Updates from the Leading Association for the Cleaning Industry Worldwide

OSHA Study Highlights Safety & Health Benefits

The U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has released a new case study that shows how Ritrama, a Minneapolis, MN-based manufacturer, experienced lower workers’ compensation premiums and higher productivity and quality after implementing a comprehensive safety and health program.

“Ritrama’s success is a good example of what can happen when management and employees dedicate themselves to workplace safety and health,” said Assistant Secretary of Labor for OSHA Edwin G. Foulke Jr. “While the benefits from Ritrama’s new safety and health program have occurred throughout the company, the company has reduced their workers’ compensation premiums by $44,000, increased sales by 7.5 percent, and reduced the costs of manufacturing defects and waste by more than $2 million.”

In an effort to significantly improve the safety and health performance at the company’s manufacturing plant in Minneapolis, Ritrama designed and implemented a program to educate employees, managers and supervisors about safe work practices and procedures. The case study, Ritrama Invests in Safety and Improves its Bottom Line, details the firm’s efforts to protect employee safety and health while also benefiting from higher productivity and greater profits.

Under the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970, employers are responsible for providing a safe and healthful workplace for their employees. OSHA’s role is to assure the safety and health of America’s working men and women by setting and enforcing standards; providing training, outreach and education; establishing partnerships; and encouraging continual process improvement in workplace safety and health.

Nine cleaning organizations, both in-house and contracted, have recently undergone comprehensive ISSA Cleaning Industry Management Standard (CIMS) assessments and have officially certified to CIMS. The newly certified organizations, which are part of the CIMS Certification Case Study Program underway through October 2007, include Bee-Clean Building Maintenance, Canada; Omni Facility Services, Southfield, MI; Portland Habilitation Center, Portland, OR; Scarlet and Gray Cleaning Service, Cincinnati, OH; ServiceForce USA, LLC, Dulles, VA; UNICCO, Newton, MA; University of Guelph Environmental Services Department, Guelph, ON, Canada; University of Michigan Campus Plant Building and Grounds Services Department, Ann Arbor, MI; and Varsity Contractors, Pocatello, ID.

“The nine organizations that have undergone assessments and officially become CIMS certified have demonstrated a true commitment to the delivery of quality service and meeting customer expectations,” said ISSA Director of CIMS Dan Wagner. “They are to be commended for having met the challenge of developing and implementing a management structure that promotes and advances operational excellence.”

CIMS applies to the management, operations, and performance systems of cleaning organizations. Compliance with the Standard demonstrates that a cleaning operation is structured to deliver consistent, quality services designed to meet customers’ needs and expectations. Given the assurance that working with a CIMS-compliant organization provides, many facility managers and purchasing professionals have indicated plans to require CIMS certification in their bidding specifications.

All nine certified organizations were required to provide thorough documentation demonstrating compliance with the five core sections of CIMS (quality systems; service delivery; human resources; health, safety, and environmental stewardship; and management commitment) as well as undergo an assessment of management and operational follow-through. After documentation and on-site evaluation by an ISSA-accredited, third-party assessor, each organization was recommended for CIMS Certification with Honors.

Twenty-three of the original 24 CIMS Case Study organizations in the United States and Canada have undergone assessments or are preparing for their upcoming third-party assessments in hopes of becoming the first contracted and in-house operations to achieve CIMS certification. Click here for a full list of case-study participants.

Certification is expected to open to the industry at large later this year after the Case Study Program has been completed. That said, ISSA is now accepting applications and encourages those organizations that wish to be the first assessed once certification is open to the industry as a whole to apply as soon as possible. Use this link to apply or to find out more about CIMS.