If you’ve been up early or out late you may have seen a street sweeper or two cleaning up around your neighbourhood. But you probably haven’t thought about exactly what the job entails.
Our Property Services division has been cleaning up the streets of the Kingston municipality 9 years. Here’s a bit of an overview of what is involved on a day-to-day basis.
Street Sweeping – Staffing and experience
We have four full time drivers and one part time driver working on the Kingston City Council Sweeping contract. Together they have a combined industry experience of 40 years. Campbell Sanders is the Operations Manager for the Kingston council contract and his role ensures general day to day running of the contract
Street Sweeping – The job
We sweep 43 local shopping centres and strips and residential/industrial areas of the Kingston Municipality. Area includes from Carrum – which borders on the Frankston City Council boundary all the way through to Oakleigh South.
For this area we perform the following duties on a daily basis:
- Sweeping of footpaths, car parks, kerbs and channels
- Clearing of debris such as rubbish, sand, leaf litter, water
- Manual blowing out of areas
- Garden Beds
KS Environmental Property Services are also on call 24 hours, 7 days a week for emergencies. An emergency may include clean up required after a traffic accident or bad weather conditions. We react quickly to restore the conditions of the streets so impact to the public is minimal.
Street Sweeping – Hours of operation
Our Street Sweeping drivers are night owls or early birds! Commercial and Retail Drivers (which include shopping areas, foot paths/kerbs, car parks and laneways) start at 12am, and finish around 8-8.30am. Our Residential/Industrial Drivers start at 5am and their day is finished by about 1.30-2.00 pm
Street Sweeping – Reporting of issues
We use a ‘real time’ driver alert system called IntelliTrac. IntelliTrac is installed in every sweeping machine and works literally by the touch of a button. When a driver sights an issue (for example a pot hole), he presses the appropriate button and an email notification is instantly sent through to the Operations Manager. The reports from IntelliTrac are compiled and sent through to Council on a daily basis. Depending on the severity and nature of the issue some matters may be actioned immediately.
Street Sweeping – Managing Compliance
KS Environmental Property Services Management conducts random inspections at peak working times in order to see the full scope of works and gain a true reflection of the job. In addition to the random inspections, Council inspections are conducted in residential areas every Friday (on a sectional basis). These inspections are conducted in conjunction with KS Environmental Property Services and Kingston Council.
Our Operations Manager schedules regular ‘tool box’ training sessions with the drivers every 2-3 weeks. Topics covered include compliance requirements and Work Health and Safety factors. These meetings are also a forum for drivers to bring up any issues or feedback they may have.
Street Sweeping – Ensuring Success
Paramount to any successful working relationship is communication. KS Environmental Property Services prides itself at encouraging open and honest forums for discussions between staff and Council. We all work well as a team and respect one another.
If you would like any further information on the street sweeping services we offer please contact us.