Housekeepers, janitors, and custodians can find employment in a variety of environments such as 

• Industrial, remote sites/camps
• Office buildings (hamlet offices, government, private companies, Co-Op, banks, etc.)
• Health centers, hospitals, elders’ homes, etc. 
• Day-care centres, schools, etc. 
• Hotels
• …and the list might go on

The main responsibility of housekeepers, janitors, and custodians is to clean and maintain the space of buildings. 

• the job title “housekeeper” is used more often when the building includes accommodation rooms (for example, remote camps, hotels, elders’ homes, hospital, etc.)
• the job title “janitor” is used more often when the building or the work focuses on office spaces, schools, etc. 
• the job title “custodian” can be used when it refers to a person that sometimes resides on the premises of the building and oversees the building at any given time of the day (for example, a larger housing complex or a school campus). In addition to cleaning the premises, the custodian might also be asked to do small building maintenance (for example, change light bulbs, etc.)

In this course we will be using the term “housekeeper” for all the tasks. The course will provide examples of tasks assigned to housekeepers and help familiarise yourself with equipment and tools frequently used by housekeepers. 

Good housekeeping prevents injuries and illnesses, especially those due to: 

• Trips, slips and falls 
• Fires 
• Inadequate storage, handling and labelling of hazardous materials; and
• Poor sanitation 

In addition, good housekeeping helps keeping a clean and pleasant work and life environment for everyone. 

Although tasks and work routines might vary slightly from one workplace to another, the main tasks will be very similar. 

The work schedule can also vary. It can be: 

• part-time (e.g. 4 hours per day, or 2-3 full workdays per week) 
• full-time (e.g. 7.5 or 8 hours per day to 10-12 hours per day in the case of remote sites); or
• rotation schedule for remote sites (10 to 12 hours per day for work rotations of 2 to 3 weeks at a time usually, followed by time off in the community) 

Housekeepers can also be offered day shifts or night shifts, depending on the type of building and its cleaning schedule. 

This on-line course will provide examples that apply to remote camps as well as buildings in the communities.