Posts Tagged ‘Chemicals’

HARD FLOOR CARE

 The condition of your floors is the first thing noticed by anyone entering a building.  If the floors are clean and have a high gloss the perception of the building is enhanced. The key to floor maintenance is applying a consistent system of care to maintain excellent appearance and minimize maintenance costs.  Every maintenance procedure should be planned and scheduled before the floor finish is noticeably damaged.

 PROCESS

1        Install Proper walk off mats
2        Select the proper finish and system
3        Train maintenance staff
4        Plan and schedule floor maintenance procedures by area
5        Monitor the floor care system performance – walk the building
6        Schedule corrective action

PRODUCTIVITY                       Min/1000sq ft

1        Dust Mop 48″                                              2.40
2        Wet Mop 24oz                                         12.00
3        Scrub Floor Machine 20″                    27.00
4        Scrub Automatic 24″                              6.00
5        Burnish Battery Machine  20″             3.50
6        Burnish Electric 20″                                6.00
7        Burnish Propane 27″                             2.70
8        Apply Finish Mop                                 36.00
9        Apply Finish Flat Mop                        28.00
10      Detail Baseboards                                   6.60

PRODUCT RECOMENDATIONS

Floor Finish                              Platinum Coat – Low Maintenance
                                                       Gold Coat – Frequent Burnish

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What are “Green Products?”

A common misconception about “Green”, also known as Environmentally Preferred Products is that they are made to protect the environment.   And while that is true, more importantly Green Products are designed to protect the people who use chemicals for cleaning on a regular basis.   Many cleaning products we use everyday contain ingredients that are known or suspected to have possible long-term health implications.  Green Products are formulated to remove all of the potentially harmful ingredients.

Why should I use “Green Products?”

Now, more than ever, people are using “Green” products. The most common reasons are:

• To protect the health of employees and guests. There are concerns about workers long-term exposure to certain ingredients in cleaning chemicals via skin contact and inhalation. 
• Short-term costs:
  • Rising healthcare costs, loss of productivity and workers compensation premiums associated with occupational illness.
• Long-term costs:
  • Potential future liability associated with exposure to currently unknown harmful chemical ingredients.  We live in a very litigious society. This has already happened with items such as asbestos, tobacco and lead-based paint.
• The Federal government is actively promoting the use of green chemistry. Many federal, State and city government facilities are already using green products.  By 2010, all U.S. Federal contracts are required to use green products.

How can I identify a “Green Product”?

This can be difficult to do. The old adage “Let the Buyer Beware” definitely applies. Some manufacturers have taken advantage of the “Green Revolution” by misleading customers into thinking their products are green by simply changing the name of the product to a “green sounding” name or by removing only a few ingredients and not actually completely reformulating their products.

There are two primary standards for green products in our industry: Green Seal and the EPA.

1. Green Seal, a Washington, DC-based private business has developed 29 standards ranging from alternate fuel vehicles, newsprint and limited cleaning products. They charge manufacturers a fee to register their products.  Green Seal does not have a testing protocol for Floor Finishes, Sealers, Strippers or Maintainers.
2. The EPA, who has developed the Design for the Environment Program (DfE) for institutional cleaners and maintenance products.

We at Pioneer Eclipse believe that the EPA is the ultimate authority for Environmentally Preferred Products because:

• They are part of the U.S. Federal government and not a privately-owned business.
• EPA testing standards include All Products used in our industry, not just a select few.  Additionally, the EPA testing standards are much more restrictive (safer) than Green Seal.

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BUSINESS PANDEMIC INFLUENZA PLANNING

 Overview

In the event of pandemic influenza, businesses will play a key role in protecting employees’ health and safety as well as limiting the negative impact to the economy and society. Planning for pandemic influenza is critical. To assist you in your efforts, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have developed the following checklist for large businesses. It identifies important, specific activities large businesses can do now to prepare, many of which will also help you in other emergencies. Further information can be found at www.pandemicflu.gov and www.cdc.gov/business.

QUICK ACTION GUIDE

• 1. Liberal leave policy to anyone exhibiting fever, cough and flu symptoms
• 2. Promote frequent hand washing or sanitizing after personal contact
• a. Carry personal hand sanitizer
• 3. Avoid touching nose, eyes and face with hands
• 4. Cough into arm vs hands
• 5. Consider applying protective residual disinfectant coating to all hard surfaces

CHECKLIST

1.1 Plan for the impact of a pandemic on your business:

• 1. Identify a pandemic coordinator and/or team with defined roles and responsibilities for preparedness and response planning. The planning process should include input from labor representatives.
• 2. Identify essential employees and other critical inputs (e.g. raw materials, suppliers, sub-contractor services/products, and logistics) required to maintain business operations by location and function during a pandemic.
• 3. Train and prepare ancillary workforce (e.g. contractors, employees in other job titles/descriptions, retirees).
• 4. Develop and plan for scenarios likely to result in an increase or decrease in demand for your products and/or services during a pandemic (e.g. effect of restriction on mass gatherings, need for hygiene supplies).
• 5. Determine potential impact of a pandemic on company business financials using multiple possible scenarios that affect different product lines and/or production sites.
• 6. Determine potential impact of a pandemic on business-related domestic and international travel (e.g. quarantines, border closures).
• 1. Find up-to-date, reliable pandemic information from community public health, emergency management, and other sources and make sustainable links.
• 2. Establish an emergency communications plan and revise periodically. This plan includes identification of key contacts (with back-ups), chain of communications (including suppliers and customers), and processes for tracking and communicating business and employee status.
• 3. Implement an exercise/drill to test your plan, and revise periodically.

1.2 Plan for the impact of a pandemic on your employees and customers:

• 1. Forecast and allow for employee absences during a pandemic due to factors such as personal illness, family member illness, community containment measures and quarantines, school and/or business closures, and public transportation closures.
• 2. Implement guidelines to modify the frequency and type of face-to-face contact (e.g. hand-shaking, seating in meetings, office layout, shared workstations) among employees and between employees and customers (refer to CDC recommendations).
• 3. Encourage and track annual influenza vaccination for employees.
• 4. Evaluate employee access to and availability of healthcare services during a pandemic, and improve services as needed.
• 5. Evaluate employee access to and availability of mental health and social services during a pandemic, including corporate, community, and faith-based resources, and improve services as needed.
• 6. Identify employees and key customers with special needs, and incorporate the requirements of such persons into your preparedness plan.

1.3 Establish policies to be implemented during a pandemic:

• 1. Establish policies for employee compensation and sick-leave absences unique to a pandemic (e.g. non-punitive, liberal leave), including policies on when a previously ill person is no longer infectious and can return to work after illness.
• 2. Establish policies for flexible worksite (e.g. telecommuting) and flexible work hours (e.g. staggered shifts).
• 3. Establish policies for preventing influenza spread at the worksite (e.g. promoting respiratory hygiene/cough etiquette, and prompt exclusion of people with influenza symptoms).
• 4. Establish policies for employees who have been exposed to pandemic influenza, are suspected to be ill, or become ill at the worksite (e.g. infection control response, immediate mandatory sick leave).
• 5. Establish policies for restricting travel to affected geographic areas (consider both domestic and international sites), evacuating employees working in or near an affected area when an outbreak begins, and guidance for employees returning from affected areas (refer to CDC travel recommendations).
• 6. Set up authorities, triggers, and procedures for activating and terminating the company’s response plan, altering business operations (e.g. shutting down operations in affected areas), and transferring business knowledge to key employees.

1.4 Allocate resources to protect your employees and customers during a pandemic:

• 1. Provide sufficient and accessible infection control supplies (e.g.hand-hygiene products, tissues and receptacles for their disposal) in all business locations.
• 2. Enhance communications and information technology infrastructures as needed to support employee telecommuting and remote customer access.
• 3. Ensure availability of medical consultation and advice for emergency response.

1.5 Communicate to and educate your employees:

• 1. Develop and disseminate programs and materials covering pandemic fundamentals (e.g. signs and symptoms of influenza, modes of transmission), personal and family protection and response strategies (e.g. hand hygiene, coughing/sneezing etiquette, contingency plans).
• 2. Anticipate employee fear and anxiety, rumors and misinformation and plan communications accordingly.
• 3. Ensure that communications are culturally and linguistically appropriate.
• 4. Disseminate information to employees about your pandemic preparedness and response plan.
• 5. Provide information for the at-home care of ill employees and family members.
• 6. Develop platforms (e.g. hotlines, dedicated websites) for communicating pandemic status and actions to employees, vendors, suppliers, and customers inside and outside the worksite in a consistent and timely way, including redundancies in the emergency contact system.
• 7. Identify community sources for timely and accurate pandemic information (domestic and international) and resources for obtaining counter-measures (e.g. vaccines and antivirals).

1.6 Coordinate with external organizations and help your community:

• 1. Collaborate with insurers, health plans, and major local healthcare facilities to share your pandemic plans and understand their capabilities and plans.
• 2. Collaborate with federal, state, and local public health agencies and/or emergency responders to participate in their planning processes, share your pandemic plans, and understand their capabilities and plans.
• 3. Communicate with local and/or state public health agencies and/or emergency responders about the assets and/or services your business could contribute to the community.
• 4. Share best practices with other businesses in your communities, chambers of commerce, and associations to improve community response efforts.

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