Sandpaper has the sandpaper holder, and now cleaning wipers have SPHERGO. It’s that simple. But, by design, SPHERGO™ is revolutionary.

HOSPECO, a leading manufacturer of personal and facility cleaning and protection products, is proud to introduce their new SPHERGO Surface Cleaning System — featuring a specially designed, lightweight base tool to which workers adhere one of the company’s MicroWorks® microfiber environmental hygiene and cleaning micropads. The SPHERGO tool, designed and manufactured for HOSPECO by Worksafe Technology Inc., features a patent-pending spherical ball handle that can minimize musculoskeletal stresses common to manual cleaning processes. Janitorial and facility maintenance staff workers simply hold the ergonomically designed ball handle and start cleaning. The ball allows for more productive cleaning while affording users the opportunity to naturally keep the wrist in a more neutral position, thereby reducing stresses that can result in costly occupational injuries. For hard-to-reach areas, the ball handle can be “popped” into an extension pole, which provides the same rotational movement for faster, less physically stressful cleaning, dusting, and mopping of floors or other vertical surfaces like walls, bathroom mirrors, etc. The extension pole, as well as an extended reach pole, also reduce the temptation for workers to kneel or stand on slippery countertops and window ledges to clean those hard-to-reach places.

The SPHERGO system helps reduce workers’ repetitive stress fatigue that can hamper productivity and potentially result in costly occupational injuries. HOSPECO makes it its mission to bring innovation to cleaning and personal care product categories often forgotten in the technology age.

“We are excited to collaborate with HOSPECO to launch this product in the U.S. market,” said Dan Koval, chairman of Worksafe Technology Inc. “They share our commitment to reducing occupational injury risk to professional cleaners in ways that maintain efficiency, cleaning quality, and cost considerations.” 

Hand injuries, which include musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs), can include carpal tunnel syndrome, bursitis, and tendonitis. MSDs are common for workers in the cleaning and sanitation industry, accounting for 33 percent of all injury and illness cases in 2013 and resulting in lower productivity on the job as well as increased time away from work. The negative impact these injuries have on businesses can be massive, particularly for janitorial and cleaning staff, who have the fourth highest incident rate of MSDs.

In the company’s product testing, virtually every type of flat-surface cleaning task was proven to be easier and to require less potentially damaging muscle movement when using SPHERGO surface cleaning system products versus other manual wiper products. When workers are cleaning blinds or baseboards, countertops or doors, mirrors, walls or floors, using SPHERGO tools can save time, effort, and potential costs due to employee injury.

Whether employees hold the ball-handled tool directly with their hands to clean (for example, tables, desks, walls, and mirrors) or use the extension wands designed to minimize stooping and reaching, they can minimize repeated torso flexion and straining movements that can lead to MSDs. The rolling ball handle allows for rapid movement while allowing dramatically more neutral positioning of the wrist. This — the ability of employees to keep their hands, wrists, and bodies straighter while the flat cleaning surface revolves around the ball — is an ergonomic breakthrough. The cutting-edge SPHERGO means less overall wear and tear on employees’ hands, wrists and arms, minimizing back-and-forth wrist motions that can lead to MSDs.

The combination of the lightweight SPHERGO ergonomic tool and the effectiveness of MicroWorks’ microfiber cleaning pads creates a faster, healthier, cleaner, safer, and more cost-effective cleaning system. Ergonomic mopping means matching the right mop to the task and the person to the mop. SPHERGO helps that cause, whether for regular maintenance cleaning or in cleaning up spills. MicroWorks has also introduced a micropad designed especially for mirrors and other reflective surfaces for faster and streak-free cleaning.

Starter kits include two (2) sizes of SPHERGO cleaning bases, one (1) extender pole, one (1) extended reach pole, three (3) glass MicroWorks micropads, three (3) wall MicroWorks micropads, and three (3) floor MicroWorks micropads. All items are also sold separately in dozen packs.

The entire SPHERGO and MicroWorks systems can be found on the HOSPECO website at www.hospeco.com.