BSHM21 (FUNDAMENTALS IN LODGING OPERATIONS)

Chapter 4: PUBLIC AREA AND 5P’S OF

HOUSEKEEPING

Learning Objectives
At the end of this chapter, students are expected to:

• Discuss the scope of the Public area

• And differentiate the 5P’s of Housekeeping

Discussion:

❖ PUBLIC AREA MAINTENANCE

PUBLIC AREAS refer to all parts of a building resort or any lodging establishment
which are for public use. These include corridors, hallways, grounds reception areas, public
comfort rooms, offices and function areas where social events like parties and seminars are
held.

Among hotels and resorts the cleaning and maintenance of public areas is assigned
to a sub section of the Housekeeping Department headed by a Public Area Maintenance
Supervisor sometimes known as Head Houseman. His crew consists of cleaners known as
houseman or antes gardeners are pest control technicians (this is done in house)

Among small establishments the houseman of the housekeeper assigned to public

areas does multiple tasks like janitorial work, facilities maintenance gardening and pest
control.

Public areas are the common places and facilitates accessible to in house guest and
non-resident guest. Guest requires common areas to meet, sit and carry other activities. The
place comes under the are lobby, restaurants, bars, banquets, and other Food and Beverage
Outlets. Public area cleaning is the most important and challenging task for hotel / hospitality
housekeeping. Since most of the public areas are highly traffic area, housekeeping maintains
a deep cleaning schedule for those areas at night and regular cleaning and maintenance
during the day time.

a) Entrance– Guest get their 1st impression of hotel from the entrance lobby. Entrances which
are not cleaned and maintained daily, it will become unpleasant for the guest due to heavy
traffic and exposure. The maintenance and cleaning of the entrance and the door is important.
So proper and daily cleaning is required in these areas. Normally cleaning is done at night.
b) Lobbies- These are the common meeting points of the guest near the reception. Many
lobbies are carpeted while others are hard flooring. Floors in the lobbies are need to be
cleaned frequently., since these are spaces where guest interact., relax etc. Lobbies may have
high ceilings elaborate chandelier which are difficult to clean so it is cleaned at night. The daily
cleaning tasks involves
• Public area cleaning of waste paper bins and ashtrays at
• Flower arrangement should be done daily as a part of Public area cleaning.
• Glass surface and windows to be cleaned daily.
• Doors and door knobs to be dusters and cleaned daily.
• Any stain on the carpets and upholstery should be cleaned immediately.
• Hard floor should be mopped regularly.

3. Front office- Housekeeping department is responsible for this Public area cleaning and
maintaining of front office because front office is the face of the hotel. So daily cleaning of the
department is required. Mopping of the floor, dusting of the furniture and fixture and vacuuming
of carpets are essentials.
4. Elevators- Elevators must be cleaned at the time of day when it is least used. The
necessary boards indicating the cleaning is carried out must be displayed promptly. Elevators
doors are made of steel. In steel door shows lots of grease marks from finger easily. Elevators
should be cleaned daily and more through cleaning may be done on periodic basic.

5. Stair case- Stair case should be cleaned when there is less traffic. While cleaning of
staircase care should be taken that dart and dust do not fall down words.

6. Guest corridors- While cleaning of the corridors necessary boards indicating the public
area cleaning is carried on must be displayed prominently. Carpets in the corridors should be
vacuumed daily. The cleaning tasks of the guest corridors are as follows
• Carpets should be vacuumed regularly.
• The wall skirting should be cleaned regularly.
• Any finger marks on the walls should be cleaned immediately.
• All the wall painting should be dusted every day.

7. Banquet hall- Banquet hall mainly used for conferences, weddings exhibition etc. So
proper public area cleaning is required for this department. The cleaning includes mopping of
floor, vacuuming of the floor carpets regular dusting of fixture and furniture are required.

8. Health club – Health club is another hotel facility provided to the guest to exercise and work
out. So proper cleaning of machine is required daily because it is the busiest ares. The
cleaning tasks of the health club are as follows
• Proper dusting of equipments.
• Damp dusting of furniture
• Cleaning of glass and window panel.
• Cleaning of carpet floor
• Removing of soil linens and replacing with the fresh linen for future use.
9. Swimming Pool- Regular Public area cleaning and disinfecting of swimming pool is
important for the point of hygiene. If is not regularly cleaned swimming pool may becomes
carries of water borne disease.

THE 5 S'S OF GOOD HOUSEKEEPING

A very systematic and rational approach to housekeeping maintenance especially for offices,
homes and even for hospitality establishments is the so called '5 S'5" It is a housekeeping
program that originated from the Japanese and has now become a popularized
housekeeping guide around the world.

The objectives of the 5 5's program are to

• Keep order in a work place, buildings, offices, other establishments, .

• reduce waste and save on costs; maximize work efficiency and productivity.
• prevent injuries, accidents and disease,
• protect the integrity of files and documents and
• prepare the ground for further improvement

The 5 S's stands for 5 elements, namely:

✓ SEIRE- SORT

This is the task of identifying available files and materials and sorting out what is
necessary and what needs to be disposed. Good housekeeping requires all unnecessary
papers, materials and files to be removed from the work area to decongest the premises,
reduce waste, maximize productivity and efficiency create a pleasant work environment and
make the job more manageable.
Sorting Practices:

1. Classify items whether necessary or unnecessary, • Sort contents of inside drawers,

cabinets, lockers, rooms, other areas
• Segregate useful from non-useful items, bio-degradable or non biodegradable)
• Stratify sort-evaluate what to dispose, what to file or transfer

In evaluating items for disposal, consider those that are:

a. of low use like:
• Things not used in the past - dispose
• Used only once in the past -store at a distance
b. of average use-Important file but not frequently needed, to include
• Those used only once in the past 2-6 months -
• Used more than once in a month These items can be stored in a central place
• c. of High Use Those used once a week
• Those used everyday, every hour

Have them stored near the work site for easy access and retrieval.

2. Dispose the unnecessary and useless items; Use a red tag or any tag to identity
disposable items

3. Recycle items when appropriate.

4 Establish policies on disposal –

• Have different color coded tags for disposal, for transfer,to be recycled and sold; .
• Identify the files/materials to be retained and up to when;
• Segregate items that can be recycled or sold or completely thrown out,
• Designate storage and disposal areas

5. Prevent accumulation of trash and unnecessary items; practice the principle of clean
as you go "CLAYGO"

6. Prepare a materials list specifying items disposed, stored and where

Disposal can be done in either of the following ways

• . Sell to outside company
• Move to other section where the item is needed.
• . Throw it away, or dispose as garbage.

✓ SEITON-SYSTEMATIZE

Systematizing means putting all necessary items in proper order and in their proper
place. It entails the orderly and systematic arrangement of files, documents and other
materials within one's work area. For example filing cabinets are to be arranged according to
classification, like a box or shelf for contracts, another one for invoices, etc.
Systematizing practices:

1. Classify and put together similar/related items in one folder or shelf.

1. Example:
a. folders may be classified and labeled by classification, le..: folder for incoming
correspondence, folder for outgoing correspondence, folder for various types
of accounts

b. In a storage in the house, have a separate shelf for food items and nonfood
items and label them.
2. Identify what materials, folder or file one would place every item.
3. Put frequently used items nearer or in more accessible location.
4. Alphabetically arrange files for easy retrieval and use.
5. Put files and documents back to their appropriate folders/cabinets after use.
6. Inform those concerned where items are classified and kept. 7. Do not congest the
area, ensure wider frontage along passages.
7. Store perishable goods in FIFO (first in, first out) retrieval when applicable.
8. Label items and their location systematically.
9. Make a list of things with their locations and put it on lockers/cabinets.
10. Label each drawer/cupboard/box to show what is kept inside.

✓ SEISO-SHINE

The word "shine' relates to a condition of cleanliness. This is made possible through regular
cleaning, sweeping floors, cleaning equipment, and shoveling out unused material or debris
on a daily basis. The concept also emphasizes the prevention of dirt and dust accumulation
by making it a habit of cleaning and clearing away all dusts and trash in one's work area,
sweeping floors. dusting furniture, removing spots and stains, eliminating sources of bacterial
contamination, and most of all, practicing "clean as you go, (meaning outright disposal of trash
after working)..

Sweeping /cleaning practices:

1. Regularly clean and sweep floors following standard procedures.
2. Daily dust away dirt on tables, computers, equipment, etc
3. Schedule general cleaning, if possible once a week.
4. Fumigate when necessary to keep pests away
5. Remove spots and stains using the right chemicals.
6. Dispose all trash and unnecessary materials.
7. Sanitize toilet bowls and sinks

8. Do not wait till things get dirty

9. Clean the workplace including machines and equipment, tools and furniture regularly
10. Remove dirt and cobwebs
11. Paint wares and celling with bright colors
12. Make a cleaning schedule and find time for general cleaning
13. Assign a person to handle storage and distribution of cleaning tools.
 ✓ SEIKETSU-STANDARDIZE

This element focuses on the discipline needed to make the 5 S's a habit. It entails the set up
of a system to insure that high standard of good housekeeping is maintained. The set up of a
structure of work distribution and the formulation of standards and procedures are all part of
the process of standardizing and maintaining order in the work place.

Practices:
1. Distribute and define cleaning responsibilities. These must be reflected in the job
description of staff.
2. Set up cleaning schedules
3. Establish cleaning standards and train staff to meet these standards
4. Take measures to prevent dust, dirt and noise
5. Set up rules of discipline and office decorum

✓ SHITSUKE-SUSTAIN /SELF DISCIPLINE

Sustaining the 5 Ss of good housekeeping means making it a way of life.doing them

daily as a matter of habit

Practices:
1. Management shall officially endorse or mandate the 5 S's implementation and shall
establish 5 Ss standards and policies.
2. Organize and mobilize an Audit team to monitor compliance to thestandards.
3. Organize 5S's champs or officers to lead and coordinate 5 S's in their respective
areas/zones
4. Mandate Officers to be models of the 5S's and to set good examples to colleagues
and subordinates
5. Establish a system of reporting and evaluating results against the standards.
6. Record/report observations- deviations from standards.
7. Confront erring employees and make them accountable for deviations:
8. Ensure compliance to office decorum like wearing of uniform or proper attire, ID, No
eating in ones work area, etc.
9. Recognize and reward consistent compliance.
10. Consistently enforce safety rules
11. Enforce sanctions for non compliance.

SAFETY & SECURITY

SAFETY ensuring the safety of employees in the workplace, ensuring that confidential
files and documents are protected from theft and from the access of the public and that
employees and clients are protected from safety and security hazards.

SECURITY ensuring confidentiality, integrity and availability of data and Information

materials,
Practices:
1. Keep confidential files in folders and lock them in cabinets to protect them from the
view of unauthorized users.
2. Never leave confidential files lying on tables.
3. Report, investigate and take action against suspicious objects/persons.
4. Report and take immediate action on safety and security hazards like dangling wires,
open electrical outlets, etc. them with the
5. Protect workers against safety hazards in their job; equip necessary protective
devices.
6. Be alert, report and eliminate any source of bacterial contamination.
7. Make sure all eating equipment like china wares, cutleries, glasses are sanitized to kill
bacteria.
8. Cover foods and protect them from contamination
9. Act on any critical food safety hazards like prolonged exposure of food. storage below
or beyond critical temperature, etc.

Key elements to effectively sustain the 5'S's

PARTICIPATION-get everyone involved, make them recognize what the company wants to
achieve and their important role.

REWARD-Recognize efforts of individuals and groups, reward by using praises, certificate,

other means

EDUCATION -Orient people on the importance of 5'S, the key elements and standards

SANCTIONS Show that you mean business. Monitor compliance, record deviations, make
people accountable for results and let them face the consequences of unjustified deviations

STRUCTURE - identify the tasks to make 5 S's work, distribute the tasks to individuals or
committees, define standards and procedures, set up schedules and deadlines; organize an
audit team or 5S champs.

REFERENCE:
Osorno,R, and Bagjao G.(2020) Fundamentals in Lodging Operations. Laboratory Manual.
Manila Philippines; Wiseman’s Books Trading,Inc.

Urbiztondo L. and Basbas L.(2006) Housekeeping.Manila Philippines. Rex Bookstore