Do you think I'll have to quit my job over this?

No. Just do your job the right way and stop worrying about everyone else’s job. You need the job; just do it.

I agree with @janbb

And just let him continue to potential get people sick?

Sorry to break it to you, the service economy is rife with those who, through ignorance or malice, routinely break health and safety laws. Some cooks do spit in your food, some cleaners do use toilet brushes on faucets, someone is purposely spreading fecal material on elevator buttons. And yet, somehow we survive.

I don’t recommend trying to change things right now. Do the job, earn the respect of your coworkers, then try to change things.

This is just too big and too systemic a problem to screw up your employment situation for.

Yeah, that sounds like the wisest thing to do; quit your job, three days in, it’s not as if you need the money.
Oh, what’s that, you do need the money?
Better keep the job then.
And worry only about your own responsibility.
If you already catch a big mistake in this person’s methods of cleaning, it’ll sure be caught one day (or prior even to you noticing it) by a supervisor.

Just make sure they don’t use that same rag to dry your coffee mug.

For now I’d just do your job. Once you are trained will you be working on your own? So, everything you clean will be done correctly?

Once a few months pass you can put in an anonymous tip if you want to regarding what your boss is doing and let senior management investigate it.

If it makes you feel better people don’t usually touch the light switch and then put their fingers in their mouth. Anyone worried about germs worries about touching anything in the bathroom.

No, but do it right yourself.

I’m worried because my supervisor cleans a lot of other places, and I’m worried he’s doing the same disgusting things there.

He is. Still leave it alone.

It seems to me that you want to get fired. Worry more about yourself and less about what others are doing

@rebbel You’ve got a mean streak 10 feet wide and 12 miles long

No, but keep looling, or clean up after him using the right methods.

Really, @janbb nailed it right off the bat. There’s no need to say more.

Ask him why he didn’t clean the switches first. But rather than be alarmed at his behavior, file it away for reference when he invites you to his place for lunch. Besides, the disinfectants designed for scrubbing toilets will destroy anything that worries you about contaminating the switches. Come to think of it, there are probably more things to worry about on those switches than in the toilet. And remember, nobody likes a snitch.

I used to do new employee orientaition as a union leader, for the new employees at my government employer. I’ll tell you what I used to tell the new employees: Put your head down and do your job. Don’t gossip. Just come in on time, mind your business and do your job.

When you’re there a year or more and you’re respected and you’re doing a great job, your clean rooms will be an inspiration to t others. For now, you’re last in and first out, and bottom of the totem pole. Just head down and learn and clean.

Talk to him privately.
If he brushes it off, let it go.

Three days in you lay low and get your money! If you do it better, maybe you can talk to him when you’re a manager. :)

His practice iis a health risk to understate his dangerous spread of disease, whether intentional or ignorant and MUST be stopped. This company would not knowingly employ him. Call health department.soonest.

@filmfann lol, “if he brushes it off”

@SEKA Does that mean you don’t like me?

Is it really such an awful thing to use the same rag? I am assuming the rag is used with some cleanser, which should should result in a net removal of dirt and germs.

There is no way you should quit your job because someone else doesn’t do their job correctly.
If you are not responsible for them, ignore it.

You can easily use the same rag this way: Start with a clean rag, then clean the cleanest things first (sink, faucets and wall switch). Then clean the toilet and anything else.

Alternatively you can clean using 2 rags, one only for sinks, wall switches, etc. and one for toilets, etc.

I agree with the folks above. If you need the money, do the job correctly, and mind your own business. Otherwise you can quit and find another job.

What they said. I don’t think it’s a big deal either.

I saw something that was just as reprehensible to me when I was hired as a temporary worker in a nursing home. They kept the tables set all the time and just cleaned the area where the last person sat to eat. They would clean that area by spraying a disinfectant over the table which got on silverware, plates and glasses at adjacent place settings.

The disinfectant dried on which of course meant that whoever sat there got a dose of disinfectant with their food every time they ate.

That was bad but it was was just as bad when we were assigned to go in and clean the residents’ bathrooms. We were expected to clean fast which meant that we couldn’t take the time to remove toothbrushes and drinking cups at the side of the sink. I was instructed to spray the area down (toothbrushes, open tubes of toothpaste, drinking cups, etc. be damned!) and then wipe down the sink and mirror.

I was so appalled I couldn’t keep my mouth shut and after all I was a temporary worker and I wasn’t going to be working there but a day anyway. I told my supervisor, he said he told the head how does keeping at the nursing home. I doubt anything was done to correct the situation.

So the problem you described is much more widespread than you first realized. The experience made me think twice about ever putting anybody I cared about into a nursing home.

@rebbel Oh hell no—I admire you for it
It’s just a side of you that I’ve never seen before ;]

@snowberry They think that none of them old people can taste the chemicals and they’re going to die anyway so why be careful. The idea is to “get’r done” fast

My understanding from friends who are in nursing home administration is that nursing homes are chronically short-staffed, and there are always people calling out sick or on vacation, so the people who are working are hustling and always trying to catch up.

^^ (sorry folks, that was spellcheck “helping” me communicate better. I meant to say he said he told the head of housekeeping.)

Do not be direct with the supervisor. Directness is over-rated. It usually doesn’t work.
Passive-Aggression is the way to go on things like this.
Wait until there’s a time when many people are able to witness your supervisor’s cleaning habit. Then after that submit an anonymous note to his boss, written in a way that deflects from them thinking of you.
You may have to wait a long time. But so be it.

You need the job. Maybe use a different rag to clean the light swishes. Do better then you were taught and it will be great.