If you work between 8 a.m. and 6 p.m. at the Palais des Nations, its annexes (Bocage, Pelouse, Feuillantine) or at the Palais Wilson you probably will not see that little army of men and women who, for some of you, invade your offices to dust, clean the floors, empty the waste paper basket, and for others the corridors and the rest rooms. During your working hours, cleaning tasks are limited to those that are specifically requested or to cleaning some of the out of the way areas such as the air conditioning or heating stations. As for cleaning the windows, two persons have been assigned throughout the year. When they are not in one of the 2,800 offices of the Palais, you can see them suspended on a platform outside the roof of the E Building, in the Pas-Perdus Hall, or in the A-B or A-C wings in a little electrical platform or on scaffolding.
123,000 hours of cleaning
Between 150 to 160 people are contracted to clean, as specified in an agreement drawn up by the Buildings Unit which is regularly up for bids. On 1 September 2005, the contract of the cleaning company, ISS, was renewed for 3 years. The agreement drawn up by the UN sets out the six essential cleaning functions, building by building, floor by floor and corresponds to 123,000 hours of work annually. The person responsible and who oversees this is Laëtitia Ménin, Architect and Deputy Chief of the Buildings Section. The monitoring of the daily functions is the responsibility of Jean-Claude Roques.
A daily qualitative and quantitative monitoring
Monitoring is essential, not only for the wellbeing of the staff who work at the Palais, its annexes and the Palais Wilson, but also for the billing, which depends on the number of cleaners present. This is why, each day, Jean-Claude Roques not only verifies the quality of the work of the contractor through spot checks, but also verifies the presence of the cleaners against the names, as specified in the contract.
Efficiency and attention to better service
Whatever your request, Jean-Claude Roques is always pleasant and obliging. Since 1974, he has been working in the service for the UN staff, at the beginning in restoration and since 1998 in the Buildings and Engineering Section, first in helping to mount exhibits and since 2002 in supervising the cleaning. Cleanliness concerns everything and everyone. Jean-Claude is therefore in contact with everyone. His motto is quick intervention and client satisfaction. He prefers dialogue, with the clients as well as with the provider. His main goal is to improve the cleaning service.
Cooperation in the interest of all
Despite the specific cleaning tasks, it is possible
that the work is not always perfect. And Jean-Claude Roques only has two legs and two eyes to
monitor 2,800 offices and 8,200 meters of corridors.
It is possible that an accident occurs and
that you may have an urgent cleaning request.
Your cooperation is therefore essential and you
can contact Jean-Claude Roques, by telephone
(internal 719.82) or by e mail
(jroques@unog.ch) but the best way is to fill out a
work request form on line on the intranet site of
the Buildings and Engineering Section (BES) at
http:/scaserver.unog.un.org/sbst.
If the Buildings and Engineering Section is
responsible for a clean and pleasant work environment,
the participation of all is even more
necessary.
English version revised by Maria Dweggah.
