Clean Atlantic.  April 2007
(click here for full magazine in Adobe pdf format).

ON THE COVER: Personal Hygiene and Food Workers
By Christian Desroches, Deb Canada
The intention of food safety is to prevent food poisoning, the transmission of disease through food, and to maintain the wholesomeness of the food product through all stages of processing. In the private home where food is prepared for a small number of people, the results of food contamination are limited. However, contamination in a restaurant or institutional kitchen can result in a large number of people being affected.  Read more...

Wash Your Hands
We assume everyone knows how to wash their hands, but many workers don’t realize how important hand washing and skin care can be in the prevention of disease. Proper skin care and hand protection help keep workers productive and on the job.
The best defense against the spread of illness or skin ailments is to prevent them where possible by washing hands often. Irritating contaminants should be avoided if possible; the second line of defense is gloves; and barrier creams the third. If gloves are worn, clean or replace them frequently to make sure they don’t collect or absorb irritants. Check gloves often for wear, cuts or pinholes. Be sure the gloves you choose are the proper type and material to protect against the specific chemical or situation you’ll encounter. The use of Protective Skin Creams either under gloves or alone will provide a protective environment to the skin. Protective Creams help prevent harmful irritants from penetrating the skin and entering the blood stream. Also, they help prevent soilings from adhering to the skin, allowing for quicker wash-up and more effective soil removal.  Read more...

Atlantic Chapter News
By Bruce Rathbun, CSSA Atlantic Canada Chapter Chairman
EDUCATION - The focus for 2007
The Atlantic Chapter of the Canadian Sanitation Supply Association (CSSA) sponsored two seminars on Pandemic Preparedness in April. Held at the Ramada Plaza Hotel in Moncton, NB on Apr. 17, Greg Forestell, manager of Community Development, Canadian Red Cross, New Brunswick region, was the guest speaker. On Apr. 19, Dr. Todd Hatchette, director of Virology and Immunology, Queen Elizabeth II Health Science Centre, gave a presentation at the University of Kings College in Halifax. This session had over 65 registrants representing a broad spectrum of industry sectors including healthcare and long-term care facilities; transportation and education, building service contractors, plus manufacturers, distributors and sales representatives from the sanitary supply industry.  Read more...

A Test to Learn From
Teachers tell us when we are kids that the purpose of a test is not to measure how much we know – or don’t know – but rather to help us learn. Although some of us may have disagreed, the goal of testing is indeed to improve and expand our knowledge regarding various subjects. With this in mind, I would like to invite our readers to take a few minutes and complete the following Green cleaning quiz. And, as with all tests, it is not to determine what you know or don’t know, but rather to help you become better educated and aware of the number one trend in the cleaning industry today: the use of environmentally preferable cleaning products and systems. And, to further enhance the quiz’s education, the correct answers are shown with a brief explanation of each.  Read more...

 

Purchasing Environmentally Friendly Paper Products
Environmental matters are now a major concern in the jansan industry. More and more customers are seeking “green” products that remain price competitive and highly efficient. Finding “green” paper products might seem to be an easy task. In the pulp and paper industry there are many competing environmental certifications that focus on different criteria but not competing standards. First party claims, where a company certifies itself as green; and contentious certifications following fibre content are only to be avoided. In fact, most certifications set very low minimum requirements that are not adequate for today’s standards. Read more...

Quality Audits: The Tool of the Future
Although inspection programs have been around for years and are the report card for a housekeeping program’s performance, we are now seeing increasing importance being placed on quality audits and how they are performed. In addition, we are seeing an increasing demand in our business for quality audits as an independent third party. The cost of a third party is lower than in-house inspectors plus the auditing firm is not subject to the same pressures from the cleaning contractor and their own peers within the premises. Read more...

Risky Business
Risk management is a term heard widely in health care today. When I ask housekeeping managers how they manage Risk Management issues within the housekeeping department, I often hear that it is an issue dealt with by different departments in the organization. The fact is that, just like Occupational Health and Safety, Risk Management must be a daily concern of every housekeeping manager. Most organizations have policies in place dealing with risk and many have implemented Risk Management Committees. Read more...

Cascades - Green Before Green Was Trendy
Long before Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) was a buzzword, Cascades was operating in an environmentally, socially and economically sustainable manner. In fact, the company was built on a strong respect for the land, the people and the communities where it conducts business. And, the solid values that the company has espoused 42 years ago still hold true today. Everyday the company strives to be fair employers, good corporate citizens and ethical business people, respectful of the environment. Read more...

Avrum Morrow Named To Order of Canada
Avrum (Avi) Morrow, philanthropist and founder of Avmor Ltd., has made history. He is the first person from the janitorial industry to be named to the Order of Canada. This distinction, the highest honour for a civilian in Canada, is a tribute to Morrow’s achievement in business and his lifetime of dedication to the community. Read more...

Fresh Beginnings at Atlas Graham
Atlas Graham is embarking on a journey of transformation to sustain and grow competencies for an even more successful future.
Since 1941, Atlas Graham has held a leadership position in the Canadian professional cleaning industry. Over one year ago, James Graham took the helm of the company representing the third generation of family ownership. Atlas Graham is a leading Canadian manufacturer and distributor of manual cleaning solutions. Headquartered in Winnipeg, Man., the company serves the building maintenance, healthcare, food processing, food service and retail segments of the Canadian market.  Read more...