous waste and a review of general cleaning methods such as cleaning seats, windows, panels and floors. - The Cleaning Operator Proficiency Certificate is a nationally recognised qualification which is classed as accredited prior learning for students who may wish to undertake an NVQ in the future- the Matthew Boulton College website can be accessed via www.matthew-boulton.ac.ukPictured: 12 cleaners with Madi Pilgrim and local management at Travel Coventry during their certificate presentation ceremony.

Published 28th June 2007