Hot Tips (Custodial Tools)

Tackle High Dusting With a Vacuum

• By Marvin Mauer
• 07/01/19

People tend to notice the cleanliness of surfaces immediately around them like desks, floors, and shelves. They don’t necessarily look up and consider the cleanliness of light fixtures, windowsills, and overhead air ducts. Janitorial professionals know that dust in high places can end up falling onto surfaces where people work, play, and eat. This particulate may become airborne and is easily inhaled into the lungs.

That’s where high dusting tools really change the conversation. Adding extension wands to a vacuum can add 10 to 12 feet of reach, bringing many surfaces within reach. Unless completely ignored, the traditional approach to cleaning high places is either with a ladder and some sort of dusting tool or the utilization of a scissor lift. High dusting tools allow janitors to vacuum these areas with two feet safely on the ground.

Putting someone on a ladder to clean is a potential health and safety hazard. It is the employer’s responsibility to take every reasonable precaution and train janitors on the proper use of a ladder to ensure they are used correctly, thus reducing the risk of serious injury from a fall. With the right high dusting tools added to a vacuum, this risk is mitigated as anyone can clean with both feet safely on the ground.

There’s so much more to vacuum than just floors—be they carpeted or hard surface. By pairing high dusting tools with a vacuum, it can be safer, easier, and more convenient to clean just about anywhere.

This article originally appeared in the College Planning & Management July/August 2019 issue of Spaces4Learning.