Updates from the Leading Association for the Cleaning Industry Worldwide

MRSA Prevention Guidelines

The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) have each issued guidelines intended to prevent the spread of Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) in schools and the workplace. Both guidelines emphasize the essential role played by good hygiene and housekeeping practices in preventing MRSA infections.

Staphylococcus aureus, often referred to simply as “staph,” is a type of bacteria commonly carried on the skin or in the nose of healthy people. It is one of the most common causes of skin infections in the United States. While most of these skin infections are minor — such as pustules and boils — and can be treated without antibiotics, the staph bacterium can also cause serious infections, such as bloodstream infections and pneumonia.

MRSA represents a group of staph bacteria that have developed resistance to several antibiotics, including methicillin. Most staph infections, including MRSA, occur among health care facility patients with weakened immune systems. However, both the CDC and NIOSH noted in their guidelines that staph and MRSA infections are possibly becoming more prevalent in otherwise healthy people. MRSA is most frequently transmitted by skin-to-skin contact or contact with items or surfaces that have come into contact with someone else’s infection.

Preventing MRSA Transmission

In their respective guidelines, the CDC and NIOSH identified the following as critical elements in preventing the transmission of MRSA in the workplace and schools:

Cleaning and disinfecting surfaces that are likely to contact uncovered or poorly covered skin infections.

Cleaning surfaces with detergent-based cleaners or EPA-registered disinfectants.

Ensuring that routine housekeeping procedures are conducted.

Encouraging students and workers to practice good hygiene, including thoroughly washing hands, keeping cuts clean and covered, avoiding contact with other people’s wounds or bandages, and not sharing personal items, such as towels and uniforms.

Availability of MRSA Guidelines

The NIOSH guidelines on MRSA and the workplace are available at www.cdc.gov/niosh/topics/mrsa. The CDC guidelines on MRSA in schools can be accessed at www.cdc.gov/Features/MRSAinSchools.

In addition, the EPA provides a helpful list of EPA-registered disinfectants that are deemed effective against MRSA at www.epa.gov/oppad001/chemregindex.htm.

Please note that only product names from primary registrants are included on the EPA list of disinfectants deemed effective against MRSA. Facility service providers should check with their supplier to ensure that the products they are using are registered with the EPA specifically for use against MRSA — especially if the product is sold under an alternative name.

Dan Wagner is director of the Cleaning Industry Management Standard, or CIMS, and director of facility service legislative affairs for ISSA. He can be reached at daniel@issa.com; phone, 800-225-4772 (North America) or 847-982-0800.

DHS to Rewrite Illegal-Immigration Rule

Facing a legal challenge from an alliance of labor unions and business groups, the Bush administration and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) will rewrite and reissue a rule intended to punish employers who hire illegal immigrants. DHS originally published its illegal-immigration rule last August, which would have required employers to fire a worker who cannot provide verifiable identity information within 90 days or face potential prosecution for “knowingly” hiring and employing an illegal immigrant.

The original rule, which also specified safe-harbor procedures for employers to follow after receiving a “no-match” letter from the Social Security Administration or DHS, was roundly criticized by various groups. A no-match letter essentially advises an employer that an employee’s identity does not match agency records and raises concern about whether the person is authorized to work. Ultimately, a legal challenge was filed by a coalition of groups, including the AFL-CIO and the United States Chamber of Commerce, claiming that the agency failed to follow proper procedure in developing and issuing the rule.

Judge Charles R. Breyer of the Federal District Court in San Francisco, Cal., issued an indefinite delay to the rule in October, finding that the government did not follow proper procedure and failed to conduct an impact analysis of the rule’s effect on small business. Judge Breyer also concluded that the Social Security database proposed to be used to verify worker status is not effective and that its use could result in the improper dismissal of many workers who are American citizens or otherwise fully authorized to work in the United States.

As part of his holding, Judge Breyer also prohibited the Social Security Administration from sending out approximately 141,000 no-match letters covering more than eight million employees. The letters were intended to be sent with instructions from DHS about the new illegal-immigration rule.

In announcing the agency’s intention to rewrite the illegal-immigration rule, DHS noted that a small-business survey will be conducted and that the redevelopment of the rule will “fully address the court’s concerns.”

—Dan Wagner