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Nobles® Speed Scrub® Scrubber - 24", Disk, w/echo™
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Nobles® Strive® Compact Cord-Electric Carpet Cleaner-15"
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Pandemic or Not...
This is a Good Time to Implement Your Plan
Thankfully it looks like the H1N1 Flu is not as severe as expected but don't become complacent...it is still dangerous. And there is little doubt that some worldwide infection will hit us hard in the future. From the number of calls and rush orders we are receiving the spotlight is on our industry. It seems every newspaper is running photos showing a Janitor or Food Service Worker disinfecting a table, desk or sink.
The sad part is almost all cleaning budgets have been cut over the past years and there is little time for those thorough cleaning procedures we all know are necessary. But now is the perfect time to review with management what you are doing with the resources you have and what your department could do to protect your facility.
Many of you have excellent programs but here is a three point action plan that could be ready to go in a future pandemic:
First, immediately enhance your cleaning program to increase disinfection of all high-touch surfaces. Mopping and finishing the floor is not as important as frequent cleaning of sinks, lunch tables, push plates, door handles, light switches, etc. This is where the infections spread. Tell everyone what you are doing and why. Explain to your staff that the organization is counting on them as their first line of defense.
Most important, put out bulletins to all stake holders and posters communicating your plan.
Second, tell management that you would like to establish a "Clean Team" to dramatically increase cleaning frequencies of offices, class rooms, wash rooms, etc., but will need more manpower. These proactive measures will help protect your facility, staff and their families. The easy answer is two hours of overtime per day or you can ask for temporary workers. Contractors can ask for a surcharge to cover the additional cost. We doubt if management has ever had a better financial and public relations investment.
Third, and our favorite subject, Preventive Housekeeping. Get everyone in the facility to support your Janitorial, Housekeeping and Food Service Staffs. For example, in schools desks are a common source of contamination and they used to be cleaned regularly. But with years of budget cuts the frequency has been reduced or totally eliminated from the daily schedule. So why not equip all teachers with Germicidal Detergent? Ask them to spray the solution on all the desks before they leave each afternoon. The extra time involved for the teacher is probably 5 minutes. You can remind them that the illness they avoid could be their own as teachers are in a high risk situation.
Of course, the same plan can be used in an office, nursing station, or correctional facility. Ask them to help you protect them. And ask everyone in the facility to clear their desks at night and do whatever they can to make the Janitors job easier and faster so they can spend more time protecting their health.
This is your ball game. Let everyone know you are in charge.
mklein.porpac
EPA to Allow Green Claims for Disinfectants & Sanitizers
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According to ISSA, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) officials have stated they will recommend the adoption of a policy that allows suppliers to make valid claims of environmental preferability in relation to the marketing of disinfectants and sanitizers. This statement represents a significant departure from the agency’s well-entrenched policy that prohibits “green” claims to be made in conjunction with the promotion of any EPA-registered product, including antimicrobial pesticides.
Specifically, EPA officials are expected to recommend that the agency allow suppliers to make factual claims of environmental preferability in conjunction with disinfectants and sanitizers, according to Marty Monell of the EPA's Office of Pesticide Programs. In addition, Ms. Monell stated that she will also recommend that a policy be established that would allow the use of ecolabels in conjunction with the marketing of hard-surface antimicrobial products. In this regard, it is expected that the latter policy would be conducted in cooperation with the EPA Design for the Environment Formulator Program (DfE).
“I am very pleased to see this development from EPA that will make it easier for green consumers and manufacturers to clearly identify greener disinfectants, which in turn will help eliminate confusion in the marketplace and accelerate green cleaning in critical segments such as health care, schools, and others with vulnerable populations,” said Stephen Ashkin, president, The Ashkin Group.
While the process is not yet complete, EPA will make the recommendations on green claims at the April 22-23 meeting of EPA’s Pesticide Policy Dialogue Committee. The green-claim policy recommendations are based on the work product of the EPA Working Group on Comparative Claims upon which sit Ashkin and Bill Balek, director of legislative affairs, ISSA.
“This latest development by EPA is another indication of the growing maturity of green cleaning, and the increasing availability of environmentally preferable products that also meet the most stringent performance, and health and safety requirements,” said Balek.
In the meantime, EPA and DfE will continue to conduct the internal pilot which is designed to identify the parameters under which the DfE ecolabel could be conferred upon certain disinfectants and sanitizers. Once the internal pilot is completed, it is expected that EPA will conduct an external pilot that presumably would open the process up to manufacturers and distributors.
Green Cleaning is arguably the number one trend in our industry and is showing no signs of slowing down. Stated simply, green cleaning is truly a marketplace phenomenon that is being driven by customer demand and the overall trending of the broad marketplace for environmentally preferable products and services. Please contact your Accommodation Mollen or Cleaners ProShop sales consultant to have such a conversation.
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