ISSA: Updates from the Leading Association for the Cleaning Industry Worldwide

OSHA Offers Spanish Resources
Employers with a Spanish-speaking workforce can now take advantage of the numerous Spanish language compliance assistance resources the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has made available to help reduce the incidence of workplace injuries and illnesses among Hispanic workers.

Hispanic workers continue to be disproportionately injured and killed on the job. In 2003, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported that 791 Hispanic workers were killed on the job accounting for 14 percent of the 5,559 total deaths that occurred in the United States. The 791 deaths represented a fatality rate 13 percent higher than the rate for all workers.

OSHA has made immigrant worker workplace safety a priority within the Agency and is committed to identifying ways to improve the safety and health of immigrant and other hard-to-reach workers. OSHA has developed numerous Spanish-language compliance assistance tools and resources designed to assist employers and workers with their Hispanic outreach activities including safety cards, booklets, posters, electronic compliance assistance tools, training and various cooperative programs.

Employers who need help reaching out to their Spanish-speaking employees can turn to OSHA for assistance. For example, OSHA’s Web site offers numerous Spanish-language compliance assistance tools and resources including:

• The Hispanic Employers and Workers Compliance Assistance Web Page, which identifies Spanish-language compliance assistance resources available from OSHA as well as other federal agencies and non-governmental organizations.
  
  
• The Hispanic Outreach Module of the Compliance Assistance Quick Start, which helps the employer identify OSHA Spanish-language resources, details how employers can work cooperatively with OSHA and provides a list of whom they can contact for information.
  
  
• OSHA developed nine English-to-Spanish/Spanish-English dictionaries that consist of over 2,000 general OSHA, general industry, and construction industry terms.
  

In addition, OSHA has made available Spanish-language materials for employers to distribute to their Hispanic workers. Examples of Spanish-language publications available from OSHA include:

• All About OSHA
  
  
• Heat Stress Card
  
  
• Cold Stress Card
  
  
• Fact Sheets on various topics including personal protective equipment, preventing falls, lockout/tagout, and workplace violence.
  

OSHA, through cooperation with state agencies, also offers multiple Spanish-language training options to help Hispanic employers and employees improve their knowledge of safe and healthful work practices. For example, the Oregon State Plan PESO Training Program has various Spanish-language modules on different topics including hazard communication, and manual material handling.

Employers also may contact OSHA’s Hispanic/English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) Coordinators who assist small businesses with outreach, education, and training to Spanish-speaking workers. The coordinators are available for Hispanic-related seminars, workshops, and speaking events.

Listen to Jim Collins, management educator and best-selling author of Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap… And Other Don’t, relate his business advice to the cleaning industry! Collins packed the house at ISSA/INTERCLEAN USA 2005 in Las Vegas, when 4,000 attendees gathered to hear the keynote address. If you want to review what you heard or catch what you might have missed, you now can order the DVD/VHS. ISSA also has copies of Good to Great available.

To place your order, contact the ISSA Customer Service Department at 800-225-4772.

For more information about this free customized service, contact the ISSA Customer Service Department at 800-225-4772.

Finance
What’s Your Company Worth?

Placing a value on a BSC business is one of the most complex challenges that a firm will ever experience. In most cases, the company only needs a realistic estimate in the valuation process. Whether an organization is considering selling, merging, or acquiring another business, determining the value of a company requires extensive research and consultation with a valuation specialist.

It is possible to develop a reasonable approximation by using some standardized, financial models. Unfortunately, such models are often expensive to purchase and difficult to use without an extensive financial background.

Free Service
ISSA has worked with the Profit Planning Group to develop a BSC Valuation Calculator that can help you determine what your company is worth. Just answer a few questions and the calculator will provide three different valuation estimates:

1. Liquidation Value
   
2. Discounted Future Earnings Value
   
3. Assets and Earnings Value
   

For more information about this free customized service, contact the ISSA Customer Service Department at 800-225-4772.