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Nine Organizations Now Certified to CIMS
ISSA has announced that 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 in-house and contracted operations to achieve CIMS certification. For a full list of case-study participants, visit www.issa.com/standard.
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. To apply or to find out more about CIMS, visit www.issa.com/standard.
OSHA Study Highlights Safety & Health Benefits
The U.S. Occupational Safety & 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 worker safety and health at the company’s manufacturing plant, 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 workers by setting and enforcing standards; providing training, outreach, and education; establishing partnerships; and encouraging continual process improvement in workplace safety and health.
| ISSA Renews Alliance With OSHA ISSA recently renewed its alliance with OSHA, for the purpose of promoting a safe work environment for all workers in the cleaning industry. First signed in 2005, the alliance provides ISSA members and the industry at large with information and guidance on various occupational safety and health topics, including hazard communication, bloodborne pathogens, personal protective equipment, and slips, trips, and falls in the workplace. Through this alliance, ISSA staff has created a one-of-a-kind Web network, known as the ISSA Safety and Health Portal (www.issa.com/osha), dedicated exclusively to the protection of the health and safety of cleaning industry employees. For more information on alliance accomplishments and plans for the future, contact ISSA Director of Legislative Affairs Bill Balek at bill@issa.com. |
| Upgrade and Motivate Looking to capture the leverage of “clean” to get tons of free attention and employee production? Then you won’t want to miss Don Aslett’s How to Upgrade and Motivate Your People, Tuesday, October 23, part of ISSA/INTERCLEAN® North America 2007, in Orlando, FL, October 23-26. In this hands-on seminar, you’ll learn how to enhance loyalty, ambition, and quality by upgrading the attitude of cleaning crews. Aslett will share many well-proven, even humorous and off-the-wall approaches to banish boredom from cleaning with easy, inexpensive, and take-home implementation. Known as “The World’s No. 1 Cleaning Expert,” Don Aslett is also a nationally known speaker, owner of several businesses, author of more than 30 books — with sales in excess of 3,000,000 in the United States alone! — and a major media personality who has appeared on, among other TV shows, Oprah, Home Matters, and the Christopher Lowell Show. |
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