Laurier custodial team keeps campus community safe during COVID-19

June 23, 2020

A team of frontline workers at Wilfrid Laurier University is doing its part to keep Laurier’s Waterloo campus community safe during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Since early May, seven Laurier custodians have been cleaning rooms in Bricker Residence, where healthcare workers from Grand River Hospital are residing to reduce the risk of exposing their families and loved ones at home to the novel coronavirus. The team of senior custodial staff volunteered to take the shifts at Bricker Residence to alleviate any potential concerns other Laurier team members might have about working in areas where there could be indirect exposure to the virus.

“Our team knows there is an added risk by cleaning the rooms where healthcare workers are staying,” says Roger Collison, a member of the Bricker Residence custodial team. “But there is a job to do and, like the healthcare workers, we are all trying to do our part to keep the community safe.”

Equipped with personal protective equipment and high-grade disinfectant, the custodial team cleans kitchen, bathroom and other surfaces in residence suites and provides fresh bed linens. Four custodians work the day shift and three work during the night to ensure suites are always clean when healthcare workers arrive from the hospital.

At the end of their shifts, Bricker Residence custodial team members shower on-site at Laurier’s Waterloo campus. The team will continue to clean Bricker Residence until July 31, when the residence program with Grand River Hospital ends.

“This team is doing an incredible job,” says Jenna Lowe, manager of custodial services at Laurier. “I am so proud of the work that the Facilities and Asset Management team is doing to keep Laurier’s campuses operational and safe during COVID-19.”

Deemed an essential service, more than 70 members of Laurier’s Facilities and Asset Management team, which includes facilities, custodial and grounds staff, have continued working on campus to maintain Laurier’s buildings and property.

“We’ve all stepped up,” says Collison. “This is a great team and I know our efforts are appreciated.”