Opportunities
An airport of this size and passenger volume requires diverse services, supplier partnerships, skills and technical expertise. OCS plays many roles at Perth Airport, from comprehensively cleaning the terminals, commercial buildings, outbuildings and car parks to managing biosecurity waste and providing building maintenance services across the site.
The importance of cleaning has never been more in the spotlight than with the COVID-19 pandemic, but OCS rose to the occasion and played a critical role in keeping team members, customers and suppliers safe.
To help offset the effects of the pandemic on reduced passenger volumes, OCS was able to scale down operations within 24 hours and work alongside Perth Airport to utilise remaining resources and upskill team members to support the contract more efficiently.
The robust procedures and documentation by OCS on site were instrumental in Perth Airport gaining certification as the only Australian airport deemed to be COVID safe.
It’s great to have a partner aligned to our values and focused on our people and passengers. It’s been a challenging two years, and OCS has continued to support and add value across the airport
— Scott Woodward
Perth Airport Chief Operating Officer
Partnership
OCS’ cleaning contract with Perth Airport was renewed for another three years in 2022, allowing us to continue our decade-long partnership and ultimately supporting the Airport’s outcomes of a clean, safe, functional and healthy airport performing at its best.
With over 100 staff working on site, OCS provides a 24/7, 365 days a year service. The contract renewal is a testament to our team’s strong relationships across every level of the business and our commitment to providing high-quality cleaning, biosecurity waste and maintenance services.
Recognising the OCS Perth Airport Terminal 1 sanitising team’s outstanding work, they were crowned the overall winner in the OCS Stars Annual Awards. This related to an operation in 2021 when the team completed a complicated and specialised sanitising treatment following a high risk international repatriation arrival at Perth Airport. The team carried out the exercise in conjunction with Perth Airport, the Department of Health, WA Police and Border Force.
The OCS team took a calm, safety-first approach to the job, focusing on carefully performing their duties within a tight timeframe. The team worked diligently to deliver a safe, clean, sanitised workplace, allowing the airport to reopen on time.
Biosecurity Waste
With millions of international and national visitors annually, Perth Airport customs officers seize hundreds of items daily that pose a biological risk to the country.
Since 2018, OCS has held the Approved Arrangement for the Waste Collection and Waste Storage on behalf of Perth Airport across the airport site.
We’re the frontline for Biosecurity at this International Port, ensuring waste is disposed of responsibly and securely. The OCS team works closely with the Department of Agriculture to ensure best practice, establishing comprehensive guidelines and procedures and undergoing several audits before being approved to deliver the service.
Perth Airport is fully compliant in every aspect of biosecurity waste removal (and disposal), and no non-conformances have been found in random annual audits conducted by the Department of Agriculture.
The safe disposal of biosecurity risk items helps keep Australia’s $32 billion agricultural export industries and Australia’s unique environment safe from exotic pests and diseases.
Innovation
Installing dilution stations has allowed OCS to find cost and process efficiencies throughout the Airport through better use of chemical cleaning products and optimising dilution ratios. This has helped reduce the use of chemicals and allowed the utilisation of environmentally friendly products.
OCS has worked closely with the Airport to introduce co-botics, robotic equipment working in collaboration with people. The technology allows the machines to undertake repetitive and strenuous tasks, in this case, cleaning large areas of floor space.
As well as freeing up team members to focus on more people-intensive, detail and high-level tasks, the machines save water, capture cleaning data, measure performance and track coverage, and continually optimise operations.
The robotic cleaner communicates in real-time to assist in its maintenance and parts replacement. It has a 360-degree camera and sensors to clean the terminal floors while avoiding contact with passengers.
The real benefit though is in its environmental footprint. The new initiative will save 1000s of litres of water as the robotic cleaner recycles and filters the water it uses – a big tick for both OCS’ and Perth Airport’s sustainability goals.
Three robot scrubbers operate on the new Skybridge, Domestic Terminal 1 and International Terminal 1.
Maintenance
Despite the challenges in the aviation sector with the ongoing impacts of COVID-19, we continue to build on our partnership with Perth Airport and now provide building maintenance services.
The maintenance team is available to Perth Airport 24/7 to accommodate all needs and requirements, no matter how big or small the job is.
Our trusted partnership with Perth Airport over the past decade has given OCS the insights to ensure any issues are immediately addressed. Above all, we want to acknowledge the exceptional work being done by our onsite teams who continue to create a five-star experience for every visitor, passenger and staff member who walks through Perth Airport’s doors.
— Gareth Marriott
OCS ANZ Managing Director
