Doing their duty: A day in the life of a toilet cleaner

For the past few years, Faysal has been living in Australia as a machine operator down in the mines. Originally from Wellington, he decided it was time to move back home at the start of the year to pursue his studies in International Business.

He wanted a role that would be flexible, while still allowing him to get out and about in the city, which is how he landed the job at Professional Property & Cleaning Services Cleaning, which is contracted to the Council. 

A part of a team of 20, his job is to monitor all the toilets between Tawa and Island Bay, reporting any lost items and making sure toilet facilities are clean and tidy for people to use.

Faysal laughs when he thinks about how people think his role can be “unappealing”.

“It’s not a big deal to me. You just gotta brush it off. It’s flexible and no day is the same.”

Since he started the role in February, he’s clocked up a list of wacky things he’s come across during his day-to-day rounds.

“Once in Tawa, I walked into the toilet and saw a moped, I was like ‘What the heck is going on, where is that meant to go?’. 

“I find a lot of phones, jewellery, bluetooth speakers and weirdly, whole toolkits that Tradies leave behind. I always find other people’s soap or body wash too!”

Other team members have located piles of rubbish, uniforms and wallets.

When an item is found, the procedure is to get in touch with the team back at the office and log it as lost property. 

Outside of the variety of the role, Faysal says his team are incredibly supportive and go with the flow when things get hectic. 

“We understand each other and know that we’re a mix of different cultures and ethnicities. We get along easily and it’s a light-hearted environment.”

Though he’s relaxed about what he’s going to find, Faysal wants to remind people that there is someone on the other end of what they…drop in the toilets. 

“I hope people remember that it’s another person who goes and fixes their problems. We do our best to keep the city clean, so people can easily do their part too.”