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Post by Kevin on Oct 17, 2005 16:53:41 GMT -5
This news story was disturbing, A residential housecleaner killed. What are you doing for safety in regards to your staff, or yourself? Im not saying go to the job packing, maybe some pepper spray.. or learn some techniques of beating the attacker down with the moppole or something. What do you do before you or staff start cleaning a new house? usacleaning.proboards30.com/index.cgi?board=News&action=display&thread=1129528518 |
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gailm
Junior Forum Member
[M:-30]
Posts: 65
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Post by gailm on Oct 20, 2005 23:29:50 GMT -5
I would say I did in-home bids on 90% of the home we cleaned. If I didn't bid on-site, I performed a thorough telephone interview.
My team leads were trained on a specific procedure to follow. The lead handled the clipboard and client keys. If nobody was home they entered, called out who was entering the house and then tje lead checked all rooms before the the team and equipment were brought in.
We did have some scary characters we ran into; one was drunk in a bedroom; one was holed up in a pitch dark house that gave off very bad vibes; one was a urine hole and the kids complained about the smell in the house after we cleaned - guess they liked the urine smell better.
The teams were trained to exit the house and call me if they did not feel comfortable in a house.
But you're right - all we had were our mops and stuff. No pepper spray but it's a good idea.
When you're cleaning houses, you get vibes immediately in each house that tell you what's going on. Anybody else notice that?
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Post by Pages Personal Cleaning on Oct 21, 2005 5:44:33 GMT -5
I know what you mean Gail. You can just feel something in some houses that make you so uncomfortable.
Patti
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Post by Pages Personal Cleaning on Oct 21, 2005 16:32:32 GMT -5
Several years ago I went to clean an apartment and when I went in the guy was home and he was sooo weird. I had the worse feeling. I knew I had to get out of there quick. Besides the place wasn't even cleanable. Way too much stuff all over, so as I was heading for the door I told him he would have to get everything picked up before it could be cleaned and I was so out of there.
Patti
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Post by tlisley on Oct 29, 2005 19:23:17 GMT -5
I think some practical things we can do to protect ourselves, especially us "lone cleaners" would be
1. Cell phone, keep it on you.
2. Someone should know where you are at all times. Call your mom and tell her if you have to!
3. Always walk the house on arrival, throw open the doors and keep them open... take a broom or mop with you, if someone comes at you you can whack them from a safer distance.
4. Lock the doors while you work and don't answer them for anyone who knocks.
Personally I keep a box cutter in my back pocket... just in case a broom handle to the head doesn't get it.
Traci
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Post by jdinstl on Nov 15, 2005 2:11:57 GMT -5
About those "bad vibes." Listen to those gut feelings, always! When in doubt, err on the side of caution and safety.
Something else I'd like to offer to the conversation. I'm buying a minivan for this effort, and one of the things that will be installed is an alarm system. I'm pretty sure I'm going to go with a system that has a remote start -- but one of its nice feautures is that the key fobs can transmit quite a distance in order to trigger a start -- or a panic alarm if need be.
You might want to consider having the same installed on your vehicles in case you're in a situation where a lot of attention-attracting noise must be made.
Just a thought...
John
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