Custodians ensuring sanitized facilities amidst pandemic

Pushing his cart, which is neatly lined with cleaning supplies, Chris Speirs, who has worked as a custodian at CSC for nearly eight years, stops at the entrance of the next Old Admin classroom. He disinfects a piece of cloth before wiping down the doorknob. Then, he unloads his usual cleansing tools like rags and disinfectant before grabbing a new cleansing device – a bright green misting gun adopted by custodians campus-wide since the pandemic struck. 

The job hasn’t changed that drastically since COVID struck, he thinks aloud, it’s just more emphasized.

Custodians around campus have adopted several procedure changes since COVID-19 struck last March.

While many, like Speirs, have mentioned, their duties haven’t necessarily changed, they’re simply more thorough.

“We would wipe down door knobs and stuff anyway,” Speirs said, “but now there’s a lot more emphasis on (doing it) as often as you can. (We clean) things we frequently touch, doors when leaving the building, drinking fountains.”

Speirs explained the college has supplied custodians with a lot of new cleaning supplies and chemicals, as well as lining hallways with hand sanitizer for students.

“You can’t hardly walk 20 feet in Old Admin without running into hand sanitizers.” He said with a chuckle. 

Speirs said that recent custodial training has focused on not cutting corners, but he, along with others, were thorough even before the outbreak.

Misting guns, used on everything from tabletops to water fountains to soft furniture, are a recent addition to custodians’ arsenals.

“It puts an electrostatic charge into the mist so that when it goes out it clings to the surface,” Speirs said.

He added that this is used once or twice a day, before or after classes.

Several professors require students to clean their desks before and after classes, a task Speirs has noticed.

“I think they’re doing a pretty good job of wiping down before classes,” he said. “ I’m not in here during the classes, so I don’t necessarily see what they’re doing.”

He added that he can usually tell which classes wipe down tables judging by how many paper towels are in a classroom’s waste basket.

Although the concern for cleanliness has increased since COVID-19, Speirs said he hasn’t worked extra hours, and hasn’t heard of any custodians working more frequently.

“Usually, we can get the job done in our time,” he said.

Rose Fankhauser, custodian at Crites for nearly five years, agreed with Speirs that cleaning procedures haven’t changed much but have become more detailed.

Fankhauser, however, brought up the sometimes-irritable mask-wearing situation.

“I feel like I need more breaks (now) because wearing (masks) all the time can get so hot and we’re moving all the time,” she said. “Sometimes I get so hot that the mask is just wet.”

Kim Clark, a CSC custodian since 2011 and custodian at King’s Library since 2017, said she and her fellow workers take breaks in custodial closets when needed.

“What I normally do is I go in there and take off my mask and I might sit down and drink some water or coffee and just take a little break and come back out,” she said.

Fankhauser noted that she and many custodians don’t take water breaks as often since the pandemic.

“I probably wouldn’t (drink water) unless I’m by myself or in my closet,” she said. 

“We’re always supposed to wear a mask,” she said, “because you never know. I could be contagious and not even know it.”

While most custodians agree students are usually diligent about wearing masks, this isn’t always the case.

“Some people don’t take it as seriously as others,” Clark said, “and that creates some sort of conflict. I’ve seen that in the library. Personally, I feel that if I don’t wear a mask, I’m not setting a good example to students.”