Water hygiene is one of those things that can’t be swept under the rug, especially as a university; as you well know, you have a responsibility to protect the health and safety of students, staff and visitors onsite.
As a result, when it comes to changing water hygiene suppliers, you need to be absolutely certain that the new supplier you choose is 100% right for your campus.
To help make your life easier, we’ve put together some key questions you should ask a prospective water hygiene company if you’ve got a tender or a change coming up.
As a university, hiring the services of a water hygiene company is rarely a simple matter, with numerous legislative and time-sensitive pressures to take into consideration.
In order to determine whether the company you’re talking to is a right fit for you, we recommend asking the following 6 questions:
As they will need to visit areas such as student accommodation, the company you choose must have a trusted team with enhanced DBS checks to ensure due diligence in private rooms and spaces, such as showers and bathrooms.
You need to know that you can trust their engineers to keep your students safe. Ask them what suggestions they may have to improve existing processes and keep everyone involved safe and comfortable throughout.
A water hygiene company working for a university needs to be able to demonstrate responsible and courteous behaviour when students are in both classrooms and private accommodations at the time of work.
An understanding of student timetables is also required so that they can gain access to necessary areas.
As timetables are unique to each student, the ability to work flexible hours is crucial. Ask the company whether they can work out of hours or on weekends around your schedule.
While a company may be able to carry out a wide range of standard services, they also need to be able to make suggestions to ensure the best practices for your specific water system are maintained (no two systems are different. Therefore, it stands to reason that no two water hygiene services should be the same!).
For example, when your students go home, water systems will stagnate as they’re not in use. Pipes aren’t flushed, making for the perfect breeding ground for legionella bacteria – not ideal.
A competent water hygiene company will plan to make regular trips over, flushing and maintaining your system ready for students to come back after the holidays. As they’re professionals, they should always be advising your team on what’s best to do.
We’re sure you’ve experienced the pain of working with a water hygiene company without a dedicated account manager – appointments get missed, emails don’t get responded to and you never know who to call if you have an issue.
Your new water hygiene company should provide you with an account manager of your own, someone who understands your unique needs, who is there when you need them and, perhaps most importantly, who will respond to your calls and emails!
Convenience is key, and there’s nothing more convenient than an e-portal!
It’s a space where you can log in, book appointments, see updates and manage your water hygiene from the comfort of your computer.
If you’re choosing between two similar companies, and one has an e-portal, then go with them.
Many university buildings now include onsite nurseries to accommodate students who are parents, as well as students training to be teachers. A prospective water hygiene company needs to be able to operate, not only around private student rooms and bathrooms but also in nurseries where young children may be present.
Any prospective water hygiene company needs to have a good answer to each of these questions and demonstrate how they would be able to conduct their services in any of these situations.
You want to be reassured by what they say, not concerned. If any of their answers are less than satisfactory, then it’s time to look elsewhere.
At H2O hygiene, we offer a comprehensive range of water hygiene services for universities. We have extensive experience working with internal maintenance teams on both campus and city universities.
No matter how much support you need, you can rely on us to:
At H2O Hygiene, we have over a decade of experience working with educational institutions around the UK, offering a comprehensive range of water hygiene services.
Our skilled engineers are fully DBS checked and adhere to the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974, as well as ACoP L8 and HSG274 regulations, meaning that you can trust us to deliver specialist, compliant support.
If you have any further questions, don’t hesitate to get in touch with our team today.
