The British Cleaning Council and members write monthly columns for both Cleaning and Maintenance and Tomorrow’s Cleaning. You can read recent columns below.
To read the columns as they originally appeared, please visit https://cleaningmag.com/columnists and https://www.tomorrowscleaning.com/back-issues
Can Targeted Hygiene Help Keep Children And Teachers in the Classroom?
By Jim Melvin, British Cleaning Council (BCC) Director for Government Lobbying. (This column first appeared in Tomorrow’s Cleaning).
Every winter, schools across the UK experience the same challenge. Seasonal illnesses spread rapidly through classrooms, increasing pupil and staff absence and disrupting 
learning.
While some level of illness is inevitable, growing attention is being given to whether smarter hygiene practices could help reduce the impact.
According to Department for Education figures, approximately 42.2 million pupil days were lost due to illness during the 2024/25 academic year.
This autumn, the BCC, working with sector partners including SC Johnson Professional, plans to launch a pilot programme involving a small number of primary schools and academy trusts. It will explore whether a targeted hygiene approach can help reduce illness-related absence and improve resilience during the winter months.
Unlike traditional approaches that focus on increasing cleaning activity throughout an entire building, targeted hygiene concentrates effort where and when infection transmission is most likely to occur, focusing resources on the highest-risk moments and locations.
In practice, this means reinforcing hand hygiene at key times, such as when pupils and staff arrive at school, before eating and after using the toilet. It also involves prioritising frequently touched surfaces, including desks, door handles, taps, shared equipment and other high-contact areas that can contribute to the spread of infection.
For cleaning and hygiene professionals, this is a familiar concept. Effective hygiene is not necessarily about cleaning more frequently. It is about identifying risk and applying resources where they can achieve the greatest impact.
The pilot has been designed to fit within existing school operations and avoid creating additional burdens for staff. Participating schools will not be required to undertake medical testing, monitor individual pupils or change attendance policies. Instead, the programme will use attendance and absence data schools already collect.
Schools taking part will receive support to implement a structured but flexible package tailored to their own environment. This will include hygiene mapping to identify key risk points, targeted cleaning protocols, support for hand hygiene infrastructure and simple behavioural prompts designed to encourage positive hygiene habits among pupils and staff.
Importantly, the initiative is intended as a learning exercise rather than a performance assessment. Findings will not be used for inspection purposes or school-level judgements. The aim is to assess whether targeted hygiene can be implemented consistently across different educational settings and whether it demonstrates measurable operational benefits. We will also seek to start changing the cultural view of cleaning and hygiene held by both staff and pupils as they will also be actively involved.
The approach is supported by organisations including the International Scientific Forum on Home Hygiene and the Royal Society for Public Health and aligns with World Health Organisation guidance on risk-based infection prevention.
I have also had a number of communications with Dan Jarvis, who up until last month was the Security Minister, before being promoted to Defence Secretary. Dan had both specifically asked to be personally kept up to speed and also promised to get the Dept for Education involved. The project also reflects the principles outlined in the BCC’s Strategic Framework for Achieving Cleanliness and Hygiene in Public Environments.
For the cleaning and hygiene sector, the pilot represents an opportunity to further demonstrate its role in supporting public health, safety, wellbeing and community resilience. If targeted hygiene can help reduce even a small proportion of illness-related absence, the benefits could extend far beyond the classroom.
The BCC is currently seeking expressions of interest from primary schools and academy trusts potentially interested in participating.
Schools and trusts wishing to learn more about the pilot or discuss potential involvement should contact BCC Company Secretary Simon Hollingbery at compsec@britishcleaningcouncil.org.
Professional pest management saves economy £1.9bn a year, new report finds
By Rosina Robson, Chief Executive of the British Pest Control Association (BPCA). ( (This column first appeared in Cleaning and Maintenance Online).
A new independent report commissioned by British Pest Control Association (BPCA) shows that professional pest management saves UK businesses and households £1.9bn 
every year by preventing damage, disruption, enforcement action and reputational harm.
The report, No Small Matter, was produced by Pragmatix Advisory and examines the economic and social value of pest management across the UK.
It finds that the sector contributes around £1bn in gross value added, supports more than 2,000 businesses and employs over 22,000 people. In 2025, pest professionals carried out more than 4.4 million jobs across homes, hospitals, schools, food premises, transport networks and other essential settings.
For me, the message is clear. Pest management is not just something that happens once an infestation is visible. At its best, it is preventative work that keeps buildings safe, businesses open and people protected.
This is a sector people often only notice when something goes wrong. But every day, pest professionals are working behind the scenes to keep businesses trading, homes safe and public services running.
We have always known the value that professional pest management creates for society, but we have not always had the data to prove it. This report changes that. It gives our sector the evidence it needs to show government, clients and the public that pest management protects health, homes and the economy.
The report estimates that professional pest control helps clients avoid around £1,900 in direct costs per case. Early intervention saves a further £700 by stopping problems from escalating.
However, the report also shows that too much pest control work still happens after a problem has already developed. Around 64% of pest control work takes place once an issue has emerged, while nearly a third of jobs involve significant infestation or emergency response.
For cleaning, hygiene and facilities management professionals, the key takeaway is that pest management should be seen as part of routine building maintenance and risk management, not simply as an emergency call-out.
In food, hospitality, healthcare, housing and public buildings, pest activity can affect compliance, customer confidence, staff wellbeing and business continuity. A single incident can lead to closure, enforcement action or long-term reputational damage.
The report also highlights wider policy challenges, including reduced local authority pest control provision, increasing pressure on the professional toolkit, recruitment challenges, and rising expectations for pest management contractors.
A small sector is delivering big national outcomes, but it is still too often falling through the cracks in policy. If we want prevention, resilience and growth, pest management must be part of that system.
That is why BPCA works with governments, regulators, partners and industry stakeholders to make sure professional pest management is understood, recognised and properly represented in policy decisions.
Learn more at bpca.org.uk/small