Why Janitorial Service Workers Must be Considered Frontline Workers

The past year has brought challenges to most people on this earth. No matter where you live or who you are, COVID-19, among other things has affected your life in some way or another. When such a difficult time is at hand, people can choose how to respond. Although we have all been through so much in the past year, communities have never been stronger.

Questioning everything we know as a society brings a sense of community that facilitates people being kind to one another. The people who are fighting to keep our communities together, in the face of the pandemic are the frontline workers. Frontline workers have been working through this pandemic for the greater good of our world. They are working towards bringing normalcy, safety, solutions, and aid in all sectors.

Frontline Workers Show Bravery

Some of the best and the bravest people are working day in and day out to protect our lives in many ways. Healthcare workers, researchers, grocery store workers, teachers, public transit workers, manufacturers, and the postal services have all been largely recognized for being frontline workers during this time. Those workers indeed are part of the backbone that is slowly trying to mend this world during this trying time, and that does not go unnoticed.

Behind the scenes, Janitorial Service Workers have been working tirelessly to create safe spaces where people work, live and gather when needed. Often overlooked as frontline workers, janitorial service workers are highly needed to fight this pandemic and its deadly spread. They must be considered frontline workers, as they put their lives on the line at work to try to stop the spread of the virus- saving lives.

Frontline workers

Frontline workers are some of the people who have shown the absolute most strength during these trying times. They are the people who have put their lives on the line every day to ensure our world keeps running with the best regularity possible. These people chose to expose themselves to a deadly virus that we knew nothing about, for the common good of our nation and world.

When the world first shut down, we knew nothing about this virus. All we knew was that people were getting deathly sick and there was little to nothing we could do about it. We did not know if you could get it by air, by touch, or any other way. We did not know who it affected, nor how to help those that were being infected.

Frontline Workers Take The Lead

Even through all the unsure information about a deadly virus, frontline workers persisted and took risks to keep our society running. Frontline workers all had different realities of what this title meant, depending on what they were doing. All of them have one thing in common, that they put others before themselves- which is an act of pure selflessness.

Frontline workers are considered typically making lower wages and coming disproportionately from socio-economically disadvantaged groups. This means that oftentimes they would be making more collecting unemployment than they would while working but still, they work for the benefit of society. Not all people would risk their lives for less money over staying safe at home making more money.

One of the ways we are all able to stay strong as a nation was due to our frontline workers. The people who put their health and lives at risk, everyday, to help the great good of our communities. Working under that pressure is an immense duty that brings stress, sometimes sickness, and possible fatalities.

Janitorial Dependent | Frontline Workers

Janitorial services have always been essential work. To keep our communities healthy and safe, we need to keep them clean. Since the beginning of society, cleaning services in their various shapes and sizes have held together the order we know in our daily lives. Commercial companies, schools, hospitals, and universities are fully aware of the impact  Janitorial Service Workers have on our community’s health and safety.

This emphasis on janitorial workers’ importance has been ever more present in the past year. During this Covid-19 pandemic, everyone across the world was asked to stay inside their homes and virtually everything was closed for a period of time. Some things were open, like hospitals and grocery stores. As time has gone on more and more things have opened up for operation.

At The Beginning, In The End

The people who were cleaning and still are cleaning those facilities are Janitorial Service Workers. Their work was some of the most important, as disinfecting and cleaning allowed us to have control over the spread of the virus when all hopes were lost. They were and still are saving lives every day by cleaning hazardous pathogens off of common surfaces to work towards stopping the spread of covid- 19.

According to the Washington Post, “America has some 4.4 million janitors and domestic workers who are fighting to “flatten the curve” of the virus.” Not only do they risk exposure to COVID-19, but they are also exposing themselves to a large number of chemicals. Although our chemicals are eco-friendly, not all Janitorial Companies can say the same.

Unsung Hero's

It is oftentimes easy for people to dismiss janitorial services workers. They are the people who work silently in the background to keep places functional and safe. Healthcare workers, first responders, and cleaning workers are all on the frontlines of the COVID-19 outbreak while the rest of us stay inside and social distance. These same people who often looked past the importance of janitorial services workers are now the people looking towards them for all the answers and safety precautions. Society is dependent on janitorial service workers for not only health but peace of mind.