A popular question that I am getting asked quite frequently these days is “What has changed in Contents Restoration with COVID in the world today”?
My answer?
Everything and nothing at all.
Wait…WHAT?
Nothing has really changed in regards to how we should be protecting ourselves when working on a fire job or how we should process a job. What has changed is our awareness of just how critical it is to process contents properly while protecting ourselves, our employees and our clients at all times.
I actually think that COVID popping up its ugly head into the world has had a positive affect on our industry for several reasons. It got in our face with immediate consequences if we don’t take the hazards of the job seriously.
Safety First
Too many have gotten complacent when it comes to safety on fire jobs. I was on a really bad fire job a few months ago in Minnesota that was a duplex with both units affected teaching a pack-out class and I saw a very well known company packing out the attached house without so much as a pair of gloves on. No Tyvek suits. No respirators. No gloves. These employees were covered and I mean covered in black soot when they came out of the house for lunch.
For some the importance of using proper Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) is just something they can’t be bothered with. It costs money, time, it’s uncomfortable to wear and is just one more thing we have to deal with out in the field. Guess what else costs money, time, is uncomfortable and is something you have to deal with everyday?
Cancer.
But the affects of breathing in carcinogens and gases that can be present on any given fire job like Formaldehyde, Arsenic, Asbestos, Carbon Monoxide, Sulfur Dioxide and Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs) can take years to show up.
COVID was an almost immediate affect that showed up if you weren’t protecting yourself properly.
There is a huge awareness these days when it comes to using proper PPE that I don’t feel has been this present in our industry on such a large scale for quite sometime.
And that in my opinion is a very good thing!
Heightened Client Awareness
In years past I have actually had clients get upset with me for wearing a Tyvek suit and full face respirator on a job. They said it was overly dramatic and not necessary as they have been coming in and out of the affected structure with shorts and flip flops on for days. All the while they are complaining about a soar throat, burning eyes and a headache.
Fast forward to today in some communities you wouldn’t think of getting out of your vehicle to meet with a client without at a minimum a mask on and if you did your client would quickly remind you one is necessary.
Clients have safety top of mind present these days and they want to know that as you clean their belongings and their home that you are properly trained and using the right solutions to get the job done.
This heightened client awareness has made us as restorers really have to be on our “A” game if you will when it comes to properly processing our clients personal belongings to return them to their home once we know they have been decontaminated and cleaned.
Clients today have raised the bar even higher then it was pre-covid when it comes to their need to understand what and why we do what we do.
Systems And Procedures To Protect Your Business
It has always been important to have protocols in place when doing restorative cleaning not only to streamline your contents processing division but to ensure that every single job is processed the correct way.
If you want consistency, accuracy and efficiency then you better have your Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) in place. And in light of COVID this may also protect you from being fired off a job or worse yet slapped with a lawsuit.
Your client onboarding process is very important to ensure that your content job gets off to a great start. Setting expectations for safety and communication at the beginning of a job is critical to the jobs success.
This onboarding process needs to be seamless and thorough in every aspect which is virtually impossible to do without a system in place that is followed by all on every single job.
COVID has reminded us of what is most important in contents restoration.
- Safety always first
- Caring for our clients emotionally
- Be on your “A” game at all times
The stress levels for our clients today with all this crazy and scary times they may find themselves in is at an all time high.
It is our job to take away the stress off wondering if their home is ever going to go back to normal again and replace it with hope.
And help them see that one day soon everything will be ok.