Darrel Hicks will be in Orlando the week of July 17-21, instructing an ISSA/CITS Certified EVS Technician and Leadership course to those who are looking to advance their knowledge, skills and proficiency. See the details here.
Here is a recent article written by Mr. Hicks and published in Facility Cleaning Decisions.
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) might make the job of cleaning and disinfecting much more difficult for those in the business of providing clean and sanitary public spaces. Managers in the know may have already read the report, but not all realize how it relates to a hospital, medical facility, ambulatory, or long-term care center.
Enviro Resources ll, Inc. hosted an on-site education class for 10 of their employees at their location in Naperville, IL. The class was instructed by Darrel Hicks, EVS Director for GCI. The class was held this Tuesday, where all 10 individuals earned, ISSA CITS verified certifications as Environmental Health Services Technicians.
ERI services a number of metropolitan Chicago’s leading healthcare providers and sought out this certification education from the Green Clean Institute to broaden the knowledge of their management staff. For more than 10 years, their mantra, ” Your Environment Handled with Care” has been driving their actions, and this proactive move is evidence of that fact. You can find them at: Enviro Recourses ll, Inc.
Darrel Hicks will be instructing his EVS Leadership course during a LIVE event in Orlando this summer at the A.C.E. Academy of Cleaning Excellence. Don’t miss this one-off chance to gain valuable knowledge, meet with others in Environmental Services and earn your ISSA/CITS certification. Follow this link to register and get an early discount on the session.
Bobby Zagers and I talked about producing this LIVE, Internet show and how many shows to have, back last October 2016 and now it’s April and the first three months of 2017 have been, well, both challenging and rewarding.
The production staff never really knew what they were getting thrown into, how to do what we wanted, or if there was time to get it done. However, they have DONE IT!
14 shows have been produced, some better than others, but all have been viewed by the public with great responses. How do I know that? This past Friday, an hour before going on the show, a client in the Orlando store stopped to tell me, “Your doing a good job on the show. I watch it every week. Keep up the good work.”
If you are one of those weekly watchers, THANK YOU. If you haven’t yet, go to BeyondCleanWithDave.com and catch up. Don’t miss the Gallery as there are pics of how we have changed the educational room/studio and all the things we do with the Academy of Cleaning Excellence.
My three words for not only my show, but everything we do at the Academy is HEALTHY, POSITIVE and PROACTIVE.
If your message fits, I would love to have you come on the show. Please contact me.
When a spill happens and the intercom rings for a cleanup, every custodian in the world grabs the same old tired, dirty, stinky, dust pan and broom along with the dirty bucket of water sitting in the corner and heads to the issue.
But wait, what is the purpose of this? How can you clean up a spill with old, outdated, dirty tools? Just what is going to be the outcome if you keep doing the same thing?
NO MORE. The task is to remove the materials and liquids from the floor and leave the area like it never even happened and to do it in the least amount of time. If you are the Technician doing the job, you also want to do it with the least amount of effort too.
Whether it is dry debris or wet matter on the floor, the new method is to grab a squeegee on a handle and pull the materials into a plastic liner. The liner is then dropped off the holder into a trash can, rinsed clean and ready for its next call to duty.
Take a bucketless microfiber mopping tool, drop the cleaning solution on the small amount of film left, mop it up and your done.
To see this healthy, positive and proactive process in action, take a look at this short video.
Want to learn more ‘Best Practices’ from the A.C.E. Academy of Cleaning Excellence, go the EDUCATION tab on our website and see when the next class you need, is scheduled.
Have you ever found a trigger sprayer that lasted the way you wanted, worked the way you wanted and was economical? So I say, ban the trigger sprayer and don’t use them. Why continue to waste money on something that doesn’t work?
Now, there are other reasons I say this and top on the list is that trigger sprayers take cleaning solutions and aerosolized them to a point that the Technician is then inhaling the toxicity of the product being used.
I realize that there might not be a great amount of exposures at a time, however, immediate exposures to toxic products over a long period of time, result in chronic issues for frontline staff members. In an industry which promotes, “Spray and Wipe”, I implore you to “Ban the Sprayer” and replace it with a FLIP TOP.
Oh, and if you are one of the operations who is continually purchasing triggers sprayers only to have them leak, fall apart or just plain quit working, the FLIP TOP will continue to work as long as the bottle it is put on. Why spend budget dollars on something which doesn’t work, wastes product and can harm health?
Here is a situation which happened to Darrel Hicks when he was managing an Environmental Services staff at a hospital where he put in 34 years as the head of the department.
My facility had a visit from an OSHA Inspector in June of 1998. In the course of the inspection, the OSHA inspector mentioned to me about spray-triggers creating an atomized mist of the disinfectant that was being inhaled into the lungs of my staff. He asked me, “Are you aware that it is an occupational hazard for housekeepers to be breathing disinfectants or other cleaning chemicals into their lungs?” I replied, “Yes, I have read about that happening but it is a rather small population of housekeepers that have developed chronic lung diseases.” That’s when he pointed to the “FREE FROM RECOGNIZED HAZARDS that are causing or likely to cause death or serious physical harm to his employees” in the General Duty Clause.
As I and my facility learned the hard way, the General Duty Clause states: “Each employer shall furnish to each of his employees employment and a place of employment which are free from recognized hazards that are causing or are likely to cause death or serious physical harm to his employees.” This particular OSHA Inspector interpreted this to include the use of disinfectants in particular when they are being sprayed.
During my ISSA Master Green Technician certification class last week, one of my students was so taken by this simple change that he wanted to make note of it on my weekly LIVE broadcast, Beyond Clean With Dave. Check out what Jason Moore has to say on the subject at the 4 minute mark of this broadcast.
While you or your operation may never see an OSHA inspector or have a fine levied against you, there are more reasons to BAN THE SPRAYER than to keep them. If you really want to send a message to your staff that management is concerned about their health, start by making this simple, economical and proactive change today.
Start making those changes; make them healthy, positive and proactive.
Remember my mantra, “I am a Janitor and I Save Lives”.
Have comment or want to be on my show, message me; [contact-form][contact-field label=’Name’ type=’name’ required=’1’/][contact-field label=’Email’ type=’email’ required=’1’/][contact-field label=’Website’ type=’url’/][contact-field label=’Comment’ type=’textarea’ required=’1’/][/contact-form]
These five individuals just graduated, January 20th, 2017 the ISSA Cleaning Industry Training Standards, Master Green Technician course, provided through GCI Certified and instructed at the A.C.E. Academy of Cleaning Excellence in downtown Orlando.
During five days of instruction, they earned certification in Customer Service, HAZMAT, Restroom, Carpet and Hard Floor Care, just to name a few.
Additionally, they started the process in how to build a sell sheet, how to create a WOW statement and found out the principals of workloading.
First Masters Class of 2017
Right to left, Jason, Pascale, Brigitte, Geovanny, Jon and Dave the Instructor
Pascale has this to say about the class.
After two years of being in the janitorial industry and with minimal training, finally I have found the background information to understand the importance of my business. Not only do I now know the changes I need to make for my company and how to be a safer place for employees, but in my personal life as well. I would recommend that any new employee, mid-level and/or executive level managers should take the valuable course, as it will open your eyes and mind to see how our industry impacts the life of others everyday.
Keep current on what is going on at the A.C.E. Academy of Cleaning Excellence by tuning in to Beyond Clean With Dave every Friday afternoon, 1 PM Eastern.
Today’s Floor Care Expert Class Location – Lakeland, FL.
What can save my operation 40% of the normal floor finish I use to maintain VCT floors?
What can help keep 90% of dry soil from my polished floor surfaces?
How much should I invest to make more profit on my floor care services?
Samuel Sr. and his son Sam, said that they invested in this day of education to learn how to make more money for the work they do. Sam said that he has not spent this much time sitting, not working and so happy to do so, that he will be coming to other A.C.E. Academy of Cleaning Excellence classes in 2017.
Both men walked out with their new certificates and smiles on their faces with answers to questions they didn’t even know they were going to ask.
What do you want to learn?
Come to a class and ask your questions. You can’t get an answer any other way.
January 24th is the date for our first Carpet Care class in the newly refurbished, A.C.E. Academy of Cleaning Excellence, inside the Orlando location of GEM Supply. Class starts at 9 am and runs till 4 pm.
Students need to bring their laptop or smart device to use during the class.
If you have any questions, just ask Dave via the form below. [contact-form][contact-field label=’Name’ type=’name’ required=’1’/][contact-field label=’Email’ type=’email’ required=’1’/][contact-field label=’Website’ type=’url’/][contact-field label=’Comment’ type=’textarea’ required=’1’/][/contact-form]
