SDA, CDC Team Up To Promote Hand Hygiene In Schools
One-third of parents with school-age children are sending personal hygiene products such as tissue, hand sanitizers and wipes with their kids to school, and one in five parents believe their children’s school lacks proper hygiene and sanitation supplies. Those are the results of the latest National Cleaning Survey released by The Soap and Detergent Association (SDA).

“Parents and caregivers are taking a more proactive role in helping their children stay healthy — by sending along products like sanitizers, gels and wipes in their kids’ backpacks,” said Nancy Bock, SDA vice president of education. “Today’s new, waterless products make it easy and convenient for students to have clean hands at school, anywhere, anytime.”

In order to provide educators with better hygiene education tools, SDA and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have created a hand-hygiene program for middle schools across the country. The program is called “Healthy Schools, Healthy People, It’s a SNAP!” SNAP — the School Network for Absenteeism Prevention — is a hands-on initiative for middle schools that is designed to help keep students in school and learning by improving overall health through promoting clean hands.

A SNAP toolkit includes handwashing facts and tips on integrating hand hygiene into the curriculum across disciplines from science to art. Building service contractors who work in educational facilities (see related story, p.18) can use the report for tips on how to make restrooms more hygiene-friendly; they also can offer SNAP guidance as a value-added service.


Former NSS CEO Dies
John F. Bevington, former president and CEO of National Super Service (now NSS Enterprises Inc.) in Toledo, Ohio, passed away on June 29, 2004, in Toledo, Ohio. Bevington, 79, retired in 1999 from the company that his father co-founded to manufacture and sell floor-cleaning equipment. Upon Bevington’s retirement, his son, Mark acquired the business.

Throughout his career, Bevington was an active leader in the Jan/San industry. He served on the board of the International Sanitary Supply Association (ISSA) from 1970-1972. He also served on the board of the ISSA Foundation from 1995-1999. Additionally, Bevington was a founding member of the American Association of Cleaning Equipment Manufacturers, and was a board member from 1997-1999.


Letter to the Editor
I just opened the July Contracting Profits magazine. I read with interest your editorial on illegal subcontracting. It is a problem in this industry, but please don’t tell people to go to the authorities quite so fast.

No, I am not trying to buy time for companies that operate in a gray area or outright illegally. I am trying not to give ideas to those companies. I was a victim recently of a situation that mirrored your recommendation but was opposite. I had a disgruntled competitor (one I beat out on a bid) call the INS as well as some customers of mine and tell them that I hired illegal workers.

I have proper documentation on all of my employees, but this does not do a lot of good when the authorities are coming to your locations to do surprise raids or when they call your clients direct and ask questions. I lost one account because the client didn’t want to deal with the headache.

So please, tell people to be vigilant, but also we need to spend more time educating the end user as well. If they don’t care it doesn’t matter. Some people would rather go cheap and take their chances.

Brad Klein, President
Building Professionals of Texas
Houston


Youngstown Window Cleaning, in Youngstown, Ohio, celebrates its 100th anniversary this month. This business is now in its fourth generation of family ownership. Owner Steven Altman credits a relentless commitment to customer service for his company’s longevity.

“It’s a cliché that the customer is always right, but if we get a complaint, within reason, we don’t charge for that night’s service,” he explains. “Customers are hard to get and harder to retain — we need to make sure our janitors know what the expectations are, and that we charge enough to be able to provide that level of service.”




POSTED ON: 8/1/2004