After a rash of recent viral outbreaks, vacationers who boarded the Carnival Cruise ship Fascination said they were relieved to see custodians cleaning thoroughly, and foodservice personnel wearing protective gloves. Even so, travelers are being urged to constantly wash their hands and practice good personal hygiene.

The Fascination left port just hours after 200 sick passengers and crew members left the same ship. It was the tenth cruise to experience a gastroenteritis outbreak since the summer of 2002. Health officials are still mulling over the cause of the illness, but cruise officials are doing all they can to put passengers’ minds at ease.

“A small amount of sickness is routine,” said Dave Forney, chief of the Centers for Disease Control’s (CDC) vessel sanitation program, “but not nearly at this level.”

The Norwalk virus is being blamed for the illnesses, a microbe that has caused sickness in more than 1,300 cruise passengers in the past six months. However, health officials have not ruled out the possibility of bacteria and other viruses playing a part in the outbreaks, which have been characterized by vomiting, nausea and diarrhea.

The Norwalk virus is a communicable disease that can be spread easily through every-day contact. Thus, personal hygiene is key to prevention.

All major cruise lines in the $13.8 billion industry — Carnival Corp., Royal Caribbean International, Norwegian Cruise Line and P&O Princess Cruises — have experienced outbreaks. Four months ago, Norwegian was fined $1 million by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for dumping hundreds of thousands of gallons of oily bilge water into the Atlantic Ocean. It is believed that improper transporting and disposal of waste (both chemical and human) has been the cause of the Norwalk outbreaks.

The cruise ship Amsterdam, of Holland America Line, reported that 573 crew members spent 10 days deep cleaning the ship after a November voyage was cancelled due to illness. Workers wiped down remote controls, clock radios and even Bibles with powerful disinfectant chemicals. In addition, 2,500 pillows were replaced and all linens were steam cleaned.

“Many [ships] have gone to eliminating self-service buffets,” said Forney. “Instead, they’re now staffed by crews in gloves. In some cases you can’t pour your own cup of coffee. Some ships have started handing out pre-moistened towelettes when you’re in line for dinner. It’s like being on a first-class airline.”

As a precaution, Carnival has added extra nursing and cleaning personnel on several ships. If people do continue to get sick, officials said that they may eliminate self-service from the dining rooms. Self-serve food has not been identified as a factor in the outbreak on the Fascination, but it may have contributed to outbreaks on other Carnival ships, said director of medical operations for Carnival, Steve Williams.

Increased sanitation measures give the perception of a healthy environment, said Dr. Gordon Dickinson, chief of infectious disease at the University of Miami and Veteran’s Medical Center in Miami. He says that the best course of action for passengers is to practice good personal hygiene by washing regularly. “I would tell [the passengers] to be very, very careful about hand-washing and try to be cautious about keeping their hands out of their mouths,” said Dickinson.

Crown Sanitary Supply, Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., has been a long-time supplier of cruise ships along the coast of Florida. However, Crown and other Florida jan/san distributors said that the cruise line industry is currently attempting to handle the outbreaks as independently as possible.

“The cruise lines are keeping a lid on it, and they’re handling the clean-up with their own personnel because they don’t want to involve any outside help,” said Mark Finkelstein, CEO for Crown. “We’ve tried to offer some solutions, but they don’t want to involve us at this point. I have to respect their decisions because we’ll continue to do a lot of business with them in the future.”

—Alex Runner

California Board May Ban Solvent

Southern California’s air-quality regulators, the South Coast Air Quality Management District board, recently met to consider banning perchloroethylene, or “perc,” the most commonly used dry cleaning solvent. Some health officials have said that perc may be a health hazard, linking it to cancers of the lung, cervix, esophagus and bladder in dry cleaning workers.

Dry cleaners worry that there are not adequate replacements for perc, and that regulations would create too many obstacles for smaller businesses.

Non-perc technologies include wet cleaning and hydrocarbon- or silicone-based solvent cleaning, which is usually more expensive than perc.

Under the proposal, any dry-cleaning machine that is being replaced or is older than 15 years would have to be replaced with a non-perc machine after July, 1, 2004. Representatives of the region’s 2,200 dry cleaners said the regulation would force many out of business. New York, San Francisco and other cities heavily regulate the use of perc, but none have banned it.

Southern California’s clean-air agency has grabbed national attention in the past by passing regulations that targeted house paint, diesel engines and power plants. More than 300 dry cleaners from across the state attended the meeting, many wearing black armbands in protest.

N.M. Cleaning Workers Receive Green Award

Cleaning Workers at Sandia National Labs, Albuquerque, N.M., were recently named the 2002 recipients of the Green Zia Award. The award, named after the Zia, a Native American sign for the sun, is given by New Mexico state officials to recognize environmental excellence. Sandia, managed by Lockhead Martin for the Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration, is the only custodial organization to be honored.

Sandia cleaning staff were recognized, in part, for reducing the number of cleaning chemicals they use from 125 to nine, as part of their team-cleaning program developed with ManageMen of Salt Lake City, Utah. The program also reduced chemical storage locations from 1,500 to less than 10.

Worker safety has also improved due to the changes in organization. In 2000, the department reported 71 lost work-days due to accidents. From January to August, 2002, no lost work days were reported.

Rose Bowl Venue Goes Waterless

Although Washington State wasn’t able to save face against Oklahoma during the New Year’s Day Rose Bowl game in Pasadena, Calif., the stadium was able to save one million gallons of water by installing waterless toilets throughout the historic venue.

The city of Pasadena took an active part in the decision to replace the college football stadium’s 28 older, trough-type urinals with 259 waterless urinals.
“Pasadena is committed to conserving our natural resources, particularly water, and to utilizing technological solutions to help meet the needs of Pasadena residents, business owners and others patronizing the city,” said Cynthia Krutz, city manager of Pasadena.

Each urinal saves approximately 40,000 gallons of fresh water per year, resulting in reduced water and sewer costs. The Rose Bowl waterless urinals are manufactured by Falcon Waterfree Technologies. Restroom odors are limited by using a malodor cartridge at the base of each urinal. So far, the system has successfully stood up to the rigorous tests of extremely heavy usage.

“Aside from the initial wonderment as to why the urinals don’t flush, the public’s response to the water-free urinals has been outstanding,” said Darryl Dunn, general manager of the Rose Bowl Stadium.

Pennsylvania Hotels Clean ‘Green’

Twenty-two hotels in Pennsylvania have been certified as “green” by Green Seal, an independent, nonprofit environmental standard-setting and certification organization.

“The Green Seal program provides participating properties in the lodging industry with ways to attract business while lowering costs and helping the environment,” said Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) secretary David Haas. “These hotels are setting the bar for the hotel industry by demonstrating to their customers that they are environmentally responsible.”

The environmental standard for lodging contains 36 criteria, several of which pertain to cleaning and maintenance of the hotels. Other categories are waste minimization, reuse and recycling; energy efficiency; wastewater management; and hazardous substances.

Green Seal has certified hotels in Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, the Poconos, Harrisburg, Erie, Johnstown and State College. Each property will receive a lobby certificate to be displayed.

Rice University Tackles Cleaning Certification

The Facilities and Engineering Department at Rice University, Houston, is trying to improve the image of the cleaning industry. Rather than simply following with the tradition of hiring custodians and janitors, 10 of their cleaning staff recently graduated and became certified and/or registered Cleanologists.

After carefully studying the cleaning business for 36 years, George Price, the program’s creator, spent the past 10 years developing this system of advanced cleaning education. “It’s important that people take pride in their work,” said Price. “Most people in our business never get to complete college. They never get a chance to develop and achieve as cleaners.”

Eusebio Franco, facilities manager at Rice, has given each staff member the opportunity to go back to school and attain professional, work-related skills at Cleanology classes. Cleanologists are taught to take ownership of the area they service, to customize their work to each facility, and to make cleaning inspections themselves. The classes also investigate technological advances in the cleaning industry and try out new product lines.

“We have been cleaning with mops, buckets and chemicals for the past 70 years, and we’re just spreading dirty water around the floor,” said Price. In the Rice Cleanology Research Class, students are learning to clean restrooms by implementing solutions that make use of vapor, rather than the mop and bucket.

The mission of the Cleanology program at Rice is to be the “creators of first impressions at Rice.” The program is completed in 16 different steps, at which time graduates are able to place the letters “CC” or “RC” (certified cleanologist, registered cleanologist) after their names.

News Makers

Electrolux, an international manufacturer of powered appliances for kitchen, cleaning and outdoor use, has announced that the company will be de-listed from the stock exchanges in Paris and Zurich in light of the low trading volume on those exchanges. The Electrolux share continues to be listed in Stockholm, London and the NASDAQ exchanges.

State Farm Insurance, Bloomington, Ill., recently announced that it has begun a pilot program to test a new program that may reduce slip-and-fall accidents by studying how cleaning practices affect the coefficient of friction (COF) of the floor.

The Thomas and Joan Read Center for Distribution Research and Education, College Station, Texas, has announced the curriculum for the 2003 Certificate in Distribution Management (CDM) program. This year will mark the fourth year of the CDM; more than 200 distributors and manufacturers have been through the program during its history. The school’s website is www.readcenter.tamu.edu.

The Soap and Detergent Association (SDA), recently announced that “cleanliness” (28 percent) beat out redecorating (18 percent), renovation (14 percent), and even de-cluttering (14 percent) as the top priority for people as they enter into 2003, according to the latest National Cleaning Survey.

Regulatory News

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is planning the release of a pilot informational tool that can be used by citizens and industry to access environmental records for more than 800,000 facilities across the United States. Enforcement and Compliance History Online (ECHO) is designed to provide accurate information on the purchasing habits and environmental philosophy of each facility.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) recently released the OSHA Recordkeeping Answer book. The book will assist business owners in understanding the new OSHA recordkeeping requirements, interpretations, and procedures of the Occupational Safety and Health Act (29 CFR 1904). More information.

Mergers and Acquisitions

Bunzl, St. Louis, has announced the acquisition of Saxton Inc., Phoenix, a regional redistribution business primarily focused on sanitary maintenance supplies, foodservice disposables and disposable paper products. Saxton also has branch offices in Denver and Kansas City and had sales of $23.8 million in 2002.

Royal Appliance Mfg. Co., Glenwillow, Ohio, recently announced that the company has been acquired by Techtronic Industries, Hong Kong. The two companies have partnered with each other in the past. At present, Royal says that there will be no internal organizational changes. Royal develops and assembles a full line of commercial vacuum cleaners.




POSTED ON: 1/1/2003