Clean BC - Winter 2010
(click here for full magazine in Adobe pdf format).

ON THE COVER:  Just When You Thought it Was Safe to Go Back on the Seas
By NICOLE KENNY, Director of Technical Services, Virox Technologies Inc.
A couple of years ago, we were all abuzz about an article by Dr. Philip Carling (et al) on hospital cleaning and the evaluation of hospital cleaning methods. Having met Dr. Carling at one of the meetings and being impressed with the volume of work he has produced, I remember wondering aloud if he ever took a vacation. Apparently he can work and holiday at the same time.   Read more...

Canadian Green Sustainability Program

The Facts…
* The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that at any time, more than 1.4 million people worldwide are affected by infections acquired in hospitals.
* Cleaning, disinfection and sterilization saves lives and improves patient outcomes.   Read more.. .

Winning The Cleaning Contract
by Bill Garland, Senior Partner, Daniesl & Associates Inc.
Contract cleaning customers are looking for the best value they can get from their supplier and this does not always mean low price.  Success means giving the correct number of hours necessary, reasonable profit and overhead. Increasingly, we are seeing the quality of contractor presentations as being the deciding factor in selection once the contractor has made the short list.     Read more.. .

The Food Service Industry:
Facing New Challenges
By MATT DEL VECCHIO, Vice President Foodservice, Avmor Ltd.
As if foodservice operators did not already have enough challenges on their hands in this “germaphobic” world we live in, H1N1 and the green movement has quickly forced operators to step up their approach to cleaning and hand sanitizing. Below are some helpful hints and tools to help you compete more effectively in today’s marketplace and to successfully grow your business.   Read more...

Eight Strategies for Healthcare Environmental Management
By DR. MICHELLE ALFA, Medical Director, Microbiology Discipline, Diagnostic Services of Manitoba
Hospital-associated infections (HAIs) reportedly kill more people each year than the combined total death count from breast cancer, prostate cancer and AIDS. Patients suffering from HAIs occupy intensive care beds that are in increasingly short supply, and cost the healthcare systems in the United States and Canada many billions of dollars annually.   Read more..

Entrance Matting:
An indispensable ally
With the arrival of fall comes a whole arsenal of cleaning products and cleaning headaches. Equipped with an abundance of products, only one remains your ally in terms of prevention: the entrance mat.   Read more...

Catch Pest Intruders before they Catch You
A Pest Management Preparation Guide for the New Year
By BILL MELVILLE, Quality Assurance Director, Orkin PCO Services
Pests can easily hitchhike into your establishment on the shoes, clothes and even personal belongings of building patrons. Despite this fact, there are a few different pest management techniques you can employ to help discourage pests from making your facility their home. The question is – how will you prepare for pest management in 2010?   Read more...

Web-based Cleaning Management Systems
A survival tool for in-house cleaning services
These are tough times for public sector facility operators as school districts, recreation facilities, colleges are receiving less funding while expectations remain that service delivery will not decline. I’ve lived through several of these difficult periods and some things seem to come up every time, the most common one being “contractors clean for less, why can’t you?”   Read more...

What is Dirt…or is it Soil?
By Chris Ryan, Engineer and Project Manager, HydroMaster
Since we are always working on ways to remove it, it might be a good idea for carpet cleaning technicians to have a better understanding of what dirt—or soil—really is.  
Attempting to explain the difference between dirt and soil, a teacher once told me: “dirt is what you track in on your mother’s floor…soil is what plants grow in.”
Even scientists would probably agree with this statement.  Soil is what plants grow in and it is typically made up of minerals and nutrients derived from rocks, decaying plants, animals, and other living materials.   Read more...