Snoqualmie Casino is always open. Twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, there are customers occupying many of about 1,700 seats at slot machines and 400 seats for table games (not including craps and roulette). The maintenance staff has to work around ongoing traffic without interrupting or inconveniencing customers. That is why they implemented the GoFree cordless backpack vacuum from ProTeam.

Wanee Holzman came from a background in hotel maintenance when she became EVS Manager at the casino over four years ago. She manages a cleaning staff of 80, with between 14 and 30 on shift at any given time. They do routine maintenance during the swing shift and deep cleaning at night. Vacuuming was initially a challenge due to the sound disruption and the potential tripping hazard of a power cord.

“We started with upright vacuums,” said Holzman. “We had to put out safety signs and cones. It was inconvenient for the customer, because some areas had to be closed down.”

Holzman decided to invest in four cordless backpack vacuums and an extra battery for each, hoping that the cordless design would make it easier and safer to clean in occupied areas. She conducted several trainings, teaching staff how to wear and use the backpacks and instructing them to fully charge the batteries between uses to get the most out of the 55-minute runtime. The vacuums are now used in high traffic areas like the lobby, the table games area and the account room.

“It is more convenient and gets the job done faster,” said Holzman. “Our main concerns are safety and not interrupting the customer. The GoFree Pro is quiet enough that, with the music in the casino, the customer doesn’t notice the sound from the vacuum.”

The cordless backpack vacuum operates at 60 decibels, quieter than normal conversation from only a few feet away. Though the unit is heavier than a corded model, she finds that even employees shorter than five feet tall do not have trouble carrying the backpack due to the ergonomic design of the harness. For Holzman, the improvement in safety and the time-savings are the greatest benefits.

“Obviously it takes less time because we don’t have to prepare the area,” said Holzman. “It is labor intensive to prepare the equipment and put out the extra supplies. We also have less upset customers, because we don’t block the area.”

Between 3,000 and 4,000 people patronize the casino every weekday and around 5,000 on the weekend. Customers play games, attend events and concerts, or eat and drink at the buffet, coffee shop, and fine dining room. With a hotel in development, Snoqualmie Casino will soon be a full-service casino, boasting one of the few cigar lounges in the state of Washington.