To ensure the safety of the nation’s cleaners — an estimated 150,000 of them — and to make sure that the cleaning occupation has a firm set of standard operating procedures (SOP), a chapter for “cleaning service certification standards” will be included in the draft of the environmental cleanliness and beautification promotion act, the Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) yesterday said.

Although the proposed act is still being researched and drafted, with many details yet to be discussed, the EPA’s Department of Environmental Sanitation and Toxic Substance Management ­Director-General Yuan Shaw-ying (袁紹英) yesterday said a three-tiered certification system is under consideration.

“Cleaning technicians [those who hold the profession’s certificates in the future] who wish to clean a more specialized type of environment — such as hospitals, which will involve the sorting and disposal of used needles and other biohazardous materials — will need a level-A certificate,” Yuan said.

Those participating in physically dangerous acts of cleaning — such as the exterior of high-rise buildings — will require a level-B certificate, adding that those performing more general cleaning jobs will require a level-C certificate.

The certificates will also be renewed on a yearly basis and cleaning technicians will be trained for a certain number of hours before having their licenses renewed, Yuan said.

“The training hours will not be so many that it will affect [the technicians’] jobs, but it will be beneficial to their job performance,” he said.

In countries such as the US and Japan, certification process for cleaners was initiated by the government or labor unions, Yuan said.

“We are looking to submit the draft to the Legislative Yuan during their meeting session in 2011; the regulation must be a law before we can impose penalties,” he said.

But even after the act is passed, the EPA will give current cleaners a six-month buffer period to ­obtain their licenses, he said.

The purpose of the act is two-fold, Yuan said. Not only will cleaners gain protection with the training, but also a single set of SOPs will make the whole field more professional, he said.

Yuan said that the new act would only affect cleaners working in hospitals, community buildings, offices, factory storage facilities, commercial or factory buildings and specialized buildings.

“If people wish to hire a domestic helper to clean their houses, the hiring will be solely based on the satisfaction of the employer; it will not be regulated by the new act,” he said.