On the Buses
Public transport. Some of us rely on it, some of us have never used it and some of us continuously complain about it. But how many of us have worked on double-decker buses, scrubbing the floors and seats in dangerous conditions to fund our studies?
"It makes you feel sick. You know, that feeling of not eating for what seems like days." Sandeep Patel, 19, is not talking about the month of fasting he completes every year. The student from north London is describing the feeling he got when he was scrubbing graffiti off the back seat of a bus.
Millions of passengers and commuters use buses to get to work, school or even home from a night out on the town. Interclean Bus Services are responsible for providing clean, safe and roadworthy transportation taking the public from A to B.
Sandeep was employed by Interclean over the summer where he would work anti-social hours from 6pm right through to 2am. Working to put himself through university, Sandeep was not offered anything more than a standard rate of pay.
With most jobs, a rigorous interview and induction process is carried out. Sandeep's role at Interclean required him to use corrosive and potentially harmful chemicals. Despite this, no proper interview was conducted. Sandeep was asked to read and sign several forms including his contract and confirmation of receiving health and safety training. He says the training consisted of a rushed through session about the dangers at work and a poster in the corridor of Interclean informing employees about the risks and effects of working with chemicals.
Despite this, the bus-cleaning company boasts on its website: "We believe that Quality Assurance and Health and Safety run in parallel in the service industry, particularly in the potentially dangerous environment of bus depots."
Public transport is renowned for being grimy and dirty. Sandeep would have to scrub graffiti off seats and windows along with scraping chewing gum off the floor. Armed with two buckets, a squeegee, dry cloths and rubber gloves he would have to clean both single and double-deckers top to bottom. After accidentally leaving his equipment on a bus, Sandeep was left to chase after it on his own while buckets full of unsafe chemicals were left exposed to members of the public.
The company's employees were also left vulnerable to dangerous situations.
Intoxicating graffiti cleaner fumes became too much for Sandeep one night causing him to pass out on a bus. No one was around to help him and if the regular checks were carried out as they are supposed to be, this incident could have been avoided. He says that more ventilation and a supply of facemasks would dramatically improve the working conditions for Interclean staff. Some buses are dirtier leaving some staff more exposed to the hazardous chemicals than others.
Members of management ensured the cleaners were "...providing the highest quality service for the transport industry and the fare paying public" by carrying out inspections. This might sound good for potential customers, but it has consequences for Interclean's employees.
Sandeep says that suggestions were made ridiculing him and his colleagues, making them feel small. Supervisors scored their efforts out of ten, deliberately marking them low to undermine and patronise the cleaners. The cleaners were never told how they could improve on the task at hand, leaving Sandeep to lose interest in his role very quickly. In this tedious job, he would not look forward to going to work every night.
Working for Interclean made Sandeep feel like a child and he would wonder how his employer could expect such a high standard when they give the cleaners such mediocre training. Excellent management rather than training is top of the agenda according to Interclean: "The essence of any service organisation is the quality and calibre of its management and supervision."
Despite the company's "Personal Development System", Sandeep found that career development was not encouraged and most employees did not go for the superior positions since their jobs were easy for reasonably good money. All companies give their staff pay rises but at Interclean they are very rare, as infrequent as every five years.
Unlike his supervisors, Sandeep was not ashamed to tell people he cleaned up the public's mess on buses to earn some extra cash. The common stigma with cleaning is that it is a bleak and hopeless job with no direction. Making up stories about successful careers besides cleaning was common amongst management with some telling Sandeep they were university professors, dismissing Interclean as a small on-the-side job.
There are always people worse off. Sandeep described sweepers who would have to clean up the night buses that run throughout London every night. This would include cleaning up any sick from drunkards on their journey home.
Sandeep would go back to Interclean if he desperately needed the money to fund his degree but would never consider it as a full time career. It remains a miserable and unrewarding job: perhaps some people would be more considerate if they knew exactly what cleaning up their discarded bus tickets, chewing gum and graffiti entailed.
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