Trinity’s Housekeeping Team

Posted on: 15 July 2016

Starting bright and some as early as 5.00am, Trinity’s Housekeeping staff often finish cleaning offices before the rest of the University’s staff come to work.

The remit of the team’s work is vast: managing the cleaning and servicing requirements of all Trinity property including residential rooms, offices, libraries, computer rooms, labs, public areas, lecture theatres, common rooms, board and meeting rooms, kitchens and bathrooms across the campus. In addition, the Housekeeping department manages off campus sites such as the Trinity Centre for Health Sciences in St James’s Hospital.

The figures speak for themselves – an astounding 70,000 sets of linen (sheets, duvet covers and pillow slips) are ‘in the system’ on a monthly basis for use in the 800 residential rooms on campus during the summer; over 8,000 miles of toilet rolls are used each year; and 4,340 litres of hand soap is consumed annually.

Headed up by Moira Bailey, Premises Services Manager, there are currently 215 staff employed in the busy Housekeeping department, the majority of whom work on a part-time basis.

Due to the seasonal nature of its business, the Housekeeping team has to be flexible in its service provision. “The team is very adaptable in changing its focus from providing support for the academic mission during term time to being a hotel team during the summer months. Trinity is one of the largest tourist accommodation providers in the city centre,” explained Moira.

With this in mind, during the summer months, an additional 20 staff members are recruited to assist in servicing the residential rooms on the main campus as they open to visitors when students leave at the end of the academic year.

There has been a change in the profile of the team over the years. Traditionally staff were locally based women, many returning to work after rearing their families. Today the team is multicultural with 16 different nationalities and more gender balance with one in ten colleagues being male.

The Housekeeping team is a closely knit one with dedicated staff. Half of the Housekeeping staff have over 10 years’ service. Teresa McAuliffe is the longest serving staff member.   

The Housekeeping department is part of the Facilities and Services section within Estates and Facilities in Corporate Services Division. Operating on a geographical basis on campus, the majority of cleaning takes place during the hours of 5.00am and 10.00am, Monday to Friday in addition to continuous servicing throughout the day. The rota entails all staff working one Saturday in every seven.

Staff training is important for the department. The Housekeeping Supervisors and Managers are all accredited, have successfully completed the British Institute of Cleaning Science, Cleaning Operatives Proficiency Certificate and are qualified Assessors. The Housekeeping Assistants have been trained to the Cleaning Operatives Proficiency level and undertake in-house training.

The increase in the number of visitors and students on campus has led to an increased workload in recent years.  However, as Moira notes, the team has responded well to this, still delivering a high quality service ensuring standards are maintained and costs are controlled.