Tag Archive for: Cleaning
Improve Restroom Cleaning Productivity
Article written for Facility Cleaning Solutions by Ben Walker, ManageMen, Inc.
To improve productivity, set up pantries near or in the restroom, which can be used to safely store consumables. This greatly reduces the amount of paper that workers have to keep on their carts, and minimizes time spent traveling back and forth to restock….
CLICK HERE to read full article.
Read all about it: The Cleaning Gazette – November 2013 Issue now available
Click on the link below to read the November 2013 issue of The Cleaning Gazette. The Cleaning Gazette is the official publication of the Cleaning Industry Trainer’s Guild.
Simon Institute joins ANSI, initiates SDO process
The education facilities industry is on track to manage about one-third of the total cost of ownership of its facilities with the entry of one of its major supplier advocates into the American national standards process. The Simon Institute (SI) — the non-profit choice for the custodial, janitorial and housekeeping
industry in the US — recently became a member of the American National Standards Institute during World Standards Week in Washington D.C. October 22-23, 2013.
World Standards Week is an annual gathering of US standards developers from all business sectors of the US economy to develop policy and strategy for adapting to the changing world economies by hastening innovation through technical standards development. From this process a national standard for custodial services in
the education industry will emerge from a consensus process that will make a leading practice document suitable for adoption into public law. The word “consensus” is important since it represents a common viewpoint of those parties concerned with its provisions, namely producers, users, consumers and general interest groups
On November 1st SI initiated the process to become a registered standards developing organization (SDO). SDO’s provide the following benefits for any industry, in any country:
- SDOs provide a forum for collective decision-making and an alternative to standardization through market competition or government regulation.
- SDOs identify promising solutions and play an important role in promoting their adoption and diffusion.
- SDOs support lower prices offered by producers who are able to realize economies of scale in a global market.
- SDOs provide the technical means by which political trade agreements are put in place when divergent national or regional standards create technical barriers to trade.
- SDO’s level the playing field for building industry suppliers and service providers so that resources are available from multiple sources.
- SDO’s provide public safety benchmarks for front line enforcement authorities.
The entry of the Simon Institute into the ANSI process follows the trajectory of a 16-year University of Michigan-led national strategy to manage infrastructure costs of the $300 billion US education facilities industry through the American national standards process. Of this $300 billion — which includes large university-affiliated hospitals — about $75 billion is spent on cleaning — 90 percent of that cost; labor.
The objective of this is to put in place a permanent and enduring structure for continual leading practice development that will net TCO by $3 billion to $6 billion per year in an environment of rising risk,
complexity and regulatory conformity cost. In the long run, this process always results in more effective use of money, management of worker risk, and a hygienically safer built environment.
There is a subtle reciprocity between innovation and standardization. Standards stimulate the innovation of products, services and systems just as innovation drives the need for standardization. In some cases, a standard fosters innovation by establishing a baseline for design and performance that will satisfy user requirements.
The Simon Institute is the continuation of an organization founded in 2002 by The Boeing Company to identify, benchmark and incorporate best practices in facility custodial operations. The driving force of the original meeting was The Boeing Company’s initiative to qualify for the Malcolm Baldrige Quality Award. Several world class organizations, all users of ManageMen’s Operating System One (OS1), were invited to meet with Boeing at the largest building in the world, the Everett Washington Boeing plant, to share or debate best practices in janitorial operations. At the conclusion of the symposium the group decided to continue meeting annually in a joint project to develop improved industry standards.
A well-conceived standard provides flexibility that suppliers or manufacturers can vary features, function, or price to establish their own niche in the marketplace. These variances can help to elevate user expectations of a product or service, thus raising the bar for future editions of the applicable standard. In other markets and technologies, innovation comes first. A single set of performance or design criteria are agreed upon and serve as the baseline for ongoing improvements.
A standard becomes the physical documentation of an agreed-upon solution that has already been time-tested and proven.
The next steps are as follows:
1. Public announcement of Simon Institute ANSI membership (this announcement)
2. Development of By-Laws and Consensus procedure
3. Establish technical committees
4. Write the standard
5. Release for first public review
6. Revise in response to public comments and re-post for 2nd public review
7. Revise in response to public comments in 2nd public review
8. Formally adopt the standard and announce its release in the ANSI Standards Action publication that is made available weekly to the public.
9. Promote adoption and support with conformity and accreditation programs.
Depending upon the process preferred by the Simon Institute, the foregoing process may be modified.
The most surprising standard of all may not ever be written but may always lie in the public eye. Our industry is engaged in policy initiatives that require us to confront the cost of value-delivery that is very expensive relative to available resources. All levels of government are under pressure to use intergovernmental collaboration to spread the cost of managing educational facilities across wider tax bases; capitalizing economies of scale or economies of skill inherent in some services. Our industry must hasten its effort to write its own rules, or we will have them written for us.
2013 Symposium Location Announced
[linkedin_share style=”none” float=”left”]
[fblike style=”standard” float=”left” showfaces=”false” width=”450″ verb=”recommend” font=”arial”]
[twitter style=”horizontal” float=”left”]
The Simon Institute is pleased to announce that the location has been set for the 2013 Simon Institute Symposium. The Symposium will take place in historic Dearborn, Michigan. Dearborn is home to historic spots like the Henry Ford Museum and the nearby Rouge River Auto Plant. The Simon Institute felt that this would be the perfect site to pay homage to standardized processes and improving benchmarks. Representatives from the University of Michigan and Michigan State University have graciously agreed to assist the Simon Institute in hosting this event in their home state.
The Simon Institute Symposium will take place July 15-17, 2013. Registration is now open and can be completed by clicking here. Special rateds are available for lodging at The Dearborn Inn. Be sure to mention that you will be attending the Simon Institute Symposium to secure special rates. For more details about this event, please visit www.simoninstitute.org
University of Michigan Saves $2.1 Million Per Year and Improves Cleaning
[linkedin_share style=”none” float=”left”]
[fbshare type=”button” float=”left”]
[twitter style=”horizontal” float=”left”]
Submitted by ProTeam
CGN Editorial
The ProTeam Super CoachVac was featured in a series of posters at University of Michigan to educate the community about the elements of the new cleaning program.
In 2009, the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor started a five year rollout of a comprehensive, high-performance cleaning management system, ManageMen‘s Operating System 1®, (OS1). John Lawter, Associate Director of Plant Building and Ground Services, chose (OS1) to improve productivity in light of ongoing budget cuts.
“We knew we were facing multiple years of reductions so we offered up 10% over 5 years with an understanding we would have a couple of years reprieve to protect our new program.” said Lawter. And since implementing (OS1), “We have met that 10 percent goal of $2.1 million and managed to improve services at the same time.”
With 200 facilities to clean covering a total of 15 million sq. ft., Lawter’s staff has gone from cleaning 36,000 sq. ft. per custodian to 40,000 sq. ft. per custodian, while improving the health of the environment. One of the biggest tenets of (OS1) is to clean for health first, then appearance. It was this and the simplified workflow that appealed to Lawter who wanted more consistency and fewer products.
“(OS1) was the only operating system we could find that was comprehensive and had been tested in a University setting for better than 10 years,” said Lawter. “We visited those programs as part of our due diligence and were impressed.”
In (OS1), custodians specialize in specific tasks, and they do all tasks of a single function at one time. This reduces wasted time switching tools and backtracking. Vacuum specialists may vacuum for an entire shift using a backpack vacuum designed by ProTeam® to reduce strain to the user.
“Dr. Berry’s study at the University of North Carolina showed us that, used properly, the backpack vacuum was a more ergonomic and effective product than an upright,” said Lawter.
Lawter swapped a ramshackle collection of uprights of different ages and models for ProTeam’s 11-pound Super CoachVac®.
“There’s no beater bar to throw dust around,” said Lawter. “It reduces the amount of dust particles in the air.” Two of Lawter’s staff who suffered from allergies reported their symptoms noticeably improving after switching to the backpack vacuum. ProTeam is partnered with the American Lung Association in efforts to educate the public about the importance of healthy indoor air.
Prior to implementing (OS1), the biggest problem Lawter faced was inconsistent performance, a symptom of the zone cleaning system they were using previously.
“No two custodians clean exactly alike,” said Lawter. “So, when one custodian is responsible for everything in an area, there will naturally be differences in the level of service. Our customers noticed those inconsistencies.”
According to Jeffrey L. Campbell, Ph.D., Chair of the BYU Facility Management program, Most custodial operations: “1) have no quantifiable standards; 2) are based solely on appearance; 3) have little or no method of measuring effectiveness and performance; 4) are not based on actual research; and 5) are driven by chemical and equipment manufacturers.”
Campbell recorded the story of the University of Michigan’s cleaning success along with the University of North Carolina and two other universities that implemented (OS1) in the article “Cutting Costs and Improving Outcomes for Janitorial Services” which appeared in the September/October 2011 issue of Facilities Manager and was reprinted in the Cleaning Gazette Newsletter the following May.
“In an industry that has been around as long as public buildings themselves, janitorial methods have seen little progress. As a matter of fact, most janitors today use the same tools and processes that were used 50 years ago,” said Campbell.
In addition to the timesaving backpack vacuums, (OS1) reduced Lawter’s chemical inventory from 50 products to less than 10. Individual use portion packs ensure that custodians get what they need and only what they need to clean every day. For Lawter, this hugely simplified the process.
“We used to have a committee of 30 people that would meet once a month and review the latest and greatest new products that came down the line,” said Lawter. “It was very inefficient, time-consuming, expensive, and led to a proliferation of products out there being tested by our workforce. ManageMen has a research and development arm for (OS1) users that does that, so I don’t directly deal with salesman. I love that.”
John Walker, President of ManageMen and progenitor of (OS1), explains how the echo chamber of product claims in the cleaning industry is rarely substantiated by science. “Everyone sells productivity tools. People buy them to save money and time, but they never document that they did it,” said Walker. “The University of Michigan’s janitorial department is a pioneer in documenting over $2 million in savings. They gave it back to the university.”
As reported in the Cleaning Gazette Newsletter last July, Sightlines, a prominent facility management assistance firm, did a thorough evaluation of the University of Michigan in the fall of 2010. They compared the data to a database of 300 institutions of higher learning and a group of 10 peer universities chosen by the administration.
This survey was taken in the midst of the (OS1) rollout at the university. The custodial department had not yet reached the 80-percent audit they hoped for. They were still rated as the number one organization in cleanliness evaluations. The study also showed high production rates and low cost of materials in comparison to their peers and the greater database.
“They got to a 2.5 cleaning level on a 3.5 APPA budget,” said Walker. “And in the Sightlines study, they beat virtually everyone in the country and in their peer group after adopting (OS1). There has never been a collection of data like this.”
In their most recent (OS1) audit last month, the University of Michigan surpassed their goal of an 80 percent audit, reaching 83 and 87 percent. According to Walker, it is the work of people like Lawter and his staff in documenting the effectiveness of (OS1) that will someday take the cleaning industry by storm. When cleaning is standardized, workflows are simplified, and productive tools are utilized, unbelievable savings are possible. “You can reduce costs and improve results with this documented system,” said Walker.
Our ‘Beyond Compliance’ Program Keeps KBM Facility Solutions Employees Safe
[linkedin_share style=”right” float=”left”]
[fbshare type=”icon_link” float=”left”]
[twitter style=”horizontal” float=”left”]
by Nick Pangaro, KBM Facility Solutions
Every employer has a duty to their employees to have them return home in the same condition as to which they reported to work. OSHA laws have been created to help companies do just that. Requirements of OSHA include companies having a written program, a document describing who is responsible for training employees on MSDS, documenting and tracking chemical inventory, having the MSDS available for employees to review in less than 10 minutes and an employee’s Right To Know Training.
KBM’s use of ManageMen’s (OS1)® cleaning process and its MSDS “Beyond Compliance” segment does just what is says; it goes beyond compliance and OSHA’s requirements. We start off with a Safety Yellow mounted wall box with binder. There is no mistaking where our MSDS materials and information are kept. Within the Binder can be found those items required by the OSHA standard, KBM’s written program, Employee’s Right To Know, MSDS, an inventory of hazardous chemicals and documents who is responsible for training.
We go beyond compliance with the additional items contained within the Beyond Compliance Binder. Items include:
- A seven step introduction guiding the use of the binder and its contents.
- A summary of the OSHA standard.
- The MSDS are color coded to match the corresponding chemical and secondary use bottle. The daily use chemicals also have had the MSDS reformatted for an ease of use/read.
- A glossary of terms found in MSDS is included in the binder.
- We use silk screened secondary use bottles to avoid any labeling issues and the print color corresponds with the color of the chemical.
- A ‘verification of training’ recognition pin and ID card is rewarded to each employee having successfully completed the MSDS program.
- MSDS are all alphabetically organized within the binder.
- Training log indicating employees having successfully completed the ManageMen (OS1) Beyond Compliance training.
The ‘Beyond Compliance’ Program helps ensure that KBM goes beyond being compliant, it highlights our commitment to PEOPLE ensuring our employees are safe. The program also allows us to provide our customers ease of mind when performing internal audits, safety inspections or an OSHA audit as they are current and immediately available for review.
[box type=”note” style=”rounded” border=”full”]
MSDS to SDS
Change is coming; a decision to modify the HCS (Hazard Communication Standard) to align with the GHS (Globally Harmonized System of Classification and Labeling of Chemicals) has been adopted by OSHA to improve safety and health of workers through more effective communications on chemical hazards.
Employers will be required to have employees trained on the new label elements and safety data sheet (SDS) format by December 1, 2013. For more information and phase in dates go to:
http://www.osha.gov/dsg/hazcom/hazcom-faq.html
[/box]
‘Science As It Relates to (OS1)’ by Dr. Michael Berry
[fbshare type=”button”]
[linkedin_share style=”none”]
[twitter style=”horizontal” float=”left”]
Dr. Berry delivering his presentation at the 2006 (OS1) Users Symposium in Midway, UT.
Over years of professional practice, teaching and scientific research Dr. Michael Berry is a true pioneer in identifying the foundational principles of what cleaning really means. His book, Protecting the Built Environment: Cleaning for Health, was ahead its time. Unfortunately those in the industry that should have taken hold of Berry’s principles have continued business-as-usual.
Most cleaners and janitorial operations are still cleaning the way they did 80 years ago. They are driven by equipment manufacturers and chemical companies that dictate the direction of the industry. There is no evidence based research. There is no common language or standards. The only focus of cleaning is appearance based with no thought about contaminants and indoor environmental problems.
Below is a link to the complete transcript of the presentation that was delivered by Michael Berry, PhD, at the 2006 Simon Institute Symposium. In this presentation, Berry discusses the value of cleaning science; the effect of sick and mismanaged buildings; remediating the Frank Porter Graham building with a deep cleaning protocol and the findings from his 2006 publicly funded study of traditional housekeeping vs. the (OS1) cleaning process. That study evaluated traditional housekeeping methods vs. a high performance cleaning program over the span of three months at The University of North Carolina. It is also important to note that Berry also discusses key components of a high performance cleaning program in this presentation.