Industrial cleaning is the cleaning of a production environment, and the difference from office cleaning is not scale but hazard. The operatives work around machinery, chemicals, dust, heat and sometimes confined spaces, and the job is usually planned around a shutdown rather than a shift pattern. It is bought on method and competence first, price second, and the order matters.
What an industrial clean actually involves
Machine and plant cleaning during planned shutdowns. Floor degreasing and line marking reinstatement. Dust extraction from beams, ductwork and cable trays. Tank, silo and vessel cleaning. High pressure water jetting. Spill response and decontamination. Much of it is done at night, at a weekend or during an annual shutdown, because the production line is worth more per hour than the cleaning.
Permits and method statements come first
A competent industrial cleaning contractor will ask for a permit to work, will isolate and lock off plant before touching it, and will produce a task specific risk assessment and method statement naming the chemicals and the controls. Where a vessel or pit is involved they treat it as a confined space with its own entry and rescue arrangements. A contractor who asks for none of this is the risk, not the machinery.
COSHH is not optional here
Industrial cleaning uses degreasers, acids and alkalis in strengths no office ever sees. The Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations 2002 require an assessment of those substances and the prevention or adequate control of exposure. Ask for the assessments and the safety data sheets for anything being used in your building, and check that the controls named in them, including ventilation and respiratory protection, are actually being applied.
Choosing between industrial cleaning contractors
Ask for two references in your process, not just your sector, because cleaning a bakery and cleaning a foundry share almost nothing. Ask how they handle waste, since the effluent from a factory clean is usually trade effluent with its own consent conditions. Ask who supervises on the night. And agree in advance who signs the plant back into service, because that handover is where disputes and damage claims start.
Factory cleaning services, and what makes them different from an office contract
Production is the constraint, not the dirt. Work is planned around a shutdown, a changeover or a night, and the specification is written around what can be isolated: machinery that must be locked off, extraction that has to keep running, floors that cannot be wet while a line is moving. The residues decide the method rather than the frequency, so oil, flour, resin and metal swarf each need their own approach and their own waste route, and food production adds a swabbing regime on top. The contractor's own risk assessment and method statement matter more here than anywhere else in cleaning, because the hazards belong to your process and not to theirs.
Questions people ask about industrial cleaning
What is the difference between industrial and commercial cleaning?
Commercial cleaning is a routine in an occupied workplace. Industrial cleaning is project work in a production environment, planned around shutdowns and controlled by permits and method statements.
Does industrial cleaning happen during production?
Rarely for the heavy work. Most of it is scheduled into planned downtime, a weekend or an annual shutdown, because plant must be isolated first.
Who deals with the waste water?
Effluent from a factory clean is usually trade effluent with consent conditions. Agree before the work whether the contractor removes it or it goes to drain under your consent.
What accreditation should an industrial cleaner have?
There is no single licence. Look for evidence of confined space training where relevant, jetting competence, COSHH assessments and a safety record you can check with references.
Is factory cleaning industrial cleaning?
Heavy factory cleaning is: machine and plant cleaning during planned shutdowns, floor degreasing and dust extraction from beams and ductwork are project work in a production environment. The daily clean of a factory's offices and welfare areas is commercial cleaning.