Unlike other business entities, educational institutes consider their academic achievement a greater measure of success than revenue generation. Besides the education-related factors that directly add to this achievement, we must not underestimate how the learning environment affects the academic outcome. This is where the facilities maintenance operations play an integral role in ensuring that schools and colleges run in the best way possible. It is also highly essential to ensure that the school and college environment is safe and secure at all times with reduced possibility of hazards. Some of the risks associated with schools and colleges are discussed below.
Walkways & Parking Lots – The paved walking areas and parking lots are not part of the internal environment of schools and colleges, but their maintenance is essential and can impact the students, faculty, staff, and other people visiting the building. How these areas fall under the possibly hazardous areas of an educational facility is based on how their maintenance is performed. If not maintained properly and regularly, these outdoor spaces can be dangerous with the likelihood of causing one to trip, slip, or fall.
Exterior Maintenance – Scheduled inspection of the facility’s exteriors can help identify maintenance and repair needs at the right time. Some common issues that occur frequently include: brick and concrete repair, cracked walls, need to paint, mold patches developing on some parts, and so on. In short, exterior cleaning is as important as indoor cleaning and must be included in the maintenance plan of the facility. Without these steps, the building exterior may develop poor water drainage that may seep into the rooms through the small cracks.
Waste Management – An important responsibility for the facilities maintenance staff is to properly collect and dispose of waste from the campus. It may sound mundane to some people but in reality, adequate trash disposal and recycling enables safe and smooth continuation of all campus activities.
Weather-Based Maintenance – Facilities maintenance is a continuous procedure and must be carried out on schedule, without interruption. However, this does not imply that maintenance plan cannot be altered or modified when needed. Change in weather requires corresponding changes in the maintenance steps and is most important during winters.
Despite the significance of proper upkeep of school and college campuses, there are limited budgets allocated for facilities maintenance. However, there are high-performance facilities maintenance firms like Environmental Service Systems that build custom plans with cost-effective solutions to satisfy the educational facility requirements. With well-trained employees and a wide range of stand-alone and integrated alternatives to choose from, ESS can maintain campus resources within desired budget. Contact us today to learn more about our quality control programs, safety processes, and list of services for educational facilities.
