How do you deal with colleagues who leave shared facilities dirtier for the next user?

[IzzyGee]

I have a newish (only a few thousand miles) van at work. It’s great…..DAB….reads my texts to me…..heated wing mirrors…..but best of all……clean. But someone on the back shift is using it, placing a hot milky drink in the cup holder on the dash and driving over the speed bumps as they leave the yard. They then leave sweetie wrappers in various cubbies. Since Christmas I have had to wipe down the dash, door, speakers, steering wheel etc 4 times. ( I bring a bucket, cloth, marigolds from home.)

I’m contemplating getting into the habit of accidentally bringing the van key home with me every day

Or should I lighten up & accept that new things get trashed?

When I read the title I didn’t think you were taking about a van.

i personally wouldn’t treat anything like that. I think slightly messy / sticky annoying but ok. If it needs more that a quick wipe with a wet wipe not ok.

how many other vans are there for the back shift to use?
'accidentally forgetting' the key seems like an easy fix, but won't this just mean that the same person does this to another van, and one of your colleagues ends up dealing with exactly the same problem?
who's in charge of allocating these vans/ jobs/ training the drivers etc?

You don't need a bucket and cloth.

Just keep a large pack of cleaning wipes in the glove compartment.

The 'Ultra Grime' ones you can buy from Screwfix or Amazon are great.

There are far fewer back shift than day shift staff. This means they take the pick of the vans……naturally the newer ones are most highly prized. (There is next to no key control or training……most are agency staff.) Today I discussed it with some other long serving day shift colleagues…..nearly all taking their keys home or hiding in the building in a location only divulged to trusted colleagues!

I’d like to be nicer to these people….after all they’re agency……working for less with poorer terms…..but I really like a clean, new van.

Either leave a large bag of cleaning wipes on the dash. Or snaffle the key away as your colleagues are doing!