Paul Ashton, Chairman, CSSA, reports.
The UK loses more than £100 billion every year to sickness absence. That is not just a health issue - it is an economic one.
According to the Office for National Statistics, 148.9 million working days were lost to sickness absence in 2024, equivalent to around 2% of all working time. Research from the Institute for Public Policy Research estimates that the wider economic impact of sickness and ill health now exceeds £100 billion annually.
International comparisons highlight the scale of the opportunity. Countries such as Singapore operate with roughly half the level of sickness absence seen in the UK. If the UK were able to achieve similar outcomes, the economy could unlock around £50 billion in additional productivity every year.
The solution is not simply about cleaning.
But the condition of our built environments - workplaces, schools, hospitals and public spaces - plays a far greater role in workforce health and productivity than is often recognised.
Clean, well-managed environments reduce the transmission of illness, support wellbeing and enable people to remain productive at work. In that sense, environmental hygiene should be viewed as preventative infrastructure, not simply an operational service.
If the UK wants to reduce sickness absence and improve productivity, the question is not whether cleaning matters.
The question is how we improve it.
That is where the work currently underway across the sector becomes important.
The Cleaning & Support Services Association (CSSA) is working closely with the British Cleaning Council (BCC)and other industry bodies as part of the ongoing effort to strengthen collaboration and help unify the voice of our sector.\
Within CSSA itself, we are increasingly focused on creating platforms where members can share knowledge, challenge thinking and raise standards together.
Our community groups are bringing professionals from across the sector into meaningful peer-to-peer engagement - tackling issues ranging from workforce challenges to emerging technologies and changing client expectations.
Our Economic Outlook briefings are helping members better understand the wider forces shaping our industry, from labour market pressures to productivity challenges.
We are also strengthening engagement with government. A recent roundtable with the Department for Work and Pensions explored how the sector can support employment pathways and workforce participation — with further discussions planned as that dialogue continues.
Sustainability is another key priority. A forthcoming CSSA ESG event will bring industry leaders together to examine how the sector can respond to increasing expectations around environmental performance, social value and responsible supply chains.
Alongside this work, CSSA is partnering with theBritish Institute of Cleaning Science (BICSc) on the Future of Cleaning Project, an initiative designed to strengthen the scientific evidence base behind professional cleaning practices.
Early findings from research conducted with the University of Surrey are already producing powerful insights. The study analysed hundreds of bacterial cultures and more than 8000 air particle samples across occupied classrooms and sports facilities to examine the relationship between airborne contamination and contaminated surfaces.
The results were striking.
When advanced air and surface antimicrobial technologies were introduced, microbial contamination levels fell dramatically - in some cases by more than 90% - and no bacterial cultures were detected in treated environments.
For an industry that has historically been judged largely by visual inspection, this kind of evidence is hugely important. It demonstrates that environmental hygiene can be measured, managed and improved in ways that directly support healthier buildings.
And that brings us back to the bigger picture.
If better environmental hygiene can help reduce illness and support workforce productivity, then the work being done across our sector is not simply operational.
It is economic.
Clean buildings support healthier people.
Healthier people support a more productive economy.
And if the UK is serious about tackling sickness absence and improving productivity, recognising the role of professional cleaning will be an important part of that conversation.
At CSSA, we believe the industry is ready to step forward. And in many ways, we are only just getting started.
https://www.cssa-uk.co.uk/
About the contributor
Paul Ashton
Chairman
CSSA