“Germ Phobia” Means Workers Avoid Touching Restroom Fixtures
How far will workers go to avoid coming into contact with germs in their office restrooms? According to a recent survey, only 36 percent of respondents report that washing their hands well before leaving the restroom was the action they were most likely to take to avoid germs in public restrooms.

A much larger group, 61 percent, chose “avoidance strategies.” These include using towels to touch faucets and door handles (15 percent); avoiding public restrooms altogether (14 percent); touching as few things as possible (12 percent); using a seat cover or toilet paper to cover the seat (10 percent); flushing the toilet with their foot (8 percent) and using elbows or wrists to dispense paper towels or soap (2 percent).

The survey further reveals 86 percent of respondents feel better about a restroom if it has “touchless” fixtures.

In addition to hands-free fixtures, antibacterial soap, waterless hand sanitizers and hand-washing campaigns also were cited as ways to keep office workers healthy.

The telephone survey was conducted by Opinion Research Corp., on behalf of Kimberly-Clark Professional, Roswell, Ga. It has a margin of error of plus or minus three points.

SARS Contained, Reports World Health Organization
Severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), a coronavirus that sickened thousands, killed hundreds and panicked many more worldwide, has been contained, reports the World Health Organization (WHO).

In early July, WHO removed Taiwan, from its list of areas of concern and announced that there were no other areas with recent local disease transmission. Singapore, Hong Kong, Toronto and parts of mainland China also were on the WHO alert list at various times. In response to worries about the disease, the Canadian Sanitation Supply Association rescheduled its Can Clean 2003 show, and many building service contractors in affected areas saw business increase, as customers rushed to disinfect their properties.

However, WHO warns that although the SARS transmission chain seems to have been broken, there still are approximately 200 people still hospitalized with the disease, and there may be pockets of undetected cases.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control recommend frequent hand washing or the use of a waterless hand sanitizer as the most important defense against SARS and other illnesses.

Mergers & Other Moves

• Victor Tovar, general manager of custodial services at the University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, as been named winner of the Spirit of Sodexho Award. Custodial services at the University are contracted out to Sodexho Alliance.

Tovar was honored for his leadership in the Technical Achievement category. As head of UNM’s custodial division, Tovar led process changes, using the OS(1) system, that resulted in an 80 percent improvement in safety for custodial operations, as well as a 75 percent reduction in chemical usage and a labor savings of $470,000 in three years, while increasing custodial productivity.

• Rochester Midland Corp., Rochester, N.Y., was recently recognized as a winner of the 2003 White House Closing the Circle (CTC) Award for the category of “Environmentally Preferability — Civilian.” Rochester Midland is one of ten organizations that comprise the Green Cleaning Partnership as directed by the Committee for Purchase from People Who are Blind or Severely Disabled.

• The von Drehle Corp., Hickory, N.C., a manufacturer of bulk paper products, recently completed the purchase of a Miami-based paper manufacturing plant that was formerly operated by American Paper Recycling. The company announced that it will use the plant to produce centerpull toweling.

• Coverall Cleaning Concepts, a national commercial-cleaning franchiser, announced that the company was chosen to service all of the cleaning needs for the Bad Boys II movie set in Delray Beach, FL. The Columbia Pictures movie, starring Martin Lawrence and Will Smith, premieres on July 18, 2003.

• HEPATECH Cleanroom Services, a unit of General Building Maintenance, Atlanta, recently was awarded a Supplier Excellence Award from Texas Instruments (TI). HEPATECH was one of 29 companies presented with the award, out of 31,000 TI suppliers worldwide.

• The Commonwealth of Massachusetts has begun purchasing environmentally preferable cleaning supplies for schools and other government buildings. This is part of a new contract issued by Gov. Mitt Romney’s purchasing department, using criteria from a group of government purchasers, organized by the Center for a New American Dream and funded in part by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

• Weiler Corp., Cresco, Pa., a manufacturer of brooms and brushes, has been awarded ISO 9001:2000 quality certification by Underwriters Laboratories, an accredited ISO registrar.

Workplace Violence Warning Signs
On July 8, a worker at a Lockheed Martin plant in Mississippi opened fire, killing five people and wounding several others before taking his own life. Such violence is relatively rare, but building service contractors should know the warning signs that an employee’s anger might spiral out of control. The Federal Aviation Administration offers a fact sheet for its employees that outlines characteristics and risk factors for workplace violence that may be helpful for BSCs.

General characteristics of someone who might turn violent include a history of violence towards women, children, or animals; self-esteem that is highly connected to the job; few interests outside of work; withdrawal and isolation; a history of alcohol or drug abuse; a history of mental health issues; or a fascination with violence or weapons.

In addition to these characteristics, there are other, more immediate “red flags” for violent behavior. These range from a sudden change in disposition or work habits and blaming others for failures or disappointment to intimidating or threatening co-workers, exhibiting destructive behavior or carrying a concealed weapon.

To Spy Or Not To Spy?
You’re cleaning the office of a CEO, and you see some personal documents on the desk or in the trash. Can you look at them? From an ethical standpoint, the answer is probably no.

“You’re selling privacy, and these documents aren’t in the public domain, even in the trash,” says Lori Tansey Martens, president of the International Business Ethics Institute in Washington.

The same is true with just about anything you witness at a client site — BSCs have an ethical (and often contractual) obligation for confidentiality. So if you witness that CEO having an affair, it’s none of your business. Your obligation, she says, is to your company and its policies.

“Even if the CEO is having an affair with the wife of your best friend, it’s not something you should be disclosing,” she says.

She realizes not everyone would be comfortable keeping that type of secret, but if you feel your loyalty to your friend is greater than to your company, the only truly ethical thing to do would be to quit your job, then tell your friend. This may be unrealistic for employees and owners alike, so a gut-check may be in order.

However, if you witness sexual harassment or a safety problem, you may have a legal obligation to come forward and break the confidentiality agreement; state and federal laws generally trump company policies.




POSTED ON: 7/1/2003