Dirty office kitchens aren’t just unpleasant to look at; they can be serious health hazards as well. Who knows how many sick days occur because of some bug picked up in a filthy workplace kitchen? Probably someone, and it’s probably a lot.

Here, via the website nonprofitrisk.org, are some cleaning basics for office eating areas:

• Dirt, grime and garbage if left to accumulate can create health hazards and spread disease. Have sufficient trash receptacles located in kitchens, staff lounges, break rooms and other locations where food is consumed.
• Kitchens need to be clean and floors maintained. Spills on the counters or floors need to be mopped up promptly. Injuries can be sustained from slips and falls on wet floors.
• Kitchen counters need to be clean and free from spills and grime.
• Refrigerators should be cleaned out at least once a week, and stoves/microwaves need to be wiped down at least daily.
• Trash must be properly disposed on at least a daily basis to avoid attracting insects, mice, rats and other vermin. Rotting food, even in a refrigerator, is a health hazard.
• Staff and volunteers should be discouraged from consuming food at their desks, or in places that are not specifically designated for food consumption.

Keeping office kitchens clean is a big part of our Portland janitorial services. Contact us if you need this very important job done, done often, and done right.

Is This You? Call Us!

Green Cleaning is something we Northwesterners value. However, when you are searching for a Portland green cleaning company, you might get bogged down in the aphabet soup that constitutes the various certifications and acronyms.

Below is a short glossary to help you get through some of the terms used in the cleaning and building industries as pertains to Portland green cleaning, and the green cleaning industry as a whole.

LEED: Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design. LEED employs four different levels for certifying green buildings: Certified, Silver, Gold, and Platinum. The goal of LEED certification is to encourage building and maintenance professionals from architects to construction companies to janitorial services to create and maintain buildings using energy efficient and environmentally friendly methods.

HEPA: High-Efficiency Particulates Air filters. A feature commonly seen on vacuum cleaners, HEPA filters reduce particulate volume in the air as it passes through the machine, improving overall air quality.

FSC Certified: FCS stands for Forest Stewardship Council. Products that carry this certification are either created from trees in FCS certified forests, from other such controlled sources, or best of all, are recycled from post-consumer items.

VOC: Volatile Organic Compounds. Some cleaning products such as disinfectants and degreasers contain these compounds, which present a health risk. Green cleaning products help to lessen the risk by containing the lowest possible VOCs.

We hope this clears some of the confusion out there. If you are looking for the green cleaning Portland can rely on, please feel free to contact us!

We recently saw this story about the CleanSpace One satellite, which is “a project to develop and build the first group of satellites that will remove space debris.”  Apparently, the possiblity of bumping into space junk (primarily outdated satellites and rocket parts) is an increasing problem for all the spacecraft and working satellites up there orbiting the earth.

Well, it just got us thinking: While we enjoy our business of providing Portland janitorial services, (and have for 50 years)  who’s to say what the next 50 years will bring?

When we say “if it’s dirty we’ll clean it” we mean it! So, NASA and all you other space people, when it comes time to hire a company for extra-terrestrial cleanup, please keep N&C Service in mind.

And of course, in the here and now, if you need the janitorial services Portland has come to rely on for 50 years and counting, call N&C Service.

N&C Cleaning Up The Moon! (Artist's Rendition)

We know as well as anyone that finding the right Portland janitorial services for your business can be a complicated process. To make it a little easier on you, we have put together a free 15-point checklist for you to download, print and use.

This useful tool provides you with all the questions you need to ask a cleaning company, whether you are hiring a new provider or simply reevaluating your current service.

As you can see, this checklist is set up to allow you to compare answers from three different companies (the minimum number that you should request bids from).

You can download the checklist here, or click the image below.  And you can always contact us  if you have any questions.

Click the image to get your printable hiring checklist!