Clean The Prairies - April 2008
(click here for full magazine in Adobe pdf format)

ON THE COVER:  Importance Of The Environment In MRSA Acquisitions The Case For Hospital Cleaning
By Stephanie J. Dancer, Director, Department of Microbiology, Southern General Hospital, Glasgow (Editor, Journal of Hospital Infection)
There is much concern over the state of hygiene in hospitals. The general public seem to associate visibly dirty wards with increasing rates of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) acquisition, but historically there has been little evidence that the environment is important in endemic hospital-acquired infection. This premise has been challenged since the increase in MRSA in hospitals in the past decade. Because a clean environment is usually taken for granted, it is not surprising that there is little evidence to show that cleanliness could be an important control factor in the spread of MRSA. Furthermore, the measurement of how clean a hospital is other than by visual assessment, which is both subjective and inaccurate, is difficult because such an assessment does not necessarily correlate with microbiological risk.    Read more...

Hand Washing 101
By Paul Goldin, Director of Marketing and Customer Satisfaction, Avmor
It’s in your hands. Take into account the many things you do in a day including blowing your nose, playing with the dog, talking on the telephone, typing on the computer or touching the doorknob -  that brings your hands into contact with germs.   Read more...

Sometimes the Solution Is Not The Solution
Maybe it’s time not to use Green cleaning chemicals.
I’m sure this sounds strange coming from someone who has been advocating the use of environmentally preferable cleaning products for more than a decade, and who is also the vice president of one of the leading Green certification organizations in the world. But there might be times when the most environmentally responsible solution to a cleaning challenge is no cleaning solution at all – Green or otherwise.   Read more...

Industry Remembers Pierre Dumas
This past January Atlas Graham and the sanitation industry said good-bye to a great friend and colleague – Mr. Pierre Dumas.   Read more...

Cleaning Operating At The Speed Of Technology
The cleaning industry is seeing changes occurring at a faster pace due to technology, which is resulting in significant new advances every year. About three years ago I wrote that the previous five years had seen more changes than had occurred since cleaning began. Now we are seeing them every year.   Read more...

Papa’s Got A Brand New Bag
Just like yogi Berra said, “It’s déjà vu all over again.” Well-meaning environmental groups are condemning the plastic bag just as they did 20 years ago but a new development in plastic bag technology looks like a real solution to the old arguments.   Read more...

Dustbane Products Ltd.
100 Years of Success
For 100 years, Dustbane Products Limited has proven itself to be a leader in the sanitation supply industry by dedicating itself to simplifying the cleaning process. As a market-driven Canadian manufacturer, the company’s goal is to provide superior customized maintenance programs complemented by the appropriate products, training and services.  Read more....