janitor

A janitor, also known as a janny, custodian, porter, cleanser, cleaner or caretaker, is a person who cleans and maintains buildings. In some cases, they will also carry out maintenance and security duties. A similar position, but usually with more managerial duties and not including cleaning, is occupied by building superintendents in the United States and Canada and by site managers in schools in the United Kingdom. Cleaning is one of the most commonly outsourced services. Etymology The word janitor derives from the Latin "ianitor", meaning doorkeeper or porter, itself from "ianua", meaning door, entrance or gate. This derives from "Janus", the Roman god of doors, gates and portals. Its first recorded use meaning "caretaker of a building, man employed to see that rooms are kept clean" was in 1708. Occupational tasks Most of the work performed by janitors and building cleaners is indoors. Office buildings are usually cleaned when they are vacant, so most of the office janitorial staff work during the evening. The work can be physically taxing and sometimes dirty and unpleasant. General janitor duties often include the following tasks: Cleaning and restocking bathrooms Sinks Toilets Urinals Cleaning floors (mopping, sweeping, polishing) Stripping and waxing floors using floor buffer Cleaning carpeting (vacuuming) Cleaning stainless steel and other special surfaces Clearing lunch room/kitchen Cleaning tables in cubicles, meeting rooms, etc. Window washing Scrubbing concrete Emptying trash and recycling bins Unlocking and locking buildings at the beginning and end of the day Operation of building systems (turning on and off lights, setting thermostats, etc.) In some places, this may include testing/maintaining/setting building safety/security systems (fire alarms, burglar alarms, surveillance cameras, etc.) Cleaning air-conditioner vents Crime scene cleaning (requires being fully certified and pay scale starts from $300.00 to $700.00+ an hour) Room and event setups (tables and chairs, audio video equipment, etc.) (college/schools, etc.) Raising and lowering flags (schools) Removing graffiti or other forms of vandalism Minor maintenance work, such as: changing light bulbs and filters, replacing ceiling tiles, doing small repairs, fixing small leaks, performing testing and monitoring of building equipment, etc.