A Message from the Chairman
Message from the National Chair Lynn Webster FBICSc
A Message from the Chair
I have now been the National Chairman of the British Institute of Cleaning Science since 2009, during which time BICSc has continued to go from strength to strength. The mission statement of the Institute is to raise the standards of education and to build awareness through professional standards and accredited training. This is in order to protect the operatives, provide a clean and safe environment, preserve assets, promote sustainability and produce best practice for the industry. We continuously strive to achieve our objectives, and in 2010, we introduced some successful new initiatives that have already made a positive impact on the cleaning industry, one of the most important of which was the launch of the BICSc accreditation scheme in January 2010. The accreditation scheme has been introduced to field test cleaning equipment and materials under normal working conditions. Accreditation is based on efficiency, reliability and safety. Equipment meeting the required test standards will be awarded a Certificate of Accreditation, and the manufacturer or supplier will be entitled to use the BICSc Accreditation logo in their promotional and sales material.
We were also pleased to launch BICS International at the Interclean Amsterdam show in April 2010. BICS International is the new international trading arm of the Institute and has been established to further co-operation, communication and raise standards in the international cleaning industry. The Institute has already established co-operation with VSR, the Research Institute for cleaning in the Netherlands, and will continue to look for collaboration with other associations and organisations in order to raise the standards of the cleaning industry internationally.
In 2011, BICSc will be celebrating OUR Golden Jubilee, 50 years of operation. In these 50 years BICSc has been acting as an independent body, dedicated to raising the profile of the cleaning industry. We can look back at our history with pride at having achieved so much, and we can look to the future to continuously work towards our mission statement. The coming year will see many new and exciting initiatives which will be implemented to improve the cleaning industry, with the launch of the new BICSc Cleaning Professionals Skills Suite (CPSS) at the Cleaning Show in March 2011. The CPSS has been created as an alternative route to the Cleaning Operators Proficiency Certificate (COPC), and will include three mandatory units; chemical competence, equipment safe use and care, and storage of chemicals and equipment. There will be 25 core tasks to be delivered, as well as specialist tasks available (some of which are still in development) to suit all environments and their requirements. The Cleaning Professionals Skills Suite can be used to support, or in addition to, the COPC and will allow candidates to learn what is directly relevant to them, and the environment that they clean within, to meet the specific needs of each business and industry.
I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of our members, Corporate and Individual, for their continued support and promotion of the Institute. I feel confident that in 2011 standards and education in the cleaning industry will continue to improve and develop, both in the UK and Internationally. I look forward to meeting with you all at the various events we will be hosting throughout the year.
Lynn Webster FBICSc