Published 15 Aug 2023
What is a School Cleaning Checklist?
A school cleaning checklist is a document used by school administrators and cleaners to ensure a standardized level of cleanliness across the entire school. It details the specific tasks to be done, the materials to be used for cleaning, and the items to look out for.
In this article
- Importance
- Common Cleaning Tasks for Schools
- What to Include in a School Cleaning Checklist
- FAQs about School Cleaning Checklists
- Keep Your School Clean with SafetyCulture
- Related School Cleaning Checklists
Importance
For schools, cleanliness is a must. However, cleaning a school is no easy task, hence the need for a school cleaning checklist. Having a checklist for cleaning your school helps ensure all necessary tasks are completed in the right order, which also helps streamline the process of cleaning itself.
Additionally, a school cleaning checklist helps promote more hygienic practices for cleaners, as it often includes tasks such as sanitizing high-touch surfaces, disinfecting restrooms, emptying trash bins, and ensuring proper ventilation. As a result, this promotes better hygiene among students and teachers who will use the same facilities.
By adhering to these protocols, schools can reduce the spread of illnesses and create a safer space for students and staff. Following sanitary practices also promotes a better learning environment for students, as well as makes their immediate work areas clear enough for socializing and movement in case of emergencies.
Lastly, using a school cleaning checklist helps ensure compliance with the administration’s internal standards and your school’s area’s legal safety requirements. This not only safeguards the well-being of students and improves their learning environment, but it also helps the school avoid potential penalties and legal issues.
Common Cleaning Tasks for Schools
When cleaning the school premises, the following tasks are often involved:
- For classrooms and offices: Dusting surfaces, organizing paperwork, wiping down desks, sanitizing chairs, emptying trash bins, and vacuuming or mopping floors.
- For hallways and corridors: Sweeping, mopping, removing scuff marks, and cleaning windows and mirrors.
- For common areas: Cleaning and disinfecting cafeteria tables, restocking supplies, and maintaining a clutter-free environment.
- For restrooms: Sanitizing toilets and sinks, refilling soap dispensers and paper towel holders, wiping down mirrors and counters, mopping floors, and cleaning trash bins.
- For sports facilities: Sweeping and mopping floors, cleaning and disinfecting exercise equipment, cleaning changing rooms, and putting away equipment once done with.
- For outdoor areas: Maintaining clean playground equipment, sweeping walkways, and removing debris.
- For specialized working areas such as laboratories and libraries: Disinfecting surfaces, handling chemical spills, dusting shelves, organizing books, and maintaining a quiet and clean study area.
What to Include in a School Cleaning Checklist
A school cleaning checklist often has its items and tasks sectioned into the places to be cleaned, following a specific order set by administrators. Typically, it is done in this order:
- Offices
- Hallways
- Classrooms
- Bathrooms
- Gyms
Some of the tasks in a school cleaning checklist include the following:
- Date of cleaning
- Cleaning for offices:
- Clean visible surfaces
- Restack books
- Sanitize desks, telephones, books, and stationery
- Vacuum and clean any upholstery
- Polish any trophy
- Dust walls and floors
- Empty trash bins
- Cleaning for hallways:
- Remove cobwebs
- Clean walls and floors
- Wipe light fixtures
- Dust off bulletin boards
- Cleaning for classrooms:
- Dust and clean the desks, chairs, and all visible surfaces
- Wipe and clean floors, blackboards, cabinets, windows, whiteboards, and walls
- Store away all strewn books and stationeries
- Rearrange any shelves or desks, if applicable
- Clean the light and check for any fused bulbs
- Empty trash bins
- Cleaning for bathrooms:
- Wipe and clean faucets, trash bins, counters, sinks, and toilets
- Disinfect surfaces
- Refill soap dispensers and tissue holders
- Clean floors
- Cleaning for gyms:
- Wipe and air any gym mats and equipment
- Clean light fixtures, floors, and walls
- Disinfect equipment and shared areas
At the end of the school cleaning checklist, you should have space for recommendations and other observations. This will be for other findings deemed important to note by your facility managers, janitorial staff, and other cleaners, as sometimes, while cleaning, they can discover different areas of concern. There should also be an area for inspectors to sign off to ensure the validity of the checklist and that all essential areas of the school have been cleaned properly.
Here is a digital school cleaning checklist example for reference:
FAQs about School Cleaning Checklists
You should use your school cleaning checklist daily, as schools should be cleaned at the end of each day. Aside from these daily cleaning tasks, deep cleaning can be done as needed or during holidays or days off.
The person who will head school cleaning activities and use the school cleaning checklist will differ per school. Ideally, however, there will be a head custodian or facility manager to oversee different cleaning staffs and teams that will work together to clean the school.
Yes, the school cleaning checklist can be customized to suit the specific requirements of a school. Different schools may have different needs, layouts, and priorities. It’s important to review and update the checklist periodically to ensure it remains relevant and effective.
Keep Your School Clean with SafetyCulture
The best way to create and manage a school cleaning checklist would be through a digital checklist platform. Digital cleaning checklists provide more room for flexibility and changes, all while improving workflow procedures. Utilizing a digital checklist solution can also help streamline the school cleaning process, allowing multiple workers to clean different school areas at once while keeping everyone updated.
One such digital solution you can use is SafetyCulture (formerly iAuditor), a mobile-ready auditing and form-building solution. With SafetyCulture, you can more efficiently clean your school by having all your workers coordinate with each other in one place, then store all their reports and findings in the cloud for easy access later on.
To get started with SafetyCulture, download a free school cleaning checklist from the Public Library and edit it as needed. You can also create your own checklist from scratch and use it as a template for future use. All files you make and use will each have their own access controls for privacy and security, all while being easily accessible from any device. These forms can also be used offline, then synced to the cloud later on when a connection is available.
SafetyCulture is more than a checklist app. With this versatile platform, you can also do the following:
- Report issues spotted during cleaning sessions
- Create and assign corrective actions in-app for each problem spotted
- Monitor, track, and manage assets, such as desks and cleaning materials
- Communicate with staff all at once with Heads Up
- Train employees on proper cleaning procedures to follow
- Keep track of lone workers in real-time with SHEQSY by SafetyCulture
- Share school cleaning checklists and reports with others by exporting them in PDF, Word, Weblink, and Excel formats
Related School Cleaning Checklists
CDC School Cleaning & Disinfecting Checklist
This checklist is based on the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) guide to help schools prevent infectious diseases from spreading through thorough and efficient cleaning and disinfection. Use this for deep cleaning sessions and in cases of outbreaks or mass spreading of illnesses and bacteria.
Monthly School Cleaning Audit
Use this school cleaning checklist for monthly cleaning inspections and audits. With this, you can ensure your employees are wearing the right cleaning equipment, sanitizing different facilities in the proper way, and reporting hazards and issues as they see them.
