Healthy Vacuuming

by Mike Schaffer - President Tornado Industries

This month’s Cleaning Tip is all about doing your homework—especially when it comes to selecting vacuum cleaners. Vacuuming, the most common of cleaning tasks, is next to floorcare as the most physically stressful, according to a variety of studies. For this reason, cleaning professionals should know about potential dangers and select vacuum cleaners that are healthier for cleaning workers to use.

For instance:

Vacuuming involves repetitive motions, typically of the dominant hand and arm. Older, upright vacuums tend to be heavier and can require a considerable amount of grip force as well as substantial effort to push and pull the vacuum. And many older models have nonadjustable handles, making awkward postures such as wrist and back bending more likely.

In many situations, cleaning professionals carry their vacuums on a cart, which means they must repeatedly lift the machine out of the cart and then lower it back in. Noise can also be a factor with many commercial vacuums. While the noise levels may not be high enough to cause problems hearing, over a long period of time, loud noises of all kinds, including vacuum cleaners, tend to elevate stress levels and can cause an increase in muscle tension, which can lead to back or shoulder injury.

Fortunately, newer vacuum cleaners have several features that make them easier to use. For instance, our new CK LW 13/1 weighs just eight pounds, making it one of the lightest commercial vacuum cleaners on the market today. It also has an ergonomically designed handle and HEPA air filtration system. Vacuum cleaners that filter dust rather than stir it up and release it into the air minimize vacuuming impact on indoor air quality and protect the health of cleaning personnel as well.

Recent surveys indicate that many users are now giving backpack vacuum cleaners a closer look. The reasons are clear, especially because of the newer backpacks now being introduced such as our PV 6 true-HEPA machine. Backpack vacuums have reduced both weight and noise levels and offer much more flexibility than uprights. Studies have shown that these vacuums increase productivity by as much as 100 percent while requiring the same amount of operator energy expenditure as upright vacuums.* Furthermore, in situations where stairways must be vacuumed, backpacks leave one hand free to use the handrail.

Working with your jansan distributor, consider all the types of vacuum cleaners now available. The type of cleaner selected can improve worker productivity, be healthier, and, with machines such as our CK LW 13/1 and PV 6, be Green as well.

*Denniston, Simon & Clark, 1998; Mengelkoch & Clark, 2006