Lori Strazdas, a Senior Specialist within CloroxPro’s Clinical and Scientific Affairs team, recently sat down with Ben Walker, HealthyClean advisory panel member and CloroxPro Spokesperson, to discuss HealthyClean Trained Manager Certificate Course for its one-year launch anniversary. Check out the video above or keep reading below to discover highlights of the latest HealthyClean course and insights on the learning platform.
Please note this is an abridged version of the conversation edited for brevity and clarity.
Lori Strazdas: Hi, I’m Lori Strazdas, Senior Specialist with Clorox Pros Clinical and Scientific Affairs Team, and today I’m here with Ben Walker, HealthyClean Advisory Board member and Clorox Pro Partner on the one-year anniversary of launching the Healthy Clean Trained Manager certificate course. Ben has graciously joined me today to share his thoughts on the HealthyClean Learning platform and discuss some highlights of the latest HealthyClean course. So, with that, Ben, I’m so excited to have you here today and chat with you. Welcome!
Ben Walker: Thank you, Lori! It’s great to be with you here today. It’s been a blast to be part of the HealthyClean Learning platform over the past few years, and I’m more than happy to share some insights on what the latest course has to offer as well as what I’m the most excited about.
Lori Strazdas: Great, Ben. Thanks. I think I’d like to start us off today by picking your brain a little bit about what initially drew you to the HealthyClean Program and your interest in the Healthy Clean Advisory Board. So, can you tell us a little bit about how it all began?
Ben Walker: Yeah, absolutely. I was initially drawn to the project because it included and required a course designed for both frontline cleaners and of course designed specifically for cleaning managers and supervisors, which is something I’ve been passionate about my entire career. The HealthyClean platform is extremely beneficial in understanding best practices for cleaning for health effectively, efficiently, and safely as a whole. And I was excited to be a part of creating high quality training on what goes into running an efficient cleaning operation given the challenges the industry faces. Another aspect that jumped right out was the Trained Manager course as the only industry-wide certificate program that has earned accreditation by the ANSI National Accreditation Board or ANAB. So, I knew the content was meeting the highest standards for program quality. With an estimated two and a half million custodial professionals going to work every day, it’s imperative that an education program meets their education needs.
Lori Strazdas: Yeah, actually, I couldn’t agree more, Ben, and it really does sound like you were the perfect person for the job, so I’m also glad you brought up industry challenges. In a recent study, we found that about two out of three cleaning professionals are sacrificing training time to keep up with turnover and staffing shortages, two newer industry challenges that we’re facing. But interestingly, cleaning sanitization and disinfection education still stood out as the most sought out after investment for training among cleaning professionals. So, when we were designing the course, these challenges were top of mind for us. We recognized the importance of supporting cleaning managers as they face these challenges, so we built comprehensive courses that covered a lot of different important topics to help cleaning managers be successful. So, with that, I’m wondering if you can share if there are any certain aspects of the courses or modules in particular that you think are especially beneficial to industry professionals.
Ben Walker: One aspect I found most fascinating was the safety portion, and that’s because cleaning workers are among the most injured demographic on the job, typically the third or the fifth most depending on the year. The HealthyClean courses for both manager and worker address this by teaching learners best practices for ergonomic use tools, incorporation of preventative pre-shift warmups, designed specifically for custodial workers and simplified instruction on locating and understanding the contents of SDS’s for daily use.
Lori Strazdas: It’s so great to hear your thoughts on the value of safety related content. For me, I’ll say one of my favorite aspects of the course, specifically the Training Manager course, is the operational planning content. The Training Manager course includes an entire module dedicated to helping managers run an efficient operation. It covers things like inventory management, logistics and even work loading. And of course, in addition to cleaning and disinfecting, we believe these are critical aspects of any cleaning manager’s job. Notably, a few participants in the Trained Manager course have you even come forward to say that after completing the course, they feel more confident and capable in their work, and they feel like they can take their management to a whole new level. Before we wrap up, I’d love to get your thoughts on what you think HealthyClean is going to mean for the industry moving forward, and also if there’s anything else you want to share.
Ben Walker: Oh, absolutely. And I would probably echo some of the feedback that you’ve gotten on the HealthyClean program. I think HealthyClean is the beginning of an exciting new era in the professional cleaning industry. One that definitely hits close to home is the emergence of food handler certificates. Since foodborne illness is a major concern for the food service industry, there was a need to have a professional certificate program for food service workers to ensure their competency and guarantee a standard level of understanding for the entire industry. Cleaning facilities plays a vital role in the protection of human health. And having an accredited certificate program established an educational baseline for workers and their managers is a groundbreaking innovation for the cleaning profession.
Lori Strazdas: Well, that’s super exciting, and I certainly hope you are right. Thank you so much for spending time with me today and sharing your thoughts on the HealthyClean Program and the HealthyClean Manager Certificate course in particular on its one-year anniversary.
Ben Walker: Thank you for having me, Lori. It’s always great chatting with you.
