Male speaker giving a talk in conference hall at business event

The Cleaning Industry Research Institute (CIRI) will hold its next symposium July 15-17, 2019 at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, located just north of Cincinnati.

The conference, which focuses on the science of cleaning, is open to all cleaning professionals.  It will feature what they call 18 presentations, along with several panel discussions.

One of the key sponsors of the event is Kaivac, developers of the No-Touch Cleaning system.  Bob Robinson, Sr, CEO of Kaivac will also be one of the key presenters.

Robinson’s talk will focus on the many training challenges that have confronted the professional cleaning industry for years.  “We are still dealing with a situation in which turnover rates are as high as 300 percent,” says Robinson.  “Just so we understand what this means, in one year a cleaning contractor may have to hire three different people for just one position.”

Among the solutions Robinson will suggest at the symposium is the increased use of video training programs, not to be viewed in classrooms, but presented on monitors mounted on cleaning equipment. 

“Workers see how a [cleaning] machine is to be used and then practice it,” explains Robinson. “They learn on their own, at their own pace, and can repeat the [video] segment over and over again until it’s learned.”

Another presenter will be John Richter, a clinical faculty member in the Engineering Department at Miami University.  Richter is well-known in the professional cleaning industry because he has conducted several scientific studies over the years regarding cleaning effectiveness using different cleaning system and tools.

“My presentation will discuss how effective it is to use recycled cleaning solutions when cleaning,” says Richter.  He is referring to, for instance, cleaning with used mop water or used window cleaning solution. “Specifically, we will look at the effectiveness of using recycled cleaning solutions when working with high-flow fluid extraction equipment,” referring to indoor pressure washing and extracting systems.

If this is feasible, Richter says that among other things, “the industry could reduce water consumption considerably.”