February/March 2015

The pan-European magazine for the professional cleaning sector

FEBRUARY/ MARCH 2015

CASE STUDY

SPECIAL REPORT

SURVEY

Focus on scrubber dryers Starts page 61

Cleaning aircraft at Heathrow

Is Ebola a risk for Europe?

Washrooms around the world

Page 34

Page 39

Page 23

CONTENTS

February/March 2015 | Vol.23, No.1

COVER STORY

SPECIAL REPORTS 23 World hygiene picture

20 Trojan A range of new products

The results of the latest SCA Hygiene Matters international survey.

BUSINESS 50 Joining the apps revolution Hartley Milner on the growth of apps as essential business tools.

27 Who cares if you’re ‘green’?

Do customers buying cleaning products really care about their ‘greenness’?

34 Ready for take-off A case study from Heathrow Airport near London, where OCS cleans aircraft.

39 Ebola - a risk for Europe?

What is being done in Europe to reduce the risk of it spreading?

49 Platform for Central and Eastern Europe growth

03 News

A look ahead to the ISSA/Interclean CEE exhibition in Warsaw, Poland.

53 Countdown to UK Cleaning Show

12 European reports

The ECJ preview of The Cleaning Show starts here.

61 A brush with technology

72 Product review

How do squeegees and brushes affect scrubber performance?

69 Know your obligations An update on the European biocidal regulations.

Criterion Publishing Ltd PO Box 299, Chesham, Buckinghamshire HP5 1FP UK T +44 (0)1494 791222 F +44 (0)1494 792223 info@europeancleaningjournal.com www. europeancleaningjournal.com Subscriptions UK - £60 / Continental Europe - £70 / International - £80

Editor Michelle Marshall Features Writer Ann Laffeaty Advertisement Director Chris Godman Advertisement Sales Carole Dawson Circulation Marie Payne

Italy, Spain & Switzerland Fabio Potesta Mediapoint & Communications Corte Lambruschini, Corso Buenos Aires, 8 V0 Piano, Interno 7 16129 Genova, Italy T +39 010 570 4948 F +39 010 553 0088 info@mediapointsrl.it www. mediapointsrl.it

European Cleaning Journal is published six times a year by Criterion Publishing Ltd. Although every effort is made to ensure the accuracy and reliability of material published in European Cleaning, Criterion Publishing Ltd and its agents can accept no responsibility for the varacity of claims made by contributors, manufacturers or advertisers. Copyright for all material published in European Cleaning remains with Criterion Publishing Ltd and its agents.

Germany Reinhard Knittler Knittler Medien, Mittlerer Hubweg 5, D-72227 Egenhausen, Germany T +49 7453/9385 787 F +49 7453/9385 797 info@knittler.de www.knittler.de ISSN 0968-901X ©Criterion Publishing 2015

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NEWS & EVENTS

Latest News & Events from ECJ

Employers and consumers influence business behaviour says Sodexo Employees and consumers are gaining greater influence over corporations’ behaviour thanks to a surge in e-commerce and social sharing. That’s according to service provider Sodexo’s 2015 Workplace Trends Report.

The study also reports a new form of public accountability, dubbed ‘Rateocracy’, is putting unprecedented pressure on companies to act transparently, highlighting one of the major shifts in how the workplace is changing in response to technology and cultural expectations.

“When workers and customers can instantly share their opinions of a company with thousands of people, concerns like morale, transparency and fairness become an integral part of how businesses manage their reputation,” said Michael Norris, Sodexo’s chief operating officer.

“The goal of the Workplace Trends Report is to evaluate how ongoing changes, like the growing power of one person to influence a company’s reputation, are affecting the everyday experiences of employees and their managers. Those everyday experiences have bottom line implications when you consider that $3.6 trillion in retail sales are directly influenced by online reviews and social media.”

The report provides an in-depth analysis of nine notable implications accompanying this new era of Rateocracy, including the need for constant real-time reputation management and the new role of the ceo, which is to communicate an honest and aspirational vision that connects

employees and consumers.

Transparency is particularly important in addressing public relations challenges that are increasingly being amplified through social channels.

One trend identified is the development of ‘airport cities’ in which an airport becomes a business magnet and an engine for regional economic development. For a growing number of companies, large and commercially developed airports provide not just physical connectivity but a functional headquarters where geographically dispersed corporate staff, executives and board members can fly in for sales meetings, client contacts, and decision making.

The emergence of mindfulness and meditation at work is another key trend for employees and businesses.

The effects on employees of being highly stressed are well recognised and the long list of problems is setting off alarm bells for companies seeking to recruit, retain and get the best out of talented employees.

Some large employers are offering programmes to employees that relieve stress and target the roots of chronic health conditions and lost productivity.

The Workplace Trends Report also identified 10 skills essential for future success in the workforce - sensemaking; social intelligence; novel and adaptive thinking; cross-cultural competency; computational thinking; new media literacy; transdisciplinarity; design mindset; cognitive load management and virtual collaboration.

To view the report: http:// viewer.zmags.com/publication /6afcd068#/6afcd068/12

Le prestataire mondial de multi-services Sodexo a publié son Rapport sur les tendances du lieu de travail 2015, qui illustre l’évolution du lieu de travail en réponse aux attentes technologiques et culturelles.

Register now for your free monthly email newsletter from ECJ. And don’t forget to bookmark the ECJ website and don’t miss our regular blogs - including Dr Ilham Kadri from Diversey Care, Rob den Hertog of Amsterdam RAI, Mike Sullivan of GOJO, EUnited’s Markus Asch and Vectair’s Paul Wonnacott www.europeancleaningjournal.com

EVENTS March 10-12

October 20-23

The Cleaning Show

ISSA/Interclean North America

London, UK www.cleaningshow.co.uk

Las Vegas, USA www.issainterclean.com

March 24-26

October 27-29

Cleaning Expo 2015

Hygienalia+Pulire

Birmingham, UK www.cleaningexpo.com

Madrid, Spain www.hygienalia-pulire.com

March 31-April 2

November 2-4

Europropre

Clean Middle East Pulire

Paris, France www.europropre.com

Dubai, UAE www.cmepexpo.com

April 22-24

May 10-13 2016

ISSA/Interclean CEE

ISSA/Interclean Amsterdam

Warsaw, Poland www.issainterclean.com

Amsterdam, Netherlands www.issainterclean.com

May 19-21

October 25-28 2016

Pulire

ISSA/Interclean North America

Verona, Italy www.pulire-it.com

Chicago, USA www.issainterclean.com

July 28-30

September 11-14 2017

CleantexPulire

ISSA/Interclean North America

Johannesburg, South Africa www.cleantex.co.za

Las Vegas, USA www.issainterclean.com

September 22-25

October 2-5 2018

CMS

ISSA/Interclean North America

Berlin, Germany www.cms-berlin.com

Orlando, USA www.issainterclean.com

October 20-21

Ausclean Pulire Queensland, Australia www.auscleanpulire.com To have your event included in Events, contact ECJ via email at: michelle@europeancleaningjournal.com

Das globale Gebäudetechnikunternehmen Sodexo hat seinen Bericht zu Trends am Arbeitsplatz für das Jahr 2015 „Workplace Trends Report 2015“ veröffentlicht, in dem hervorgehoben wird, wie sich der Arbeitsplatz aufgrund von Technologie und kultureller Erwartungen ändert.

La fornitrice globale di servizi Sodexo ha pubblicato il suo rapporto 2015 Workplace Trends Report che evidenzia come stanno cambiando gli ambienti di lavoro in risposta alle aspettive tecnologiche e culturali.

February/March 2015 | ECJ | 3

NEWS Public washrooms not as ‘germy’ as we think Many of us are fastidious about using public toilets because we fear they may be colonised by germs of multiple users.

But a new study published online in the journal Applied and Environmental Microbiology has revealed that the average public washroom is no germier than our toilets at home.

Microbiologists tracked viruses and bacteria at four public washrooms in a campus building at San Diego State University in the US. First they cleaned and sterilised the facilities, then they monitored microbial activity on floors, toilet seats and soap dispensers. They found that faecal bacteria established the

first colonies on all surfaces.

“When you flush the toilet it goes airborne and spreads these viruses throughout the bathroom,” said Michael Schmidt, professor and vice chair of microbiology and immunology from the Medical University of South Carolina.

Colonies of bacteria But the faecal bacteria which thrive in people’s warm, damp intestines - soon gave way to colonies of bacteria found on human skin cells.

“Restroom surfaces are dry, barren and resource-poor,” researchers concluded. “As such these surfaces probably

• D’après une nouvelle étude, les toilettes publiques n’abritent pas, en moyenne, davantage de microbes que des toilettes résidentielles.

• Hagleitner, spécialiste autrichien des systèmes d’hygiène, a repris, avec effet au 1er janvier, la division Produits d’hygiène de la société Initial Hygiene Austria.

February/March 2015 | ECJ | 4

Initial takeover

do not support considerable microbial growth.”

People should still clean their hands after using a public bathroom just as they should do so throughout the day, says Schmidt. “If you do not want to become colonised with someone else’s stuff, you need to wash your hands to inactivate the microbes you’ve picked up,” he said. “Hand sanitation is the human being’s best way of protecting ourselves against diseases.”

Overall the researchers concluded that public washrooms are no more healthy or unhealthy than the toilets at home.

• Aus einer neuen Studie geht hervor, dass öffentliche Waschräume im Durchschnitt nicht stärker von Keimen befallen sind als unsere Toiletten zuhause.

• Mit Wirkung vom 1. Januar hat Hagleitner, der österreichische Hygienesystemspezialist, die Hygieneproduktabteilung von Initial Hygiene Austria übernommen.

Austrian hygiene specialist Hagleitner has taken over the hygiene product division of Initial Hygiene Austria.

“The increasing hygiene demand with our clients calls for innovations and a higher service level, explained managing director Hans Georg Hagleitner.

“This acquisition allows us an even tighter service network within Austria.

“The close customer proximity and the hygiene competence of our employees allow us to offer the best possible service.”

Employees in sales, service and telesales are integrated into the newly founded Hagleitner Hygiene Service.

• Un nuovo studio ha rivelato che, in media, una sala da toilette pubblica non ha più germi del nostro bagno di casa.

• A partire dal 1° gennaio, l’impresa austriaca specializzata in sistemi per l’igiene Hagleitner ha rilevato la divisione di prodotti per l’igiene della Initial Hygiene Austria.

NEWS Entries open

Doctors and nurses wash hands less during shift

The organisers of the Italian cleaning exhibition Pulire, which takes place in Verona from May 19-21, are now inviting entries for the 2015 innovation award.

All exhibitors are eligible to enter and there is a variety of categories including machines, tools, paper, products and systems. Products entered must have been launched after January 1 2015 and must not have been shown at any other trade show before Pulire.

Deadline for submissions is April 1.

For more information visit: www.pulire-it.com

Doctors and nurses wash their hands less often as their shift progresses, increasing the risk they will spread infections among their patients, a study warns.

Tired and busy staff concentrate on their medical duties and see hand hygiene as a ‘low priority’. And the more stress and workload, the less compliance with the rules.

Hengchen Dai of the University of Pennsylvania looked at three years of hand washing data from 4,157 caregivers in 35 American hospitals. In the study published by the American Psychologican

• Les médecins et les infirmières tendent à se laver les mains moins fréquemment à mesure qu’avance leur poste de travail, augmentant d’autant le risque qu’ils propagent des infections. C’est ce que conclut une étude récente.

• Le Prix de l’Innovation pour le Pulire 2015, le salon italien de la propreté qui aura lieu à Vérone en mai, est maintenant ouvert à la soumission de produits candidats.

Association, nurses accounted for 65 per cent of the sample, nursing assistants 12 per cent, therapists seven per cent, doctors four per cent and the rest other hospital workers.

It found compliance with hand washing rules dropped by an average of 8.7 per cent during a typical 12-hour shift. However if longer breaks broke up the shift hand washing protocols were followed more carefully when staff returned.

Dai commented: “Just as the repeated exercise of muscles leads to physical fatigue, repeated use of executive

• Eine Studie warnt, dass Ärzte und Pflegepersonal mit zunehmender Schichtdauer ihre Hände seltener waschen und damit das Risiko erhöhen, Infektionen zu verbreiten.

• Der Innovation Award der Pulire 2015 – der italienischen Reinigungsmesse, die im Mai in Verona stattfindet – ist jetzt für Nennungen geöffnet.

resources produces a decline in an individual’s selfregulatory capacity.

“Demanding jobs have the potential to energise employees, but the pressure may make them focus more on maintaining performance on their primary tasks, for example, patient assessment and medication distribution, particularly when they are fatigued.

“For hospital caregivers, hand washing may be viewed as a lower priority task and thus it appears compliance with hand hygiene guidelines suffers as the working day progresses.”

• Uno studio ci avverte che i medici e gli infermieri si lavano le mani meno frequentemente col passare delle ore durante i turni, aumentando così il rischio di trasmettere le infezioni.

• Sono aperte le iscrizioni per partecipare al concorso Innovation Award di Pulire 2015 – la fiera italiana del settore del cleaning che si terrà a Verona a maggio.

February/March 2015 | ECJ | 5

NEWS We must shape our industry’s future, says BFG’s Bentley For her the themes of dignity and respect of employees are key ones that must be addressed. “There are just so many people we have to target in order to make any progress,” she continues. “People who come into contact with cleaning, people who employ cleaners, people who work as cleaners.

The one thing they do have in common, however, is they are all members of the general public.

“That’s why we must talk to the general public about the value of cleaners, particularly in terms of what they add to our lives in terms of health, wellbeing, etc. The industry itself understands that but the world outside simply doesn’t yet. They don’t respect cleaners and they don’t value them.

Specialists • Sarah Bentley

“The profile of the cleaning and FM industry must be raised significantly in the eyes of the general public, and in order for that to happen we need some dynamic figureheads and ambassadors.” That’s the view of Sarah Bentley, chief executive of the UK-based Building Futures Group (BFG).

“We must pull together all stakeholders in order to drive the business forward and really look towards how we shape our future,” she adds.

The BFG is a relatively new name in the world of building services – it’s a trade association formed in April 2014 following the merger of the Facilities Management Association (FMA), Asset Skills and the Cleaning and Support Services Association (CSSA). In January of this year the CSSA announced its members have resolved to end the merger process and it will no longer be

part of BFG. Bentley is keen to emphasise the CSSA decision will not impact on its work in representing and raising the profile of both cleaning and FM. “Cleaning is an integral part of FM and I believe the industry still needs to recognise that. It’s not separate,” she says.

“The key issue we face is the image and perception it has as a low-skilled, low-paid job with no prospects. But we are positive about the industry we are serving because it’s a growing industry, regardless of what may be going on in the economy.”

Low skill levels Bentley is keen to point out the BFG does not try to avoid the fact that cleaning is often a job requiring low levels of skill.

“However what we really are trying to tackle is the perception that it’s dead-end. And the whole story of cleaning is that people do not value it.”

Le Building Futures Group a été fondé en avril 2014 au Royaume-Uni dans le but de relever le profil du secteur de la propreté et du facility management. Sa directrice générale, Sarah Bentley, fait part de ses observations sur le travail qu’il reste à faire et sur les moyens pour le secteur de progresser.

February/March 2015 | ECJ | 6

“We are not claiming all cleaning operatives are what could be termed ‘professionals’ but they are specialists and it’s an occupation that requires training. Our initiatives are also about the cleaners’ own journeys in their minds, how they perceive themselves. This is where it’s key to make them part of the workforce in the building where they work.

“There is both a moral and a business case to be put forward,” Bentley argues.

The improvement of skills and paying a living wage to cleaners go hand in hand, she believes. “There is always a skills element involved. If we’re not providing the skills needed by our employees we are failing – challenging ideas, communication, progressing the industry as a whole – it all comes down to skills.”

Of course attracting staff and retaining them has always been challenging for the cleaning sector and that could become even more so now the worst of the economic difficulties have

Die Building Futures Group wurde im April 2014 in Großbritannien mit dem Ziel gegründet, das Profil der Reinigungs- und FM-Branche zu stärken. Die Hauptgeschäftsführerin Sarah Bentley teilt ihre Beobachtungen zur bevorstehenden Arbeit und wie sich die Branche weiterentwickeln kann.

passed and unemployment rates are down. “We must provide a compelling environment in which to work compared to other similarly-viewed industries. And we must convince young people that we offer good employment, a career path,” says Bentley.

Attract young people One example of BFG’s activities in this area is the Secret Jobs campaign which was designed to attract young people to cleaning jobs by linking in with organisations not traditionally associated with the cleaning industry. A total of 3.5 million people were targeted through radio, newspapers, social media activity, etc.

The association has also established links with local job centres, and offers specific guidance to their advisers on promoting careers in building services. “The fact our sector always needs staff solves many of their problems in finding people jobs,” Bentley explains.

“There is always a large FM provider in the local area looking for staff.

“Our objective is to help companies recruit staff and we ask them how we can supply people with a minimum standard of competence to make them useful on day one of their employment. How can we save SMEs costs by providing productive people? This goes far beyond simply matching people to employers.”

And the very valuable roles the cleaning and FM industry plays in society and commerce in general must not be forgotten.

“Ultimately our industry offers many people the chance to move out of poverty and be more socially mobile – or it could be their first job opportunity after moving to a new country,” Bentley concludes. “That makes us very important, and our views worth listening to.”

Nel Regno Unito, nell’aprile 2014 è stato fondato il gruppo The Building Futures Group, con lo scopo di alzare il profilo del settore del cleaning e FM. Il suo amministratore delegato Sarah Bentley espone le sue osservazioni sul lavoro che bisogna fare e su come il settore può progredire.

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NEWS Debt to Spanish cleaning firms totals 618 million The debt owed by public administrations to member companies of Spain’s Professional Association of Cleaning Companies (Aspel) in 2014 was 618.5 million euros, representing a 2.2 per cent decrease compared with the previous year.

Aspel president Juan Díez de los Ríos commented: “In spite of the fact the debt has come down slightly, the public administrations continue not to comply with the law on late payment.”

According to data gathered by the employer’s organisation the administrations which owe most are the autonomous

communities with a debt of 304.5 million euros, 12.8 per cent less in comparison with 2013.

116 days late And it is the regional governments which take longest to pay - on average they are 116 days late in settling invoices. The autonomous communities with the worst records are Cataluña, Valencian Community, Baleares and Murcia.

Local authorities’ debt to cleaning companies is 189.7 million euros, 16.3 per cent less than the previous year. The municipalities’ average payment time is 108 days.

• La dette des administrations publiques envers les entreprises membres de l’Association professionnelle de la propreté d’Espagne (Aspel) se montait à 618,5 millions d’euros à la fin de 2014.

•Le Néerlandais Michel de Bruin a été nommé vice-président du Conseil européen de l’association professionnelle ISSA.

February/March 2015 | ECJ | 8

The State is the public administration which has most increased its volume of debt during the past year. Its overdue payments this year amount to 124.2 million euros, a 179 per cent increase, with an average payment time of 76 days.

Read this edition’s special report on green cleaning - starts page 27

• Der Betrag, den öffentliche Verwaltungen 2014 Mitgliedsunternehmen des spanischen Fachverbands der Reinigungsunternehmen (ASPEL) schulden, beläuft sich auf 618,5 Millionen Euro.

• Der Niederländer Michel de Bruin wurde zum stellvertretenden Vorsitzender des Europarats des Industrieverbands ISSA ernannt.

ISSA council Michel de Bruin, ceo of Netherlands-based microfibre specialist Greenspeed, has been appointed to the position of vice-chairman of the ISSA European Council.

De Bruin will also continue to represent the interests of the Benelux region on the industry association’s council.

He commented: “ISSA has much to offer everyone in all sectors of the industry. I am committed to working with ISSA to further develop understanding of the value of cleaning and more generally pushing ahead with new initiatives to change the way the world as a whole views it.”

• Il debito dovuto dalle amministrazioni pubbliche alle imprese socie dell’Associazione Professionale Spagnola delle Imprese di Pulizia (Aspel) per il 2014 è di 618,5 milioni di Euro.

• Michel de Bruin dei Paesi Bassi è stato nominato vice-presidente dell’associazione di categoria European Council di ISSA.

NEWS Barcelona date European Cleaning Days to spread the word Cleaning Products Europe, a conference focusing on household and I&I cleaning products, takes place from March 25-26 in Barcelona, Spain. The programme will feature speakers from all levels of the supply chain, including manufacturers, chemical suppliers, regulatory bodies and retail representatives.

The presentations are designed to offer a comprehensive overview of forthcoming developments set to impact or disrupt the industry.

For details visit: www. cleaningproductseurope.com

EUnited Cleaning, the association of European cleaning machines manufacturers, has launched a new campaign called European Cleaning Days (ECD).

The initiative aims to highlight the importance and the benefits of professional cleaning in areas like offices, hospitals, airports, train stations, etc.

Starting in May, the ECD also have the support of the European Federation of Cleaning Industries (EFCI) and the International Association for Soaps, Detergents and Maintenance Products (AISE).

The plan is to join with existing

• EUnited Cleaning, l’association des fabricants de machines de nettoyage, a lancé une campagne dénommée European Cleaning Days (ECD) - Journées européennes de la propreté - pour souligner l’importance du nettoyage professionnel.

• La conférence Cleaning Products Europe 2015 aura lieu à Barcelone du 25 au 26 mars.

cleaning events and organise new ones to educate the public about the importance of professional cleaning for public health, comfort and wellbeing.

Country events Events will be held in many countries including Germany, Belgium, France and Italy and will aim to engage people of various age groups and professions. Activities will range from exhibitions, workshops, and visits to schools with lectures, to cleaning in action on public streets and squares.

The campaign focuses on four

• EUnited Cleaning, der europaweite Verband der Reinigungsmaschinenhersteller, startet unter dem Titel European Cleaning Days (ECD) eine Kampagne, um die Bedeutung der professionellen Reinigung zu betonen.

• Die Konferenz „Cleaning Products Europe 2015“ wird vom 25.-26. März in Barcelona, Spanien, stattfinden.

key areas: • Detergents for cleaning and disinfection • Floor and high pressure cleaning: buildings, business premises, and production sites • Municipal equipment: mobile machines used in municipalities and other public areas • Cleaning contractors The first ECD is on May 19 in Verona, which coincides with the start of the Pulire Italian cleaning exhibition.

EUnited Cleaning is seeking other partners to join in. For more information visit: www. cleaningdays.eu

• EUnited Cleaning, l’associazione dei produttori di macchine per le pulizie, sta lanciando una campagna chiamata Le Giornate Europee del Cleaning (European Cleaning Days - ECD) per evidenziare l’importanza delle pulizie professionali.

• La conferenza Cleaning Products Europe 2015 si terrà dal 25 al 26 marzo a Barcellona, in Spagna.

February/March 2015 | ECJ | 9

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NEWS Distributors must add value to service offering, says INPACS’ Scholes Distributors of cleaning supplies are coming under increasing pressure from price competition, and the future of many is under threat unless they add value to their service offering. That’s the opinion of David Scholes, chief executive of the INPACS international distribution group.

“As a sector, distributors cannot simply sit back and only deliver products,” he told ECJ. “We must look at innovation and offer clients solutions in different ways. “ “Distributors are under attack from so many different types of business now,” Scholes continues, “such as online, office supplies, Amazon, etc. If you’re not adding value, you’re simply a logistics operation along with everyone else. And we must all examine new market opportunities and maximise them because other types of suppliers are trying to muscle in on janitorial – and many are succeeding.”

One of the most serious threats to the sector comes from office supplies companies Scholes believes. “They can afford to operate at a loss on products such as toilet tissue, for example, because of the enormous volumes involved. It’s a reckless business, and there’s no end game.

“I also worry that decisions are often being made by customers for the wrong reasons – they are always driving down prices because they themselves are under pressure. So we must do business differently.”

Added value That’s why, he emphasises, this added value aspect is so crucial to the success and sustainability of a distribution business. With those trends in mind INPACS formed in 2004 with the objective of offering international tailored purchasing solutions. The group is made up of 76 family owned companies

in 36 countries that have all signed up to a charter to pledge compliance with the INPACS way of doing business, and supporting its core philosophies.

“We were formed because we could see a need for crossborder service and tendering,” explains Scholes, “and the driver was to service customers to the same high level and with a common standard of product, whichever country they are in.”

Having been founded originally in Europe under the Germanbased Igefa umbrella, INPACS formed an alliance with the US group Network Services in 2005. This was followed by a tie-up in Australasia in 2013, with the Rapid Clean distribution group. Consolidated turnover in that year was two billion euros, with international business accounting for 100 million euros.

The next targeted markets are South America, Asia and Africa.

“There is so much potential across the globe because we have to follow our customers,” Scholes says.

Service bundle As far as those clients are concerned, Scholes continues, standards, service and reporting must be bundled together – and that’s one of the key benefits of buying from an international group. One of the other most important aspects is data management and Scholes explains why. “Many of our clients do not actually know what they’re spending on products – they don’t evaluate and assess that closely.

“Data transfer can demonstrate to clients what they’re spending on each product on a pan-European level for example. We have found our customers do respond to that kind of service offering, and they really want it.”

In Scholes’ experience many clients are actually looking to their distributors to offer more

•David Scholes, directeur général du réseau de distribution INPACS, explique le fonctionnement du modèle de gestion de ce groupe et évoque les défis qui se posent à l’industrie de la distribution.

• Une nouvelle technologie de surveillance intelligente cherche à résoudre un problème ancien : garantir l’hygiène de mains appropriée dans les hôpitaux afin d’y réduire les taux d’infection.

• David Scholes

complete solutions. “They often want advice about budget and quality control, best practice, sustainability, productivity, health and safety, optimum products, or efficiency in their supply chain. These are the areas where we can help them to work smarter.”

He believes distributors which do not operate as part of a larger group like INPACS will find the future tough. “It’s true that many small distributors are surviving and there is no wholesale collapse, but we can’t escape the fact margins are being slashed

and they are under pressure from other areas.”

This makes it even more crucial for those businesses to capitalise on the very power of distribution, Scholes concludes, which is: “Selling a wide range of products to a loyal customer base.

“And we must not forget there is a real value to product manufacturers of having a successful partnership with their distributors – an open and transparent relationship.

“We can offer a total solution, supplies are one component.”

Smart watch for hand hygiene A new mobile technology is attempting to solve the problem of ensuring proper hand hygiene in hospitals to reduce infection rates.

Nurses and physicians in at least one hospital owned by

•David Scholes, Hauptgeschäftsführer beim internationalen Vertriebsnetzwerk INPACS, erläutert die Funktionsweise des Geschäftsmodells der Gruppe und teilt seine Ansichten zu Herausforderungen, mit denen sich die Vertriebsbranche insgesamt konfrontiert sieht.

• Mithilfe einer neuen Smartwatch-Technologie wird versucht, das anhaltende Problem mangelnder Handhygiene in Krankenhäusern zu beheben, um die Infektionsraten zu senken.

Intermountain Healthcare, a healthcare system based in Salt Lake City, Utah, USA, are wearing specially designed smart watches that show whether they have washed their hands before they walk into patient rooms.

•David Scholes, amministratore delegato della rete di distribuzione internazionale INPACS, spiega come funziona il modello di attività del gruppo ed espone il suo punto di vista sulle sfide che il settore della distribuzione nel suo insieme deve affrontare.

• Una nuova tecnologia di osservazione smart sta cercando di risolvere il problema di lunga data per assicurarsi la corretta igiene delle mani negli ospedali per ridurre il tasso di infezione.

February/March 2015 | ECJ | 11

UPDATE: FRANCE Marseilles under household waste Almost every year the council workers, including dustmen, in Marseilles go on strike, leaving piles of household and business waste to pile up in the streets. French correspondent Christian Bouzols reports for ECJ. Piles of household and business waste rose up in the streets of Marseilles, blocked entrances to shops and gave off awful smells throughout the town as France’s second largest city experienced its recurrent nightmare at the end of January with the strike of its dustmen.

Almost every year, these council workers decide to stop work. But this year the movement hit the city particularly hard.

Towards the end of January, the local authorities, sensing trouble, had installed some 40 skips across the city and agreed with a private company to have the rubbish collected independently. But the strikers blockaded the waste treatment plants, which made rubbish removal impossible.

All work stopped At the height of the strike action about 80 per cent of the city’s dustmen had stopped all work. Piles of rubbish sprang up in 11 of the 16 arrondissements (districts) of the city. In the five arrondissements not affected, private companies had taken over waste collection work.

The strike was organised by the Force Ouvrière trade union, whose presence is very strong among council workers. Its main complaints were about the “lack of means” to carry out waste collection at night. The union also demanded the creation of 10 new positions and the lifting of “sanctions” against dustmen who, “obliged to undertake ever increasing duties owing to job cuts”, had refused to carry Presque chaque année, les éboueurs de Marseille se mettent en grève, obligeant des ménages et commerces à amonceler des déchets dans la rue, raconte Christian Bouzols.

February/March 2015 | ECJ | 12

them out.

In July 2014, the city’s waste collection department had instituted a new contract for dustmen, restructuring their work following a court decision to abolish a system known as ‘fini-parti’, which means “once finished then gone”.

Longer hours According to this system, workers could go home once their duties had been accomplished. As a result, the effective time worked fell sometimes as low as three-and-a-half hours a day for a full time contract.

With the new system, dustmen and street cleaners now work a normal seven-anda-half hour day, with a minimum of five-and-a-half hours spent on waste collection. This is necessary to ensure the collection of the roughly 7,000 tonnes of waste produced each day in the capital of southern France.

While the organisers of the strike deplored the “lack of means” provided for waste collection at night and the “repression” allegedly exercised against dustmen, the city authorities had no other choice but to call on the inhabitants’ “sense of civic responsibility” and to encourage them to store as much of their waste as possible in their homes or back yards.

However, such a directive could not be observed for long.

The strike ended after a week when a solution was found. This included the recruitment of 10 new dustmen. They were going to be kept very busy clearing the mountains of rubbish.

Die Müllwerker im französischen Marseilles treten fast jedes Jahr in Streik, sodass sich Hausund Gewerbeabfälle in den Straßen auftürmen, berichtet Christian Bouzols.

Quasi ogni anno, gli spazzini di Marsiglia in Francia entrano in sciopero e quindi i rifiuti delle abitazioni e degli esercizi commerciali si accumulano sulle strade. Ce ne parla il corrispondente Christian Bouzols.

UPDATE: GERMANY Boost to bureaucracy According to German reporter Thomas SchulteMarxloh, the German government is accusing the contract cleaning sector of breaching rules concerning the minimum wage.

The contract cleaning business in Germany seems to have a bad reputation – at least in the eyes of some politicians, like the minister of labour and social affairs.

In order to justify the enormous bureaucracy coming with the introduction of the minimum wage by law, the minister refers to alleged breaches of rules by the contract cleaning business, says BIV (Federal association of the contract cleaning industry).

However, the contract cleaning industry has had binding minimum wages for decades and since 2007 a pay scale minimum wage according to the employee assignment law. In west Germany this equals 9.55 euros for pay group one (maintenance cleaning) and 12.65 euros for pay group six (glass cleaning) and in east Germany 8.5 euros for pay group one (maintenance cleaning) and 10.63 euros for pay group six (glass cleaning).

Since 2007 there has been a record requirement according to the assignment law with regard to these wages for each hour worked. The minister of labour and social affairs has now introduced a bureaucratic regulation which forces the construction and contract cleaning industries to record every hour worked. This requirement also includes technical or commercial employees who earn less than 2,958 euros.

Now workers in the contract cleaning industry have to record every single hour worked, even those employees who work in middle management and usually earn considerably more than the statutory minimum wage. This serves the purpose of avoiding a pay rate less than 8.5 euros in these industries for technical and commercial employees.

L’industrie allemande de la propreté soutient la pratique du salaire minimum dans tous les domaines du secteur, écrit Thomas SchulteMarxloh, notre correspondant en Allemagne.

That seems strange as technical and commercial employees earn considerably more than the statutory minimum wages; therefore, a recording requirement in these cases has no real reference to minimum wage.

For almost every other industry - except for marginally employed workers - records with respect to the hours worked are not required and a minimum wage of 8.5 euros has no consequences, ie, no record requirements for the statutory minimum wage of 8.5 euros, but only with respect to technical and commercial employees in the construction and contract cleaning industries. It seems like pure bureaucracy for those groups of employees who earn considerably more than 8.5 euros, whereas industries which necessitated the introduction of a minimum wage should not have a record requirement.

It is a little strange when the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs seriously suggests that statutory minimum wages have been introduced for technical and commercial employees in the contract cleaning industry. For a group which has never been suspected of earning less than 8.5 euros.

In the end, the contract cleaning industry is committed to supporting statutory minimum wages and respective control and prosecution by customs authorities. Of course, even in the contract cleaning industry abuse occurs sometimes; and this cannot be justified in any way as it distorts competition. Therefore the BIV supports minimum wages for each pay group, even in the present amount, which is partially considerably higher than the minimum wage by law.

Die deutsche Vertragsreinigungsbranche unterstützt den Mindestlohn in allen Bereichen der Branche, schreibt ECJ-Reporter Thomas Schulte-Marxloh.

L’industria tedesca del cleaning è una sostenitrice del minimo salariale in tutte le aree del settore, ce ne parla il corrispondente di ECJ Thomas SchulteMarxloh.

February/March 2015 | ECJ | 13

UPDATE: ITALY Training, ethics and morals In Italy, the first Facility Management Masterclass organised by two industry associations - took place recently. ECJ correspondent Anna Garbagna reports.

The first Facility Management Masterclass promoted by ANIP (the National Association of Cleaning and Integrated Services Companies of Confindustria) and Afidamp Servizi was held recently within the workshops of Forum Pulire.

Giulio Sapelli, economist and historian, highlighted how the integrated services sector has an entrepreneurial spirit focused on the future of the national economy for two reasons: for its work within the sphere of the ‘care of the person’ (cleaning, safety and support) which will be increasingly relevant, and for being ‘labour intensive’, ensuring increasing occupational levels where technological progress will be a key support for human work without replacing it.

This was the first participation

by Andrea Granelli who recalled the extraordinary modernity of Adriano Olivetti, for whom technological progress has always been at the service of workers.

The concept that the value of a company is determined by human capital and its cultural riches as much as profit is a concept that had already strongly emerged during the Pulire Forum last March.

We are living in an historical time in which it is necessary to give identity to a sector of extreme importance which is destined to grow, comprising facility management entrepreneurs, manufacturers and distributors of solutions for professional cleaning. This identity starts firstly from a cultural prospective which is based on giving value to the human capital which is a vital component of this sector.

The partnership between En Italie, la première classe de maître sur le facility management a eu lieu récemment.

Anna Garbagna rend compte de cette manifestation promue par deux associations professionnelles.

Afidamp and ANIP fits exactly within the wider project of building an identity which can be immediately identifiable by the general public.

The first significant affirmation of this new concept will be during Pulire 2015 in Verona this May. With such extensive objectives, management training will have vital relevance.

Professor Sapelli stressed that “training for a manager and even more so for a businessman, is more important when it helps him to have broader vision to be put into the service of his own company - difference between collective benefit and personal gratification.

Giulio Sapelli described the macro-economic context and the geo-strategic scenarios and some dynamics linked to them.

Italy is among the three main manufacturers of machines, products and equipment for the professional cleaning industry, together with Germany and the USA. This leading position is due to innovation which has always characterised the production and the quality of ‘Made in Italy’ in terms of cleaning efficiency and service levels.

“Be the future – suggested Sapelli and Granelli – make yourselves recognised for being focused on new solutions which are increasingly functional and able to solve the more diverse requirements of cleanliness and hygiene. Don’t be afraid to openly state that you work in cleaning as in this there is the strength of those who anticipate and manage the future of a service which is taken for granted but should not be. Tell your story and give dignity to all the workers who are part of it”.

Vor kurzem wurde in Italien die erste Facility Management Masterclass, die von zwei Industrieverbänden gefördert wurde, veranstaltet. Ein Bericht von Anna Garbagna.

In Italia si è tenuto recentemente il primo Masterclass del Facility promosso dalle due associazioni del settore.

Ce ne parla Anna Garbagna.

UPDATE: DENMARK Cleaners as European role models ECJ correspondent in Scandinavia Lotte Printz reports from Denmark where the cleaning staff of a regional hospital are to serve as role models for hospital cleaners in other European countries.

At least once a year the cleaning staff at the Regional Hospital of Randers, Denmark, put down mops and dusters to undergo supplementary training. The hospital’s unique training scheme for cleaning staff has now earned it a place – as the only Danish hospital – in an EU project that aims to develop European standards for hospital staff training.

New technology and how to avoid getting worn out are some areas in which the staff receive training. But the hospital caught EU interest because its staff is also trained in combating MRSA (Methicillin-resistant staphylococcus Aureus).

In Denmark the past four years have seen a steady increase in the number of people carrying MRSA, but MRSA infections are a widespread problem in hospitals all over Europe. Carrying MRSA is usually not serious for healthy people, but it may be for hospitalised people with a weak immune system. As late as December 2014, nine newborn babies from a neonatal unit in a hospital in the Copenhagen area were reported to have been infected.

Little knowledge of cleaning techniques or procedures, hygiene practices, etc increase the risk of MRSA spreading from one ward to another. Thus, proper training is essential and European standards could help reduce the prevalence of MRSA.

Service assistants Speaking to FOA - a trade union magazine for cleaners - among others, Karsten Kolind, head of service and education in the Regional Hospital of Randers, proudly said that hospital cleaning staff have become Notre correspondante en Scandinavie Lotte Printz rend compte d’un hôpital au Danemark dont les agents de nettoyage auront à servir de modèles de rôle aux nettoyeurs de l’Europe entière.

highly skilled workers.

“Not even the most capable chief physicians can get anything done without them,” as he put it.

But keeping such a high level of training is only possible, Karsten Kolind emphasised, because the hospital employs its own cleaning staff (currently 150 out of a total staff of 1,800). In addition, the hospital has a rotation system where it offers jobs and training to unemployed people who can then step in while the permanent staff are being educated or the hospital is going through a busy patch.

Serving food to patients, giving them a bath or holding their hands if needed, are also tasks the cleaning staff – or service assistants as they are rightly called in Denmark – undertake.

One staff member told the magazine that she had even helped out once when a woman was giving birth in the car park. Keeping the hospital at its cleanest is still their main priority, though. But as long as they follow certain practices for proper cleaning, the service assistants organise their own work and make cleaning ‘road maps’ for themselves.

The project in which the hospital is sharing the results that it hopes will impact on others is funded by the EU (290,000 euros) and will run for two years. Two other model hospitals from Finland and France are participating as well as five educational institutions and two privately owned cleaning companies.

Special report on green cleaning - page 27

Die ECJ-Korrespondentin für Skandinavien Lotte Printz berichtet aus Dänemark, wo das Reinigungspersonal eines regionalen Krankenhauses als Vorbild für das Reinigungspersonal in ganz Europa dienen soll.

La corrispondente scandinava Lotte Printz ci informa che in Danimarca, il personale addetto alle pulizie in un ospedale regionale, faranno da esempio a tutti gli addetti alle pulizie in Europa.

UPDATE: NETHERLANDS Labour market participation Nico Lemmens of ISS Facility Services reports on new Dutch laws affecting the cleaning sector.

On July 1 2014 the Dutch Senate agreed to the so called Participation Act. That same day a proposal for a Quota Act was sent to the Second Chamber, the legislative part of Dutch parliament. Both laws are about employing people with a so called ‘distance to the labour market’. Employers are required to employ a certain minimum number (quota) of such people.

Both acts came into effect on January 1, 2015.

The Dutch government has delegated the responsibility for the law’s implementation to municipalities. The national government provides the necessary budgets. Apart from the ambition to help more people with a distance to the labour market to work in a regular job, there is also a savings target of 1.3 billion euros.

Everybody who is subject to the Participation Law from January 1, must set to work with regular employers. Municipalities can compensate employers with wage subsidies. They can also offer job coaching and a no-risk policy to employers.

The wage subsidy is a certain percentage of the statutory minimum wage. At present the lowest pay scale in the cleaning sector is above the level of the statutory minimum wage. The current collective labour agreement does not allow for paying these employees the statutory minimum wage. OSB, the Dutch employers’ organisation in the cleaning sector, therefore wants to reach an agreement with the unions to change the collective agreement in this respect.

For people who are not able to operate as a regular employer, sheltered working facilities remain intact.

To mediate between employDeux nouvelles lois du travail sont entrées en vigueur le 1er janvier 2015 au Pays-Bas. Notre correspondant néerlandais Nico Lemmens en fait rapport.

February/March 2015 | ECJ | 16

ers and the target group, 35 regional organisations will be established. In these mediating organisations municipalities, employers, unions and UWV (the national implementing organisation for employee social insurances) are cooperating together.

The Quota Act requires employers with 25 or more employees to employ a certain percentage of people in the target group of the Participation Act. If this quota is not met the employer will be fined.

The government, employers’ organisations and unions have reached an agreement about a very ambitious target: 125,000 people with a distance to the labour market should be steered into jobs. The national government is responsible for 25,000, the rest shall be employed by the private sector. If this target is not met by January 2016, a quota will be imposed.

Cleaning companies that already employ people from the target group will not be affected by the new Participation Act. As a consequence of the new legislation, more handicapped employees will enter the labour market. They will apply directly, without intervention of the UWV. These people are not obliged to inform potential employers that they are part of the Participation Act’s target group. For cleaning companies this is important to know, as these people also can help to meet the quota target.

A special point of concern is the fact that cleaning companies must acquire the competence to coach these people. The government intentions are praiseworthy. However, it remains to be seen whether that government is asking too much from the private sector in general and the cleaning sector in particular.

Zwei neue Arbeitsrechte sind zum 1. Januar 2015 in den Niederlanden in Kraft getreten.

Nico Lemmens, der NiederlandeKorrespondent des ECJ, berichtet.

Due nuove leggi del diritto del lavoro sono entrate in vigore nei Paesi Bassi con effetto dal 1° gennaio 2015. Ce ne parla il corrispondente olandese Nico Lemmens.

UPDATE: RUSSIA 2015 - a year of crisis?

This year is promising to be a very difficult year for Russia, a year of crisis says correspondent Oleg Popov of cleaning company Cristanval.

In 2014 the Russian economy faced heavy challenges and partially succumbed to the combined impact of sanctions and oil price drop. Starting in February 2014 through to February 2015 the euro exchange rate increased by 1.6 times and Russia’s inflation rate increased to 11.4 per cent.

Hence 2015 is promising to be a very difficult year, a year of crisis.

Experts consider this crisis be similar to the crisis of 1998. In 1998 the cleaning industry in Russia existed in the form of 20-30 companies that performed different one-time cleaning jobs.

These companies cleaned the offices of western companies and did post-construction clean-up for governmental properties that were erected by the municipality of Moscow. Their main task, while engaging in contract relationships, was to explain the meaning of the ambiguous word ‘cleaning’ since it was often confused with ‘clearing’.

Since the cleaning industry did not exist yet, these cleaning companies did not even notice the 1998 crisis, and successfully developed.

What we see now is: • Unfavourable credit terms are common practice • Workers from Mid-Asia are leaving Russia, returning to their home countries because the ruble is no longer appealing. This means staff are in short supply.

• Customers do not pay on time and unpaid accounts pile up • The government introduces changes into bookkeeping practices and tax reporting • Badly trained personnel yield low productivity.

Business owners face a key question – what will happen to business in 2015? Well, let’s review three options: a) corporate dissolution, b) survive to break even while showing annual Notre correspondant en Russie Oleg Popov, de la société Cristanval, contemple les perspectives de 2015, qui lui paraissent plutôt difficiles.

income equal to 2014, and c) fight ahead and expand, increasing market share.

Corporate dissolution. This option could be considered if an alternative business avenue with higher profitability is already lined up. Low investment in cleaning will also help make this decision.

It is wiser to lose the cleaning investment now, then to lose twice as much in six months.

Survive. While considering this option the business owner should be aware that while his company just broke even, competitors could manage to get further ahead.

This strategy is well suited for business owners if a) there are not enough funds for expansion, b) sales are consistently low, and c) there is no intention to take on risk. In 2004 I chose this strategy myself and regret it to this day.

It took two years of enormous spending and effort to catch up.

Fight ahead. This scenario assumes the highest risk and the most business potential. This is a great opportunity to profit from ‘falling’ competitors’ loss of clientele. The pitfall of this option lies in that if there is not enough assets to expansion, the doomed company will crumble like a house of cards and, most importantly, a reputation that took years to build will become tainted.

We should acknowledge that the golden years of the cleaning industry are gone. Over the next several years, companies will survive. Nevertheless, the cleaning market certainly has tremendous potential. The construction projects that ran through 20132014 will have to be worked with.

The football World Cup is coming, and of course, new municipal properties such as schools, day care centres, utility services infrastructure, hospitals, etc.

Unser Russland-Korrespondent, der bei der Reinigungsfirma Cristanval tätige Oleg Popov, wirft einen Blick voraus auf das bevorstehende Jahr, das seiner Meinung nach sehr schwer werden wird.

Il corrispondente russo Oleg Popov della Cristanval Cleaning fa una previsione sul futuro per quello che lui crede sarà un anno molto difficile.

February/March 2015 | ECJ | 17

UPDATE: UK A look at the year ahead ECJ’s UK reporter looks ahead to important events this year, including the new London cleaning show.

This is the season for forecasting and fortunately few bother to review the results at year end, as most are wide of the mark.

This being so we will not be stating any stone cold certainties but looking at some areas which might affect our industry.

The Cleaning Show returns to London after many years. It has been slowly going into decline in Birmingham and the move ought to provide a badly needed shot in the arm.

There are two sides to this.

Support for the show from the whole cleaning industry has waned considerably with the inevitable consequences. This reflects on both sides. The industry has a duty to back an event put on with the support of the associations and other bodies to which most belong.

Companies must encourage

February/March 2015 | ECJ | 18

their staff to attend, as they used to. Students, the life blood of the industry, should not be allowed to miss the show, which can be part of their education.

The exhibitors may (and do) grumble but the student of today is the manager of tomorrow and the potential customer.

The show organisers are often blamed for everything that goes wrong - low attendance, poor catering, perceived lack of business (is your product good enough, interesting enough?) etc. Innovation and imagination are qualities required above all.

The return of The Cleaning Show to London is, in a sense, a fresh start and the organisers need to think outside the box and give us a show to remember.

To everyone in the industry I say: please go!

What else can we expect

in 2015? A general election where the British people have a multiplicity of choice, according to the media. In fact unless there is something akin to a tsunami we do not. Only either of the two major parties can provide a prime minister, although forming a government may be difficult with so many guests at the affair all interested in holding the balance of power. This, to a very real extent, is a WIIFM (what’s in it for me) election. Are the media, from whom all opinions flow endlessly and often wrongly, correct in their assumptions? As the old expression goes: “I read it in the papers so it must be true.”

One of the election battle grounds will be the NHS. Today the cleaning staff does not get the blame for almost everything.

Now it is the managers and nursing staff who are to blame Le correspondant d’ECJ au Royaume-Uni contemple les perspectives du secteur de la propreté en 2015, année où le salon national du secteur, The Cleaning Show, aura lieu à Londres.

and the consultants and the Government, always the Government. If the NHS is the envy of the world, why are we so low in the European rankings for cancer care, premature baby deaths and other complaints?

Despite continuous outpourings in the press, on television and radio, in Parliament, on the internet, Twitter, Facebook and blogs, are we hearing the truth or opinionated drivel? About the NHS or politics, business religion or anything else?

Many employers recruit people from countries where there is no work, for very low wages and let the Government provide tax credit, child allowance or housing benefit and others to provide a living wage. A boost to the economy, a strain on housing and public services but a boon to shareholders.

Der britische ECJKorrespondent wirft einen Blick voraus auf das der Reinigungsbranche bevorstehende Jahr 2015, das Jahr, in dem die Industriemesse The Cleaning Show nach London umzieht.

Il corrispondente britannico di ECJ fa una anteprima dell’anno 2015 per il settore del cleaning, un anno che vede la fiera del settore, The Cleaning Show, trasferirsi a Londra.

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WASHROOM SURVEY

World hygiene picture Where in the world are people most likely to use their workplace washrooms to let off steam, eat, rehearse a presentation or carry out an exercise routine?

And which nationality is most likely to shun a gym, public washroom or even dinner at a friend’s house due to concerns about poor hygiene?

Tork manufacturer SCA shares some insights from its latest Hygiene Matters report.

It appears that many of us are unhappy about hygiene standards at work, in public facilities, leisure centres - and even in healthcare environments.

The world today is often described as a global village. The internet connects all of us and enables us to communicate instantly with people from anywhere else in the world.

But despite this recent globalisation, there are still vast cultural differences from one nation to the next. We differ on everything from music tastes and fashion to leisure pursuits and cuisine.

And as a new study carried out by SCA reveals, even our hygiene habits divide us.

People internationally have different perceptions and attitudes about their public washrooms. They have differing opinions about the suitability and accessibility of the toilets at work. And they also display varying levels of anxiety about hygiene in public facilities.

Bizarrely, even the activities that we carry out in the washroom seem to differ from one nation to the next. For example, the latest SCA Hygiene Matters research reveals that 20 per cent of working people in the US are prone to take a break in the workplace washroom in order to vent their frustration. This is almost double the number globally who admit to this practice.

The study also shows that 14 per cent of Chinese employees admit to smoking in the toilets at work, and again this is double the global figure.

In some cases, staff of one gender are more likely to carry out a specific practice than employees of the opposite sex. For instance, 24 per cent of British women claim to have used the washroom at work as a place in which to hold a private conversation compared with 21 per cent of British people in general. It seems that this is a peculiarly British practice since only 10 per cent of respondents globally claim to use the workplace washrooms for a private chat.

A total of 29 per cent of South African women say they sometimes go to the toilets at work to have a cry, whereas only 16 per cent of South Africans of both sexes – and a mere seven per cent of people

globally – admit to having done this.

And 12 per cent of British men have a tendency to eat in the washrooms – more than double the number of people worldwide who carry out this unsavoury practice. Meanwhile, 10 per cent of American men – three times the number on a global scale - claim to have carried out an exercise regime in the toilets at work.

Other findings of the study include the fact that three per cent of British people are likely to use the washroom at work to rehearse a presentation. And a surprising four per cent of us in the UK have no qualms about taking a nap in the toilet.

Respondents quizzed The Hygiene Matters survey is the latest in a series of four SCA studies that have been carried out periodically since 2008 in a bid to highlight and improve hygiene standards globally.

Though commissioned by SCA, the survey was conducted by business intelligence firm United Minds in association with research company Cint. The study was conducted in May 2014 in 13 countries: Brazil, China, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Sweden, Mexico, The Netherlands, Russia, South Africa, United Kingdom and the United States.

Responses from a total of 13,492 respondents – half of whom were women - were compiled via a comprehensive online questionnaire. The study quizzed respondents about their attitudes to personal hygiene, public washrooms and who they feel to be accountable for public hygiene – whether it is the authorities or ourselves the public.

This last question highlighted a clear split between the US and Europe and the rest of the world. Respondents in Europe and the US tended to feel that we should all take personal responsibility for improving hygiene standards, with only 21-35 per cent of them wanting to see hygiene placed higher up the public agenda.

On the other hand, respondents in the rest of the world saw hygiene as a clear Continued page 24

February/March 2015 | ECJ |23

WASHROOM SURVEY World hygiene picture (continued) responsibility of the authorities. A total of 82 per cent of Chinese respondents felt that hygiene issues should be given a higher profile by the government and the media. This was closely followed by Brazil with 81 per cent calling for more government input and 77 per cent of South Africans and 74 per cent of Mexicans demanding the same.

Europeans less fearful However, hygiene in general is a much more pressing concern for these four countries than the others polled in the survey. The study revealed that more than 50 per cent of people in Brazil, Mexico, China and South Africa are either often or always worried about becoming ill due to poor hygiene. Anxiety was greatest in Brazil where a total of 70 per cent of respondents expressed this concern.

European respondents, on the other hand, tended to be much less fearful about becoming ill due to hygiene issues. The Spanish were the most anxious out of eight European countries polled with 36 per cent of respondents expressing concern. On the other hand only 21 per cent of Germans, 19 per cent of British and eight per cent of Swedish respondents worried about hygiene-related illnesses.

Workplace washrooms, however, seemed to be an area in which everyone wanted to see improvements. Nearly one in five employees globally said they were dissatisfied with the standard of washQuels sont les peuples du monde les plus enclins à utiliser les toilettes de leur entreprise pour se défouler, manger, répéter un discours ou faire de la remise en forme ? Et quel est le peuple du monde le plus enclin à éviter un gymnase, des toilettes publiques voire même un souper chez un ami en raison de soucis d’hygiène ? SCA fait part de certaines de ses constatations, tirées de son dernier rapport “Hygiene Matters”.

February/March 2015 | ECJ | 24

rooms in their workplace, while 49 per cent of the global workforce would like their employer to pay more attention to the standards of the washrooms at work.

Chinese respondents were the most unhappy with their workplace toilets with 84 per cent of them expressing a wish that their employer would pay more attention to these facilities. In the UK the figure was 40 per cent, while 36 per cent of US respondents wanting better toilet provision.

Again the Swedish were the happiest with their washrooms, although 31 per cent still called for improvements and 14 per cent of Swedish respondents preferred not to use the toilets at work at all.

Other hygiene concerns outside the workplace washroom varied from nation to nation. For example, South African respondents were more fearful than other nationalities about the hygiene risks involved when eating at another person’s house. Around one in five South Africans admitted that they had refrained from having dinner at someone else’s home due to hygiene concerns, compared with a global figure of only one in 10.

Chinese concerns A total of 59 per cent of Chinese respondents said that hygiene worries had prompted them to avoid showering or swimming at a particular gym or swimming pool. Again, this figure was much higher than the global result of 25 per cent.

In welchem Land der Welt nutzen die Menschen die Waschräume am Arbeitsplatz am ehesten dazu, um Dampf abzulassen, um zu essen, um eine Präsentation zu proben oder um ein Übungsprogramm durchzuführen? Und die Einwohner welches Landes vermeiden am ehesten ein Sportstudio, einen öffentlichen Waschraum oder sogar ein Abendessen im Haus eines Freundes, da sie Bedenken aufgrund mangelnder Hygiene haben? SCA vermittelt einige Einblicke aus dem neuesten Bericht „Hygiene Matters“.

And public washrooms were a major concern among Brazilian respondents with a total of 70 per cent admitting that they had at one time refrained from using a public toilet due to hygiene issues, whereas less than half of all global respondents expressed a similar worry.

Whether these concerns are justified or not is unclear from the report. It could be that Brazilian public washrooms are particularly unsavoury or Chinese gyms are notorious for poor hygiene, but it could also be the case that we simply have different levels of fastidiousness. Though in the end, it hardly matters: what is clear from the report is that our confidence in public hygiene needs to be boosted.

With the spate of high-profile health issues that face us today – Ebola being the latest – it is clear that hygiene is a major concern for all of us, and rightly so. One worrying statistic from the study is the fact that the hospital is considered to be a particularly dangerous place for picking up germs. A total of 54 per cent of UK respondents put hospitals at the top of the danger list, for example, beating public toilets by one percentage point.

So it appears that many of us are unhappy about hygiene standards at work, in public facilities, leisure centres - and even in healthcare environments. So by working together to improve standards and raising the hygiene bar on an international level, we will all help to make the world a healthier place to live.

In che parte del mondo le persone sono più inclini a utilizzare i bagni dei loro luoghi di lavoro per rilassarsi, mangiare, prepararsi per una presentazione o fare la ginnastica della routine giornaliera? E di quale nazionalità sono coloro che sono più inclini a evitare una palestra, i bagni pubblici o persino una cena a casa di amici perchè si preoccupano per la cattiva igiene? SCA condivide con noi alcune opinioni che emergono dal suo recente rapporto Hygiene Matters.

GREEN CLEANING

Who cares if you’re ‘green’?

Companies worldwide have been proclaiming their ‘green’ credentials over the past few years and the cleaning and hygiene sector has been no exception. But do customers actually care about ‘greenness?’

We ask companies their views.

The attitude towards ‘green’ and ‘sustainable’ companies is changing all the time. In the past, many people considered the environmentally-friendly brigade to be nothing more than worthy, tree-hugging cranks. But over the years it has become second nature for us to recycle and reuse wherever we can in order to aid the environment while also avoiding waste and saving money.

Many cleaning manufacturers have been coming up with products that use less energy, fewer chemicals, less water and fewer hazardous elements. They are therefore positioning their products as being sustainable or ‘green’. But how far does the sustainability of a product actually convince a customer to buy?

Diversey Care global marketing director Irina Klemps says her company’s customers make their buying decisions based on a combination of factors, and not sustainability alone. “Quality is key,” she said. “If a product does not perform it will not be purchased, and that goes for a green product as well as a standard one. The price is attached to the value of a product and a higher sustainable profile will not justify a higher price: other features such as the safety of cleaning staff might be valued more highly.

“We also offer our customers consulting services about sustainability to enable them to calculate their sustainability savings when migrating from one product to another or for their total site.”

According to Klemps the majority of customers are unwilling to pay extra for a sustainable offer, though she adds that

some countries and regions value green cleaning more than others.

“Some are driven by legal obligations and others by the public and the media,” she said. “Examples are the Nordic region which has a very distinct approach to not incorporating dyes or perfumes in their products and in using the Nordic Swan to certify chemicals.”

The hospitality sector tends to be particularly interested in sustainability, says Klemps. “This is because its end users – the hotel guests - are also interested in that topic,” she said.

As an example she quotes the Accor hotel group, one of Diversey Care’s customers. “The group is aiming to ensure that a large percentage of its bought-in products and services come with high sustainability claims in order to increase its environmental profile,” said Klemps.

Increasing demand Klemps believes that green products will become of even greater interest to customers in future. “Demand is increasing even though the perception of what is green or sustainable is not equal across country borders,” she said.

“Currently we cannot detect one specific trend, but overall we find that our customers like to be more sustainable.

The future will show exactly what this means for our industry.”

Bio-Productions’ ethos is to ensure all cleaning and maintenance products it produces are as safe to use as possible.

“To this end we invariably end up with formulations that are less harmful to the operator/consumer and consequently less damaging to the environment,” said managing director Mike James. The company’s range includes cleaning agents made from natural ingredients plus hardwearing floor polishes and maintainers that contain no solvents.

According to James it is hard to say how many of his company’s customers buy Bio-Productions’ products because of their perceived greenness. “We like to think customers buy our products because

they work well and offer good value for money,” he said. “A cleaning agent can be as green as you like, but if it doesn’t work you will only buy it once.”

Efficacy is of paramount importance in the cleaning industry, says James. “When you consider that labour is still the most expensive part of any cleaning operation it makes little sense to keep buying products that require more energy - and the responsible use of energy is an important part of being green,” he said.

“If a product is weak you will require more energy to achieve the desired result, be it physical or from an electric motor or heater. However if a product contains a great deal of energy it will invariably do the job - even with cold water.”

When asked whether customers are becoming bored with the idea of sustainability he responds: “I’m not sure that ‘bored’ is the term, but maybe they are fed up with being charged more for green and being conned by some.”

According to James, interest in green products is higher in the public sector.

“Without doubt there is more interest in being green and sustainable from people who seem to be spending other people’s money, while those at the front line who can see the benefits or failures of products and policies - are more able to make informed decisions on what’s good and what is not.”

He adds that in the face of continued recession, cash will remain king. “If a product offers value for money it will inevitably sell.” However he feels there will continue to be a place for sustainable products in the future. “We believe that in this age of litigation there will be more concern over the adverse reactions operatives will have when using certain chemicals and products,” he said.

“Therefore we will continue in our target of protecting the consumer - and that way we can also help protect the environment.”

Hako’s regional manager for western Europe Clemens Douglas says Continued page 28

February/March 2015 | ECJ | 27

GREEN CLEANING Who cares if you’re green? (continued) sustainability is a key criterion for the company when preparing tenders for major service providers and large retail chains. “Our experience has shown that growing numbers of customers – depending on the product segment and customer group – are basing their purchasing decision on exactly that point,” he said. He adds quality and reliability are other key considerations. “However, for many customers our capability to provide a reliable service is even more important than the price of the technology.”

According to Douglas, the company has seen an increase in demand for green products and services. “People’s interest in machines and cleaning solutions that are both environmentally compatible and economically efficient is very high,” he said. “Many efficiency-increasing measures have a direct and positive effect on environmental protection and the preservation of resources, for example in Depuis un certain nombre d’années, des entreprises à travers le monde arborent la bannière de l’écologisme, et le secteur de la proprieté et de l’hygiène n’y fait pas exception. On doit cependant se demander si leurs clients se soucient d’avoir affaire à des fournisseurs “verts”. Nous posons la question à certains d’entre eux.

February/March 2015 | ECJ | 28

reducing the consumption of water and cleaning agents for scrubber dryers.

“Economic efficiency and sustainability will remain important criteria when it comes to choosing a machine supplier.”

Kärcher’s environmental matters public relations officer Linda Schroedter says most of her company’s products incorporate green features. “Sustainability guides our thinking at Kärcher and we set great store by economic efficiency and environmental protection.”

She estimates that approximately a third of the company’s building service contractor customers in Germany choose Kärcher products because of their sustainability features. “Sustainability is becoming more and more important, but price is still the decisive factor for 95 per cent of building service buyers.”

Schroedter adds that it is still necessary to make both building service contractors and end customers aware In den letzten Jahren haben viele Unternehmen weltweit ihre Umweltfreundlichkeit betont, und die Reinigungs- und Hygienebranche bildet keine Ausnahme. Aber sind Kunden eigentlich an dieser Umweltfreundlichkeit interessiert? Wir bitten Unternehmen um ihre Ansichten.

that green cleaning is not only good for the environment but also saves time, detergents and other resources.

“While there is a great interest in green products and services, the industry is not yet pursuing them.”

However, she adds that the contract cleaning sector is, in fact, showing an increasing interest in sustainability. “This is because it is becoming more common for contract cleaners to share - or pay for – the energy element of the cleaning process,” says Schroedter.

“Also in the tendering procedure, some big companies explicitly ask building service contractors to use sustainable cleaning machines so they can use the resultant energy savings to market themselves as a sustainable company.

“More clients will understand the benefits of green cleaning and this will eventually change attitudes towards resource-saving cleaning.”

In tutto il mondo le imprese hanno proclamato le loro credenziali “verdi” nel corso degli ultimi anni e il settore del cleaning e dell’igiene non ha fatto eccezione. Ma i clienti si preoccupano veramente della credenziale “verde”? Chiediamo alle imprese il loro punto di vista.

N TURALLY CRADLETOCRADLE CERTIFIED GOLD TM

GOLD

Proudly we present our new building care and kitchen hygiene products which are Cradle to Cradle CertifiedTM at GOLD level. These are the first professional cleaning products which have received a Cradle to Cradle CertifiedTM mark, licensed by the Cradle to Cradle Products Innovation Institute. This new range combines excellent cleaning power with sustainable credentials. Moreover we have three highly concentrated products: Multi Daily, Multi Forte and San Daily. For more information please go to www.ecover-professional.com

BE/20/001

PRODUCTS: GREEN CLEANING

• Eco Cost Cleaning Solution est un système de gestion de l’environnement appliqué par la société IPC Gansow à ses autolaveuses.

• Novozymes et une fournisseur d’enzymes et de micro-organismes bénéfiques améliorant l’efficacité de solutions de nettoyage.

• Vectair System a lancé un produit nouveau, le désodorisant V-Air Solid composé d’une capsule en céramique et d’un noyau de parfum.

• De nombreux tampons à plancher Wecoline, proposés par Americo, sont désormais produits à partir du nouveau matériau de base Americo Full Cycle dont la biodégradation a été accélérée.

• L’appareil Giselle proposé par De Nora Next produit une solution désinfectante à partir d’eau et de sel.

• Excel Dryer affirme que son nouveau sèche-mains XleratorEco est le moyen le plus responsable, écologiquement parlant, de se sécher les mains.

• La nouvelle B 60/10 C Mopvac de Kärcher comble le vide entre un balai-éponge, un seau et une autolaveuse, et se dispense de source d’énergie.

• Bei Eco Cost Cleaning Solution handelt es sich um ein Umweltmanagementsystem, mit dem die Scheuersaugmaschinen von IPC Gansow ausgestattet sind.

• Novozymes liefert Enzyme und nützliche Mikroorganismen, die die Effizienz von Reinigungslösungen verbessern.

• Neu von Vectair Systems ist der Lufterfrischer V-Air Solid, der aus einer Keramikhülse und einem Duftkern besteht.

• Viele Wecoline by Americo Bodenpads werden jetzt mit dem neuen Basismaterial Americo Full Cycle hergestellt, das noch schneller biologisch abbaubar ist.

• Bei Giselle von De Nora Next handelt es sich um ein System, das unter Verwendung von Wasser und Salz eine Desinfektionslösung erzeugt.

• Laut eigenen Angaben von Excel Dryer bietet der neue Händetrockner XleratorEco die umweltbewussteste Möglichkeit zum Trocknen der Hände.

• Eco Cost Cleaning Solution è un sistema di gestione ambientale applicata dalla IPC Gansow alle sue lavasciuga pavimenti.

• La Novozymes fornisce enzimi e microorganismi benefici che migliorano l’efficacia delle soluzioni di pulizia.

• La novità della Vectair Systems è il profumatore per ambienti V-Air Solid che consiste in una capsula di ceramica e un nucleo centrale di fragranza.

• Molti dischi per pavimenti Wecoline della Americo sono ora prodotti utilizzando il nuovo materiale di base Americo Full Cycle che inizia a biodegradarsi ancora più velocemente.

• Giselle della De Nora Next è un sistema che produce una soluzione sanitizzante utilizzando sale e acqua di rubinetto.

• La Excel Dryer afferma che il suo nuovo asciugamani XleratorEco è il metodo di asciugarsi le mani più responsabile verso l’ambiente.

• Il nuovo B 60/10 C Mopvac della Kärcher è la soluzione di mezzo fra usare il mop con il secchio e la lavasciuga pavimenti e non necessita di fonti di energia.

February/March 2015 | ECJ | 30

Scrubber option Eco Cost Cleaning Solution is a system fitted to IPC Gansow scrubber dryers that reduces water and detergent consumption.

There are three elements in the system - Microscrub, Chem Dose and Energy Saver. The microfibre pads used by ECS are said to last longer than conventional brushes or abrasive pads - they can be washed up to 250 times and last between four and six months.

and HFCs. It also contains no batteries, all it needs to work is natural airflow. The refill is 100 per cent organic and biodegradable and the dispenser is completely recyclable.

Sub-micron technology means the V-Air Solid particles enable optimum fragrance delivery yet are sized typically below 1.0 micron, remaining airborne for many hours. This, says Vectair, makes the system effective whilst being safe for public areas and continuous exposure. www.vectairsystems.com

Fully recycled More than 90 per cent of detergent can be saved thanks to Chem Dose, says IPC Gansow, which also maintains the machine water circuits. And Energy Saver technology allows the machine to use 15 per cent less energy than other models. www.ipcgansow.com

All-natural Novozymes supplies enzymes and beneficial microorganisms which it says naturally improve the efficiency of cleaning solutions - enabling stains and unwanted organic substances to be removed.

The company offers enzymes that work in professional laundries from 20 to 85°C, for example. New is a range of multi-enzyme solutions called Novozymes Leviti which can be used as part of a liquid detergent or as a separate liquid booster. www.novozymes.com

Safe fragrance Vectair Systems has introduced V-Air Solid – a multi-phasing and passive air freshener with sub-micron fragrance technology. It is VOC exempt - making it safe for use in any public place and free of solvents, propellants

Americo recently introduced Full Cycle base material for its floor pads. They are made from 100 per cent recycled PET plastic bottles, now with accelerated degradation after use. And only water-based resins are used in the production process.

In Europe the company’s partner is Wecoline and the range is Full Cycle Wecoline pads by Americo. www.wecoline.com

On demand

The Giselle system from De Nora Next produces a sodium hypochlorite sanitising solution on site and on demand using only salt, tap water and electricity.

The company claims the system enables a wide range of locations and objects to be hygienically cleaned including hand-touch sites, tables, glass, surfaces that come into contact with foodstuffs, non-surgical medical equipment, toilets in hospitals, clinics, care homes, dental studios, veterinary surger-

ies, hotels, schools, canteens and sports centres.

Giselle has also undergone field testing in care homes and other trials have shown a reduction in germs of over 90 per cent, De Nora Next says. www.denoranext.com

No heat The Xlerator Eco from Excel Dryer is now available throughout Europe from Dreumex. This uses ‘no heat’ technology to dry the hands in 15 seconds using just 500 watts of energy.

Up to three units can be installed on one 20 amp circuit and this is said to significantly reduce the time as well as the cost of installation. www.dreumex.com

Combination

The MopVac B 60/10 C is a new product category which combines the best features of a mop and bucket system with the best features of a scrubber dryer, says manufacturer Kärcher.

With its working width of 60 cm the B 60/10 C can clean five times faster in open areas compared to a regular mop says Kärcher - and it leaves the floor dry. The mop features a mechanical pump for vacuuming waste water which allows it to operate independently from mains electricity and battery running times.

The operator only needs to push the machine forward in order for solution from the fresh water tank to be applied to the mop with cleaning pad. There is no manual wiping or wringing.

And because it has a sound level of 52 db(A) the Mopvac can be used in public areas. www.karcher.com

PRODUCTS: GREEN CLEANING

Start to finish According to Hako it takes the full product life cycle of all its machines into consideration at the design stage. It also aims to use environmentally conscious materials and focuses on how the product can eventually be dismantled and recycled.

The company has developed a number of environmentally friendly features for its machines. Hako-AquaControl, for example, saves up to 50 per cent of water and cleaning solution, while Hako-Chemical on Demand ensures chemicals are only used when necessary.

The Hako-AquaForce system uses demineralised water to make use of chemicals almost unnecessary, says the company, and Hako-PowerFilter has been designed to guarantee almost dust-free sweeping by removing 99.5 per cent of particles from the air. www.hako.com

Nothing harmful Amano Pioneer Eclipse has developed a line of chemical floor care and cleaning agents which it claims eliminate many ingredients that typically cause adverse reactions and may negatively impact the environment. The new products are certified as EnviroStar Green and display the EnviroStar Green seal.

The company says many of its formulas are also subjected to third party testing and have gained numerous ecolabels. www.pioneereclipse.com

Less energy Fimap has just launched a new range of vacuum cleaners in response to the new EU regulations aiming to reduce energy consumption and improve performance.

The models FV10 and FV15, for example, come equipped with a set of accessories, including different nozzles while the FV15 boasts a lower noise level.

For the best filtration the FA15+ can be fitted with Hepa filters. www.fimap.com

Certified fibre Microfibre cloths and mops from Greenspeed have been certified with the Nordic Swan ecolabel - a voluntary scheme that evaluates a product’s impact on the environment throughout its life cycle. Greenspeed says it

lows concentrated solutions to be transported and diluted at remote locations within the same facility and satellite dispensing stations can be placed where needed.

Most conventional cleaning chemicals can be replaced by just two products, says Orbio: MultiSurface Cleaner and MultiMicro 200 disinfectant. www.tennantco.com

Green culture Filmop’s initiatives in the pursuit of green cleaning include environmental certifications, Plastic Second Life certification, production of green energy and continued investment in ecosustainable product design.

New for last year was the Equodose mechanical dosing device, designed to soak on demand only those mops needed by the cleaning operatives on site - with the facility to regulate cleaning solution dosage. This, the company says, will minimise environmental impact by saving on water, detergent and energy. www.filmop.com

Concentrates guarantees that climate requirements are taken into account and that CO2 emissions are limited where it is most relevant. www.greenspeed.eu

On-site solution Tennant company Orbio Technologies developed Orbio os3 as the latest innovation in OSG (On-Site Generation) technology. Through the process of water electrolysis — which combines water, electricity and a small amount of salt — the os3 system creates an on-site and on-demand cleaning and disinfecting solution.

The os3’s satellite system al-

Brightwell Dispensers has designed its ECOrange line of chemical dosing and dilution systems to encourage operators to replace ready-made cleaning solutions with concentrates.

ECOMIX is a modular venturi system, whereby the precision proportioner is connected to mains water, creating a vacuum and diluting a pre-determined ratio of chemical into a final solution. There is also a Compact model, which Brightwell says can be used in more locations thanks to its small size.

ECOSHOT, meanwhile, is a manual dosing system that operates with a simple push mechanism. It doses a shot of chemical between five ml and 30 ml into a container which is then topped up with water.

Both systems come with optional safety accessories such as hanging brackets to support five-litre containers or a lockable chemical cabinet. www.brightwell.co.uk

• Hako déclare prioriser les exigences de l’environnement à toutes les étapes de son développement de produits.

• Amano Pioneer Eclipse a mis au point une gamme de produits de soin et de nettoyage des planchers exempts d’ingrédients nuisibles.

• Fimap a lancé une nouvelle gamme d’aspirateurs, y compris une unité à dos, la FV9.

• Plusieurs des produits de nettoyage en mirofibre de la société Greenspeed ont reçu l’écoleballisation Nordic Swan.

• La technologie Orbio de génération de solutions de nettoyage proposée par Tennant combine de l’eau, de l’électricité et du sel.

• Produit nouveau Filmop, l’Equodose est un dispositif de dosage chimique mécanique pour systèmes de balayage humide.

• La gamme Brightwell de systèmes de dosage et de dilution ECOrange est conçue pour être pratique et écologique.

• Hako teilt mit, dass die Umweltverträglichkeit seiner Produkte bei allen Stufen des Entwicklungsprozesses eine vorrangige Rolle spielt.

• Amano Pioneer Eclipse hat eine Produktreihe mit Bodenpflege- und -reinigungsmitteln, die frei von schädlichen Inhaltsstoffen sind, entwickelt.

• Neu von Fimap ist eine Produktreihe mit Staubsaugern, darunter der Rucksack-Staubsauger FV9.

• Einige Mikrofaser-Reinigungsprodukte von Greenspeed wurden mit dem Nordischen Umweltzeichen „Schwan“ ausgezeichnet.

• Bei Orbio von Tennant handelt es sich um eine Technologie zur Vor-Ort-Erzeugung von Reinigungslösungen aus einer Kombination von Wasser, Elektrizität und Salz.

• Neu von Filmop ist Equodose, ein mechanisches Chemikaliendosiergerät für Moppsysteme.

• Die Produktpalette der ECOrange Dosier- und Verdünnungssysteme von Brightwell wurden konzipiert, um sowohl praktisch als auch umweltbewusst zu sein.

• La Hako afferma che dà la priorità all’impatto ambientale di tutti i suoi prodotti in tutte le fasi del procedimento di sviluppo.

• La Amano Pioneer Eclipse ha sviluppato una gamma di prodotti per la cura dei pavimenti e per la pulizia senza alcun ingrediente nocivo.

• La novità della Fimap è una gamma di aspirapolveri e fra questi l’aspirapolvere dorsale, il modello FV9.

• Un numero di prodotti di pulizia in microfibra della Greenspeed sono stati certificati con il Nordic Swan Ecolabel.

• Orbio della Tennant è una tecnologia di ultima generazione di soluzioni di pulizia sul posto che abbina acqua, elettricità e sale.

• Il nuovo prodotto della Filmop è Equodose, un dispositivo meccanico per i sistemi mop per il dosaggio di prodotti chimici.

• La gamma di sistemi di dosaggio e diluizione ECOrange della Brightwell è stata progettata per essere pratica e rispettosa dell’ambiente.

February/March 2015 | ECJ | 33

CASE STUDY

Ready for take-off UK-based facilities services provider OCS has been working in aviation for over 50 years and now lists in excess of 50 airlines among its clients, in more than 25 airports worldwide. The company has the contract to clean over 70 per cent of aircraft landing at London’s Heathrow Airport, with British Airways being its largest client there.

ECJ editor Michelle Marshall visited the airport to gain an insight into this most demanding of cleaning operations.

OCS has been a contractor at Heathrow Airport just outside London for over 25 years and now cleans over 70 per cent of the landing aircraft there. British Airways is its largest customer, however the company carries out services for most of the airlines using the airport. Heathrow is one of the world’s busiest airports, with passenger numbers reaching 73.4 million in 2014, and over 1,280 flights every day.

Time is one of the highest priorities for every airline OCS works with, which means this operation must be highly efficient and ultimately streamlined if each flight is to meet its time slot for departure. Andy Windebank is OCS area director aviation and gateways, responsible for the smooth running of the contract. He explained that clean times vary from seven minutes to one hour and 30 minutes, depending on the aircraft and whether it’s a short or long haul journey.

“In some of our contracts, our team must meet the aircraft within four minutes of the chocks going down in order to board and clean. And if they’re not on time, there

February/March 2015 | ECJ | 34

are penalties to pay in our contract.”

There are 2,500 OCS staff working at Heathrow – for British Airways alone the company handles up to 250 shorthaul departures on a busy day, and over 100 long hauls. There are 19 long haul teams and 16 short haul working on this one airline, and that’s before taking into account the others OCS has contracts with. On an 11.5 hour shift operatives clean between 16 and 17 short haul planes, on an 8.5 hour shift it’s between 10 and 11.

This makes this contract a major human resources operation, requiring a HR manager on-site, payroll department, roster manager, health and safety, accident investigation, etc. Some of our employees are members of a trades union and Heathrow works under a collective agreement. “Staff planning is absolutely critical and we do our schedules six months in advance, with last-minute finalising completed three days in advance,” explains Windebank.

Because OCS staff are working in such a high-security environment, all new recruits must undergo stringent checks before they join the team, including their right to work in the UK (there are cleaning operatives of many nationalities). “All our those vetting procedures must then be verified and proved with the management at Heathrow itself,” Windebank adds.

The fact this is better paid than many office cleaning jobs, due to the increased responsibility, makes it an attractive job and the company does not experience difficulties with recruitment. “We have many applications, however the selection process is so stringent only a percentage get through that,” says Windebank.

After completing the company induction programme all recruits must then achieve a search qualification because all operatives must be trained in finding suspect devices – and they must know what action to take if they do find something suspicious. Windebank emphasises: “One of the most important

jobs we do is removing anything that should not be on the aircraft. And if something is found the teams must know the appropriate action to follow.”

To protect the security of the aircraft, it is also the responsibility of everyone working airside at Heathrow to challenge anyone they see who is not displaying the relevant ID. That includes the OCS team members.

In order to manage the challenging logistics of secure cleaning so many aircraft in any 24 hour period, OCS runs an air traffic control style of operation from its own office at the airport. There is a bank of screens and various controllers assigning jobs to the cleaning teams via PDA. This is the hub of the operation and the team leaders get their instructions from here. All vehicles are also tracked from here as they make their way from aircraft to aircraft. OCS has 230 vehicles on the site, ranging from trucks and vans to the high-lifts that carry the necessary supplies to and from each aircraft.

High standard requirements We visit one of the teams as they are cleaning a British Airways long haul aircraft that has arrived from JFK Airport in New York, and will return there. The system runs like clockwork, with cleaners always boarding the aircraft through the same back door and other contractors using alternative entrances. Responsible for British Airways long haul aircraft turnaround is Paul Boswell and he explains BA has established requirements for extremely high standards of aircraft appearance. In fact the team has a list of 87 search and cleaning tasks to be completed on each clean.

“Not only does the team clean and carry out a security check,” explains Boswell, “the operatives must ensure safety cards and magazines are placed in seat pockets, cross seat belts and distribute blankets.”

OCS carries out laundering of all BA blankets and handles recycling of as much cardboard and plastic waste as possible.

Headsets must be collected and sanitised.

CASE STUDY Then OCS sends its toilet and water teams to each flight to empty and replenish water tanks and toilets. The company also runs the BA stores at Heathrow, from where magazines, headsets and aircraft information cards are distributed.

On a long haul flight there is more time for the team to carry out what’s called a prime clean, which consists of a team of between 10 and 11 being on the aircraft for up to an hour-and-a-half, depending on the schedule. The separate ramp sweep team goes in to collect used blankets and headsets from the front of each aircraft.

Firstly operatives remove everything from the seats and seat areas, then perform their prime clean according to the 87-point specification from BA, before finally ‘dressing’ the aircraft ready for the next passengers to board.

As Boswell explains: “Long haul cleaning teams stay in long haul, they do not move to short haul. And each team will carry out up to five jobs a day.”

Short haul flights, on the other hand, are landing at Heathrow every few minutes and the team must mobilise quickly because they literally have minutes to do their job. Once the aircraft has stopped and the passengers are off, they enter through the back door via their bespoke design steps and get to work immediately.

The team leader cleans the galley, one operative takes care of cleaning and restocking the washrooms while the other two search the seats for lost property and suspicious objects, clear rubbish, etc.

It’s during the night stops that the prime clean takes place, which is a higher level of operation, similar to that on a long haul flight prime clean during the day. “During the day we are literally performing a cabin tidy on short haul,” explains Nick Pearce who is responsible for British Airways short haul aircraft turnaround. “We do not

change magazines, for example. When you take into consideration the turnaround time for the whole flight is a maximum of 40 minutes – which includes cleaning and catering staff doing their job, crew and passengers boarding – the time pressures we are under are obvious.”

Periodic deep cleans Deep cleans of aircraft are carried out periodically, with the frequency depending on each airline’s contract.

Deep cleans involve far more detailed work and take many hours. The aircraft is cleaned in sections and carpets are shampooed, seats dismantled, detailed areas thoroughly wiped, etc. There are two specialist deep cleaning teams, each made up of 30 people.

The first OCS crew starts at 5am, then there are different start times throughout this 24-hour-a-day operation. And as Boswell explains, team performance is tracked and monitored closely on every single clean. “Because London is a base station airport,” Windebank adds, “aircraft go through a much more thorough clean here than when they reach the other leg of their journey.”

Whatever the level of cleaning operation, a record is kept of who has search cleaned each area on an aircraft - in case a suspect object is later found - and the team leader then signs off the aircraft as being searched and safe. “The team leader is ultimately responsible for the final check and walk-through,” explains Paul Boswell.

The OCS operation may run like clockwork, but is also at the mercy of weather and any other unexpected events that can bring Heathrow Airport to a standstill. “For example, transatlantic delays can cause tremendous upheaval,” explains Windebank. “Teams may be

standing for periods of time doing absolutely nothing, then a whole batch of flights can arrive at once and we are under pressure to turn them around quickly to improve or maintain on time performance.”

British Airways, as the client, has its own aircraft appearance group and 20 joint visits by client and contractor are carried out each week. Aircraft appearance general manager at Heathrow for OCS is James Wilkes who explains: “We clean 440 aircraft a day in total and my responsibility focuses around customer interface and efficiencies.” What’s his greatest challenge? “We must clean aircraft to our customers’ specifications in the very limited time available. And our customers have very high expectations. We must also take into account that each airline has different expectations and varying specifications for their cleaning.”

He continues: “The drive for better productivity is also always utmost in my mind, which we try to achieve with new products and better working methods.”

Julian Welham is business delivery manager for Heathrow operations for BA and is the main client contact for OCS at Heathrow – he looks after all contracted operational services. Windebank describes BA as a “practical and understanding client. If something goes wrong for a good reason they understand, as long as we put measures in place to prevent it happening again.”

Customer survey “The primary drivers for us,” explains Welham, “are around delivery of customer expectation and operational performance, along with safety and value for money.

“From our suppliers I look for high quality operations with no impact on our punctuality. Aircraft appearance quality and cleanliness must be what’s expected, a given, particularly in those premium cabins where passengers are spending thousands of pounds on a ticket. Our customers are quite critical and what they notice quickly is cabin appearance.”

Welham continues: “A key challenge for us is the brand new aircraft coming into the fleet which customers will expect to look brand new at all times.” He added that with some of the older aircraft, the challenge there is that passengers expect the same high standards to be maintained.

BA has a Customer Voice online monthly survey to gauge passenger opinion about various aspects of their travel experience, and cleaning is always high on the list of priorities. “But cleaning is also a given as far as they’re concerned,” Continued page 36

February/March 2015 | ECJ | 35

CASE STUDY Ready for take-off (continued) explains Welham. “If OCS is not doing its job properly, that will be reflected in our customers’ experience.”

And there is a balance between cleaning and getting the plane away punctually – this can be challenging to achieve at times. Here Welham admits: “Sometimes certain aspects have to be compromised if a flight is running late because even when everything is on schedule the time allowance is very short.

“We do have a productive and longstanding relationship with OCS,” Welham continues. “The team understands the challenges we face and adapt to them well. We’re well aligned in partnership while also respecting each of us has our own business objectives.

“If necessary we have frank, open Le prestataire de multi-services OCS, une société basée au Royaume-Uni, détient un contrat pour le nettoyage de 70 pour cent des avions qui atterrissent à l’aéroport de Londres-Heathrow, où British Airways et son premier client. Michelle Marshall, rédactrice en chef d’ECJ, s’est rendue à Heathrow pour prendre connaissance des exigences particulières de cette activité de nettoyage.

February/March 2015 | ECJ | 36

Das in Großbritannien ansässige Gebäudetechnikunternehmen OCS ist mit der Reinigung von 70 Prozent der Flugzeuge beauftragt, die auf dem Londoner Flughafen Heathrow landen; British Airways ist dabei der größte Kunde.

ECJ-Redakteurin Michelle Marshall besuchte den Flughafen, um einen Einblick in diese höchst anspruchsvolle Reinigungsarbeit zu gewinnen.

discussion and focus on problem-solving.”

As a company BA prioritises cost, quality and profitability. “It’s always a balance to get the right value from each of our suppliers,” Julian Welham points out. “We are currently questioning how we can work more productively. For example can the OCS team perform additional tasks without extra cost, or with marginal cost?

“Moving forward our focus is how we jointly approach specifications, the costs associated with specification changes and how OCS works with us. We are seeking more ‘joined-up’ activity with our partners in the supply chains and there is a drive for commonality and efficiencies. We need flexibility from our service suppliers.”

•Photography by Les Kancir Photography, www.lkphotos.co.uk La OCS, fornitrice di servizi con sede nel Regno Unito, detiene il contratto per la pulizia del 70 per cento degli aeromobili che atterrano all’Aeroporto di Londra Heathrow e con la British Airways in qualità di cliente più grosso. L’editor di ECJ Michelle Marshall ha visitato l’aeroporto per avere un’analisi in profondità di queste operazioni di pulizia estremamente impegnative.

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HYGIENE IN HEALTHCARE

Ebola - a risk for Europe?

Are medical professionals in Europe concerned about the risks of Ebola? How easily is it spread, and is it on the radar of those European companies serving the healthcare sector? ECJ takes a closer look at Ebola and finds out what is being done to keep it away from Europe’s shores.

World Health Organisation regional director for Europe Zsuzsanna Jakab has claimed that European countries are among the best prepared in the world to respond to viral haemorrhagic fevers such as Ebola.

Over the past 12 months the world has been facing the largest known outbreak of Ebola in its history. Research scientists have been racing against time to control the spread of the deadly disease which has claimed thousands of victims since the crisis began in March 2014.

The virus is mostly confined to three nations - Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea - though outbreaks have been reported in other countries including Mali. But its tentacles are reaching far beyond the African continent and into other areas of the world - even Europe. We are all holding our breath and waiting for news that Ebola has been spreading on our shores.

In fact Europe has already seen a sprinkling of Ebola cases, mainly due to the fact that large numbers of brave healthcare workers have been travelling to affected countries to help fight the spread of the virus. Inevitably, some of these people have been infected themselves.

In January this year, 39-year-old Ebola victim Pauline Cafferkey from South Lanarkshire in Scotland was being treated with an experimental anti-viral drug at the Royal Free Hospital in London. Cafferkey became critically ill after contracting Ebola when working with the Save the Children charity in Sierra Leone.

Italy had its first Ebola patient in November 2014. A 50-year-old Sicilian doctor contracted the disease while treating the sick in Sierra Leone. He was vaccinated with an experimental vaccine at a hospital in Rome.

In October, four people in Spain were taken to hospital after a Spanish nurse became the first person known to have contracted the virus outside Africa. The World Health Organisation (WHO) then warned that the spread of Ebola across Europe was unavoidable.

And in September, British nurse William Pooley recovered from the disease after being treated at the Royal Free Hospital in London. He was given the anti-viral drug ZMapp of which there are no stocks left anywhere in the world.

But we are constantly being reassured that the risk of contracting the disease in Europe is minimal. WHO regional director for Europe Zsuzsanna Jakab has claimed European countries are among the best prepared in the world to respond to viral haemorrhagic fevers such as Ebola, and that the risk of Ebola spreading in Europe is both avoidable and extremely low.

However she adds that travel between Europe and affected countries make sporadic cases of Ebola in the WHO European region unavoidable, though strict infection control measures should be used to mitigate this risk.

In the UK, meanwhile, chief medical officer Professor Dame Sally Davies has posted a video on YouTube predicting that the country will see “up to a handful of cases”. The video aims to reassure the public about NHS preparedness for Ebola and Dame Sally claims that hospital trusts have procedures and protocols in place to safely treat victims.

But none of these reassurances is sufficient to completely suppress the current climate of fear. On a recent visit to my own doctor’s surgery in the UK I spotted a sign on the wall aimed at medical staff that seemed to be designed to reassure on one hand and terrify with the other.

The sign confirmed that an outbreak of Ebola in the UK was highly unlikely and that Ebola victims were not contagious in the early stages of the disease. However, it added that doctors should be alert to signs of fever from anyone who had recently returned from Liberia, Sierra Leone or Guinea. And despite previous reassurances about the unlikelihood of contagion it urged staff to have no physical contact whatsoever with such a patient.

This appears to be the general take on Ebola. We know it is only contagious via bodily fluids and it is mostly confined within a few African countries. But we also know how terrible and life-threatening it is. And we are aware of the fact that people are travelling overseas all the time.

Continued page 40

February/March 2015 | ECJ |39

HYGIENE IN HEALTHCARE Ebola - a risk for Europe? (continued) All the major health organisations offer advice and guidelines for treating Ebola and preventing its spread to others, while also highlighting the level of risk the virus poses. The WHO states that healthcare workers treating cases of Ebola should wear personal protective equipment to shield the mouth, nose and eyes from contaminated droplets and fluids. Hand hygiene and the use of gloves are considered essential by WHO to protect the healthcare worker and to prevent transmission of the Ebola virus to others.

The position of Public Health England is to reassure us about the low risks of the disease outside of Africa. In its guidance document it claims the most severely affected countries have weak health systems with poor infrastructural resources since they have only recently emerged from periods of conflict and instability.

However, it claims that healthcare workers run the risk of becoming infected when they come in close contact with patients without practising strict infection control precautions. Burial ceremonies in which mourners have direct contact with the body of a deceased person can also play a role in the transmission of Ebola in Africa.

Advice from the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control is more specific – and rather more reassuring. It provides detailed information on the riskier pursuits and claims that the likelihood of infection with the Ebola virus is low, even among those living in or travelling to affected areas.

The organisation reiterates transmission can only be caused via direct exposure with the bodily fluids of infected persons or animals, either dead or living. But unprotected sexual contact with an Ebola patient is considered a risk even up to three months after the patient has recovered.

“You cannot contract Ebola virus by handling money, groceries, or swimming in a pool,” claims the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control. “The Ebola virus is easily killed by soap, bleach, sunlight and high temperatures or drying.

Machine washing clothes that have been contaminated with fluids will destroy the virus, which survives only a short time on surfaces that are in the sun or have dried.”

However, the virus can survive for longer periods on clothes or materials that have La profession médicale européenne est-elle préoccupée par les risques de l’Ebola ? Quelle est la facilité avec laquelle cette maladie pourrait se propager vers l’Europe, et est-elle actuellement sous le radar des entreprises européennes du secteur de santé ? ECJ examine l’Ebola de plus près et se renseigne sur les mesures actuellement prises pour la tenir à l’écart du continent.

February/March 2015 | ECJ | 40

been stained with blood or other bodily fluids. And there is a risk of transmission of Ebola through contact with utensils or contaminated materials in a healthcare setting if the correct infection control procedures have not been followed.

Some companies claim to have noted an increased interest in support for infection prevention measures in the wake of the Ebola crisis. According to Diversey Care global marketing director for infection prevention Hans de Ridder, even companies outside the healthcare sector are increasingly looking for enhanced infection control solutions.

“In particular we are seeing an increase in demand for specialist products such as our Oxivir Plus spill kit,” he said. “This enables customers to remove a body spill quickly and effectively. Body spills and unexpected soiling always represent a potential source of infection and must be cleaned up quickly to eliminate the risk.”

Healthcare facilities have an advantage in that they are generally geared up to deal with the threat of new and evolving pathogens, says de Ridder, and they also have the knowledge, tools and resources to do so.

“However, many other businesses that cater to the public such as hotels, schools, restaurants, airports, shopping malls and cruise ships have fewer resources and less internal knowledge to apply to protecting their customers from infection,” he adds.

“They also often have minimal infection prevention regulation and they rely on public health officials or other external resources for assistance.”

The company offers support material for customers that can be downloaded on Ist das medizinische Fachpersonal in Europa besorgt über die Risiken, die von Ebola ausgehen?

Wie leicht breitet es sich aus, und haben es diejenigen europäischen Unternehmen, die das Gesundheitswesen andienen, auf dem Radar? Das ECJ betrachtet Ebola eingehender und findet heraus, was unternommen wird, um es von Europa fernzuhalten.

www.diversey.com/ebola. “This material reflects the recommendations of the WHO and CDC,” said de Ridder. “We are emphasising the importance of hand hygiene to prevent the spread of Ebola.”

He adds that infection prevention should always be uppermost in the minds of any organisation that welcomes guests, cares for vulnerable people, wants to protect its own employees or has a general ‘duty of care’ for others.

“In reality the majority of common and emerging pathogens can be prevented and eliminated with simple and effective cleaning and hygiene processes,” he said.

“We will continue to work closely with our customers to support their infection prevention programmes, help them introduce and improve the most effective processes and assist them in selecting products.”

Gojo Europe’s managing director Mike Sullivan says his company is also seeing an increased demand for hand hygiene solutions. “The main risk is in the healthcare sector, but organisations in general are becoming increasingly aware that hand hygiene is essential.”

The company claims its Purell hand rub helps reduce the risk of transmitting germs via the hands while also complementing routine hand washing regimes.

“In addition we provide training and support to encourage hand hygiene best practice and we work closely with the WHO through our membership of Private Organisations for Patient Safety.”

According to Sullivan, the current outbreak serves as a timely reminder of the crucial role that hygiene plays in reducing the risks of infections spreading. “This is not only important in hospitals and other healthcare environments, but also in the food sector, education and the general workplace where the highest standards of hygiene should constantly be delivered.”

Ebola has been around since 1976 when it first emerged in Sudan and Zaire. More than 280 people were affected in that outbreak, over half of whom died. Nearly 40 years on it seems unlikely that the disease will be completely eradicated in the foreseeable future. But hopefully with continued investment in research and an increasing understanding of the properties of the virus, Ebola will be brought under control before too long.

In Europa, gli operatori sanitari sono preoccupati per i rischi legati all’Ebola? Con che facilità si trasmette?

E’ nel radar di quelle imprese europee che servono il settore sanitario? ECJ esamina da vicino l’Ebola e scopre cosa viene messo in atto per tenerla lontana dalle coste europee.

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PRODUCTS: HYGIENE IN HEALTHCARE

Personal trolley The Brix modular trolley system is the result of a collaboration between IPC Euromop and IPC Ready System. The basic model is said to be sufficient to handle most everyday cleaning needs, however the trolley can be expanded to create an almost infinite number of solutions - the companies claim.

The Brix Healthcare model features 20-litre drawers for carrying replacement mops, a detachable

panel allowing the operator to calibrate the quantity of cleaning product dispensed.

Brix HDS/SDS also comes in a special HDS (Healthcare Disinfection System) version, made from certified antibacterial plastic. www.brixtrolley.com tray and compartments with key locks to hold items and chemical products. The SDS version comes with the Smart Disinfection System for instant mop impregnation, with a dedicated control

Steam vac The Kärcher SGV 8/5 steam vacuum cleaner has been specifically designed to meet strict hygiene requirements. One of

its key features is an automatic self-cleaning action that prevents the formation of germs inside the machine on completion of work.

This model uses hot steam to remove fats and oils, limescale or soap residues and eliminate the breeding ground for germs and bacteria. Steam is discharged from the floor nozzle under a continuous high pressure of eight bar.

For particularly stubborn dirt, a dose of 0.5 to three per cent detergent is added to cold water.

After each use – immediately after using detergent or removing sticky dirt deposits – hoses, pumps and pipes can be automatically flushed to remove deposits and prevent germ formation.

The vacuum function can be switched on and off as required and the steam volume regulated via the control on the handle. www.karcher.com

• Le chariot Brix est le dernier à être proposé par IPC Euromop et IPC Ready System. Il est configurable en fonction des besoins.

• L’aspirateur à vapeur Kärcher SGV 8/5 satisfait aux strictes exigences d’hygiène des applications alimentaires.

• Bei Brix handelt es sich um den neuesten Reinigungswagen von IPC Euromop und IPC Ready System, der an individuelle Anforderungen angepasst werden kann.

• Der Kärcher Dampfsauger SGV 8/5 erfüllt strenge Anforderungen von lebensmittelverarbeitenden Anwendungen.

• Brix è il carrello più nuovo prodotto dalla IPC Euromop e IPC Ready System, che può essere configurato in base alle varie esigenze.

• L’aspirapolvere a vapore Kärcher SGV 8/5 è conforme ai rigorosi requisiti di igiene necessari nelle applicazioni di preparazione di alimenti.

February/March 2015 | ECJ | 42

PRODUCTS: HYGIENE IN HEALTHCARE

Hand solution For infection control and skin care, Gojo aims to offer a total solution approach with its combination of hygienic hand rubs, hand soaps, moisturisers, dispensing systems and compliance training tools.

The company says its Purell Advanced hygienic hand rub is an ‘entire hospital’ formulation that combines antimicrobial

refills are sanitary sealed to eliminate contamination risk. www.gojo.com

Study findings A study funded by the European Tissue Symposium (ETS) has concluded that jet air and warm air hand dryers have a greater potential to contaminate washrooms by spreading bacteria into the air and onto users and bystanders.

ETS says the findings suggest air dryers could be unsuitable for use in healthcare settings as they may facilitate microbial cross-contamination of the environment or bathroom visitors. The first part of the study compared the contamination of the environment, while the second focused on the contamination of persons.

Roberto Berardi, chairman of ETS commented: “The importance of hand washing to control bacterial infection is widely

This edition’s special report on scrubber dryers starts on page 61 accepted. However correct hand drying is equally fundamental in reducing the risk of spreading infections.” www.europeantissue.com

efficacy with maintenance of skin health.

For helping to maintain the skin’s natural protective barrier and prevent dry hands there is Hand Medic professional skin conditioner, a water-based, fragrance-free formula.

And the range of touch-free and manual dispensers are designed to be easy to service and durable. All Gojo and Purell • Parmi les solutions d’hygiène des mains présentées par Gojo figurent le nettoyant de brossage des mains Purell et le conditionneur des mains Medic Professional.

• D’après une nouvelle étude par l’université de Leeds, en Angleterre, les sécheurs à jet d’air et à air chaud présentent un potentiel élevé de contamination de toilettes par le fait de propager des bactéries dans l’air ambiant.

• Unter den Handhygienelösungen von Gojo befinden sich Purell Advanced Hygienic Hand Rub und Hand Medic Professional Skin Conditioner.

• Eine neue Studie der Universität Leeds in Großbritannien kommt zum Schluss, dass Waschräume durch Luftstrom- und Warmlufthändetrockner potenziell stärker verunreinigt werden, da sie Bakterien in die Luft verbreiten.

• Fra le soluzioni per l’igiene delle mani prodotte dalla Gojo ci sono i prodotti Purell Advanced Hygienic Hand Rub e Hand Medic Professional Skin Conditioner.

• Un nuovo studio della Università di Leeds nel Regno Unito ha concluso che gli asciugamani a getto di aria e ad aria calda hanno un potenziale più alto di contaminare le sale da toilette diffondendo i batteri nell’aria.

February/March 2015 | ECJ | 43

PRODUCTS: HYGIENE IN HEALTHCARE

• Diversey Care propose des produits de désinfection de surfaces, dont l’Oxivir Plus et le Sporicide Plus.

• Le distributeur sans contact Autosoap, de la société Hyprom, peut être rechargé en gel hydroalcoolique ou en savon antiseptique produit par ce même fabricant.

• La gamme MVP est la nouvelle famille de distributeurs pour toilette proposés par Vectair Systems.

• Le programme “Prévention des infections - cela dépend de vous” de Kimberly-Clark s’adresse aux personnels infirmiers et hospitaliers.

• Différentes autolaveuses Hako sont munies d’un réservoir équipé du système antibactériel dénommé Hako-AntiBac. • Les raclettes en plastique pour plancher Profi et Profi+ de la société Moerman sont disponibles en 5 couleurs.

• Diversey Care bietet Produkte zur Oberflächendesinfektion, einschließlich Oxivir Plus und Sporicide Plus.

• Der berührungslose Spender Autosoap von Hyprom kann mit dem Wasser-Alkohol-Gel oder der antiseptischen Seife nachgefüllt werden.

• Bei MVP handelt es sich um die neue Produktreihe mit Waschraumspendern von Vectair Systems.

• Kimberly-Clark hat das Programm „Infection prevention - it’s in your hands“ (Infektionsverhütung - sie liegt in Ihren Händen) gestartet, dass sich an Pflege- und Krankenhauspersonal richtet.

• Einige Scheuersaugmaschinen von Hako verfügen über Tanks, die mit einem antibakteriellen System namens Hako-AntiBac ausgestattet sind.

• Die Kunststoff-Bodenabzieher Profi und Profi+ von Moerman sind in fünf Farben erhältlich.

• La Diversey Care propone prodotti per la disinfezione delle superfici e fra questi Oxivir Plus e Sporicide Plus.

• Il dispenser senza impulsi manuali Autosoap della Hyprom può essere ricaricato con gel idroalcolico o sapone antisettico.

• La gamma MVP è la nuova famiglia di dispenser per sale da toilette della Vectair Systems.

• Il programma della KimberlyClark ‘Prevenzione delle infezioni – è nelle vostre mani’ è diretto al personale infermieristico e ospedaliero.

• Numerose lasciuga pavimenti della Hako sono dotate di taniche equipaggiate con il sistema antibatterico Hako-AntiBac. • I tergipavimento in plastica Profi and Profi+ prodotti dalla Moerman sono disponibili in cinque colori.

February/March 2015 | ECJ | 44

Disinfects Diversey Care offers a comprehensive range of surface disinfection products with proven and certified bactericidal, yeasticidal, fungicidal, virucidal and sporicidal performance.

The range includes products with Accelerated Hydrogen Peroxide (AHP), quats or chlorine as the active. Products containing the patented AHP, including Oxivir Plus and Sporicide Plus, are fast acting and have broadspectrum performance. Diversey

Care also claims these solutions are safer for users and on surfaces than chlorine, for example, and are better environmentally because AHP breaks down to oxygen and water. www.diversey.com

hand under the sensor. www.hyprom.com

Dispensers

For hospitals and healthcare environments Vectair Systems offers the Sanitex MVP skin care and surface cleaner programme.

The dispenser and refill system combines a dispenser with luxurious soaps, promoting maximum hygiene and leaving hands clean.

The manual skin and surface care dispensers incorporate Biomaster antimicrobial protection into the dispenser cover - this reduces bacterial growth by 99.99 per cent.

Also part of the range is Sanitex MVP surface cleaner, which can be used to clean areas such as toilet seats. And for storage and removal of feminine hygiene waste there is the Femcare MVP range of waste disposal units. www.vectairsystems.com

End irritation

No outbreaks The no-touch Autosoap dispenser from Hyprom can be refilled with its hydroalcoholic gel (Sanigel) or antiseptic soap.

Both refills are bactericide, fungicide and virucide according to the EU standards.

The airtight refills incorporate a disposable pump and, because the gel does not come into contact with the dispenser or with the air, the risk of contamination from outside is eliminated. To dispense a measured dose of hand cleanser the user holds a

Kimberly-Clark Professional’s ‘Infection Prevention – it’s in your hands’ initiative is designed to help nurses and hospital staff eliminate skin irritation as a barrier to good hand hygiene. The programme consists of a product range and education materials.

At the heart of the programme is the Aquarius dispensing range and the Kleenex line includes foam hand soap, folded or rolled hand towels, a moisturising alcohol hand sanitiser and a hand and body lotion that conditions the skin.

Education and training materials are also available. www.kcprofessional.co.uk

Antibacterial Scrubber dryer manufacturer Hako offers machines with tanks equipped with an antibacterial system called Hako-AntiBac claimed to significantly reduce bacterial and fungus growth.

The fresh water and recovery tanks of all Hakomatic-B 45 CLH and B 70 CL machines and of the entire B 90 series are now equipped with AntiBac as standard. The company says the ingredient increases the hygiene of the scrubbers in sensitive areas such as hospitals.

The antibacterial qualities protect the inner surface of the tank from bacteria, fungus and spore growth resulting from residual dirt and moisture and considerably reduce unpleasant smells. www.hako.com

Register online to receive the ECJ monthly email newsletter - visit europeancleaning journal.com

Floor squeegees Profi and Profi+ plastic floor squeegees from Moerman are designed for heavy-duty use, and come in different sizes up to 75 cm. Five colours are available in order to facilitate setting up a HACCP compliant operation.

Made with natural green Duraflex rubber, the Profi+ squeegee is suitable for use in applications where hygiene is of utmost importance, such as healthcare. www.moermangroup.com

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THE BIG LEADERS’S RETURN OF MULTIS ERVICES OVER EUR OPROPRE 2015

AN OVERVIEW OF ALL PRODUCTS, MATERIALS, SOLUTIONS AND INNOVATIONS FOR A NEW PERSPECTIVE ON HYGIENE, CLEANLINESS AND MULTI-SERVICES

31 MARCH, 1 & 2 APRIL 2015 PARIS PORTE DE VERSAILLES PAVILION 1 Materials & equipment for urban cleaning Hygiene, maintenance and cleaning products Personal protective clothing & equipment Cleaning companies & multi-services Materials & equipment for cleaning and cleanliness

Under the aegis of

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ISSA/INTERCLEAN CEE

Platform for Central & Eastern Europe growth

Taking place from April 22-24 in Warsaw, Poland is ISSA/Interclean Central and Eastern Europe (CEE). The exhibition attracts cleaning professionals from Central Europe, the Baltic states, Balkan region and south-eastern Europe.

Since its first edition in 2003 the event has doubled in size and this year the number of exhibitors will exceed 200 for the first time, on an area of over 8,000 square metres.

Poland is currently the best performing country in the EU, which the organisers say makes this an important venue for international business.

The Golden Broom awards - designed to recognise innovation - will be presented during the show and there will also be a seminar programme to be organised by

global trade association ISSA and the Polish cleaning industry body PIGC. Themes will include new opportunities in emerging markets; new management approaches; and regulation and legislation.

Seminar programme New for this year is an exhibition area dedicated to car wash, which joins the existing high pressure cleaning demonstration area outside the main halls.

And organising the seminar programme is industry association ISSA and the Polish Cleaning Industry Association PIGC. The keynote speaker is Dr Ilham Kadri, president of Diversey Care, who will speak on Balancing Sustainability Goals Whilst Maintaining Effective Hygiene. Her session will be followed by an

open forum.

Discussing the theme of Changing the Conversation from Cost to Profit will be Dianna Steinbach, director of industry outreach at ISSA. She will focus on connecting cleaning to valuable return-on-investment (ROI) data that helps decision makers appreciate what they really need.

Steinbach will then also speak about the ISSA Clean Standard: Ensuring Healthy Schools. This programme provides schools with a framework to objectively assess the effectiveness of the cleaning schedule at their school.

Attending ISSA/Interclean CEE is free of charge for professional visitors, there is a registration charge for attending the seminar programme.

• Visit ECJ on stand 1.110

Keep up-to-date with industry news by visiting the ECJ website, updated daily.

And read blogs from industry leaders including Diversey Care’s Dr Ilham Kadri, Markus Asch of Kärcher and Vectair’s Paul Wonnacott Le salon ISSA/Interclean pour l’Europe centrale et de l’est (CEE), aura lieu à Varsovie du 22 au 24 avril. ECJ présente cette manifestation en avant-première.

Die ISSA/Interclean Central & Eastern Europe (CEE) findet vom 22.-24. April in Warschau, Polen, statt.

Das ECJ bietet eine Vorschau auf die Messe und die Hauptereignisse.

La ISSA/Interclean Central & Eastern Europe (CEE) si terrà a Varsavia, Polonia, dal 22 al 24 aprile. ECJ fa un’anteprima della fiera e dei suoi eventi principali.

February/March 2015 | ECJ | 49

BUSINESS: APPS

Joining the apps revolution If you have a smart phone or other mobile device, you probably use apps – to play games, access news, books, weather reports and much more. Easy to download and user-friendly, apps are now becoming essential tools for business operatives out on the road. Hartley Milner looks at some of their uses.

Mobile phone technology has come a long way since the 1980s when boorish young city types bellowed into ‘bricks’ pressed to their ear, much to the irritation of people on adjoining restaurant tables.

Today’s mobile phones are more discreet, as are their users, and a thousand times smarter than the cumbersome early models. In truth, most of us would struggle getting through the day without one.

Calls, though, account for only a quarter of the time spent on the new generation of mobiles. Tweeting and web-browsing are the two most popular uses, with the camera function for ‘selfies’ and those dreadful party shots not far behind.

And trading off our dependence on these clever little devices is a vast market in off-the-shelf and custom-built mobile apps. Almost every business function is covered; from managing your invoices and receipts to setting up and shipping out product orders.

“It’s amazing the range of daily office processes that can now be conducted on mobile devices,” said apps developer Steve Templeman. “It doesn’t matter whether you are a large corporation or a sole trader, big productivity gains can come from being able to work efficiently while on the move.”

The main drivers of the apps revolution are 4G networks and cloud computing.

4G networks deliver mobile broadband at speeds of up to 60 Mbps, faster than most fibre optic broadband. The apps are stored in the cloud and accessed by phone or tablet, usually for a monthly subscription.

In the UK, the largest is EE’s 4G network, which already covers 75 per cent of the population and is on track to reach 98 per cent early this year.

“Giants like Amazon, eBay and Gap started promoting their brands and merchandise with mobile apps a few years ago,” Templeman continued. “Then their suppliers began to see the benefits, some of them quite small businesses, and now a host of industries have jumped onto the app wagon, which is gathering pace and

February/March 2015 | ECJ |50

picking up more converts.

“Businesses have come to realise that mobile apps are the most affordable and effective way to reach out to customers these days. PC and server-based applications are simply becoming out-dated.

Businesses are incorporating mobile and wireless solutions into their day-to-day processes to reduce time and improve performance. Mobile applications enable you to manage these various processes without interruption, no matter where you are located, so freeing you up to actually do business.”

One area where app development is playing an increasing role is in the daily management of the people who are essential to the success of your business – your customers, suppliers, and employees.

Nurture relationships Successful businesses grow and nurture customer relationships. A custom app, branded with your company name and/or logo, enables your customers to by-pass call centres and email channels to make direct contact with the person best placed to solve any issues they may have. With the client information at your fingertips, you will be able to respond instantly to their concerns and find a solution or, in the case of a product order or service request, act to ensure that it is attended to promptly.

Often known in the industry as a ‘help desk’, a customer service app is essential for companies that field support requests from different channels, not just phone and email, but also Twitter, Facebook or by live video conference. In the world of electronic communications, they are the nearest thing to face-to-face contact with the customer. Apps are increasingly being developed to provide customers with information about services in real-time.

One company that has reached out to its customers in this way is bus operator Arriva UK Bus, owned by German public transport provider Deutsche Bahn.

Arriva rolled out its mobile travel companion app in June 2014 following a pilot in one of its regions. The app, which also allows customers to plan their journeys and view timetables in real-time, is now being promoted across marketing channels throughout the UK. On a typical weekday, the app supports bus services across 1,200 public routes,

31,000 individual journeys and 48,000 individual bus stops.

“We’re on track with the project which is very exciting,” said marketing manager Mike Woodhouse. “However, this is just phase one. We are already planning new functionality and thinking about how we can improve the app and what it will look like in 2015 and beyond,” The real-time function within the app updates vehicle location information as soon as it is received (currently every 22 seconds) so customers know exactly how long they will have to wait until a bus arrives at their stop and can plan their journey accordingly.

While the app is already proving popular with customers, with a take-up of 195,000 by the end of September last year, it is also providing invaluable information for staff at Arriva garages and customer service teams. They can use internal systems to view the same real-time information as customers, resulting in improved service delivery. The information is also being fed into the new website to be shared with local authorities.

“This has been a fantastic team effort from many people around each of our businesses, in particular the data schedulers and those who manage our ticket machines,” added Woodhouse. “The challenge now is to capitalise on the good work done to date and to ensure the data is constantly monitored for accuracy.”

Industry-specific apps are now widely available for almost every sector, including contract cleaning. Facility managers and building service contractors have an increasingly number to choose from, ranging from online payment systems, virtual chequebooks and expense monitors to inventory trackers and managers.

One app for automatically calculating payroll payments after tax is both a time and labour saver for new companies, or smaller operations carrying out this function by hand or spreadsheet.

In our industry, bidding for a cleaning contract can be a complicated process – calculating labour time for a job, chemical quantities, travel expenses etc – but there is help here too.

There are apps that calculate time and labour costs for tasks such as floor cleaning, dust removal and janitorial services.

Input the type of cleaning, hourly labour rate and frequency and the annual time

BUSINESS: APPS

and cost is calculated according to the listing. The app can also complete basic conversions for liquid volumes, eg. gallons, pints and quarts to metric measures.

Other apps take basic customer information then log room types, sizes and give job time estimates. If a user records measurements, the total square footage will be listed along with any input production rate. Initial cleaning charges can be logged and other services can be added for specialty cleaning tasks.

You can now pick up mobile apps to create service form and inspection reports. Forms are also available to produce cleaning checklists, cleaning proposals, cleaning work orders and for contract bidding proposals.

Using a smartphone or tablet, data can be inputted, filtered and analysed to enable managers to rate a cleaning service

and improve it if they or the client chooses. The data can be stored online where it is available for managers and clients to use for monitoring a cleaning job.

Of course, whatever sector you are trading in, your business may well have processes that are not catered for by offthe-shelf mobile apps. In that case, you may turn to a custom app developer.

Maintaining your supplier relationships can be simplified immensely using a custom application. For example, you can use a custom app to streamline your ordering and fulfilment process. The possibilities include pulling all your regular ordering together into a simple, push-button mobile telephone application that lets you generate instant purchase orders when your inventory reaches certain thresholds.

A key relationship for every business is the one it has built up with its employees.

Many HR functions can be incorporated into a custom app. For example, you could manage employee time tracking and communications. You can also allow employees to sign in and out of the workplace or communicate directly with management using their phones.

Now many businesses are going a step further – by creating their own custom apps. Thanks to an abundance of smart frameworks for web, desktop and mobile development, anyone with the right mindset and focus can build data-driven apps for almost any platform.

“The advantages of creating your own app are that it targets a specific function or processes that are integral to how you run your business and it can save money,” he said. “Getting started can be daunting, but there are plenty to tutorials available on the web.”

Si vous possédez un smartphone ou tout autre dispositif mobile, vous serez probablement un utilisateur d’applications, que ce soit pour vous livrer à des jeux, accéder à des nouvelles, ouvrir un livre, vous informer de la météo, et bien d’autres choses encore. Faciles à télécharger et conviviaux, les applis sont devenues des outils indispensables pour les gens d’affaires en mouvement. Hartley Milner examine certains de leur usages.

Wenn Sie über ein Smartphone oder ein anderes Mobilgerät verfügen, dann verwenden Sie wahrscheinlich auch Apps – um Spiele zu spielen, um auf Nachrichten, Bücher, Wettervorhersagen und vieles mehr zuzugreifen. Apps sind leicht herunterzuladen und benutzerfreundlich, und entwickeln sich zu erlässlichen Werkzeugen für Mitarbeiter, die unterwegs sind. Hartley Milner betrachtet einige der Einsatzmöglichkeiten.

Se avete uno smart phone o altri dispositivi mobili, probabilmente usate delle app, per fare dei giochi, accedere alle notizie e ai libri, per le previsioni del tempo e molto di più. Facili da scaricare e da usare, le app stanno diventando ora dispositivi essenziali per i professionisti e i lavoratori che lavorano fuori sede. Hartley Milner esamina alcuni di questi utilizzi.

February/March 2015 | ECJ | 51

INTEGRATED HYGIENE SOLUTIONS

ellipse The integrated and modular range from Kennedy Hygiene

www.kennedy-hygiene.com www.linkedin.com/company/kennedy-hygiene www.youtube.com/kennedyhygiene

CLEANING SHOW

Countdown to UK Cleaning Show

The UK’s cleaning exhibition, The Cleaning Show, moves to London this year and takes place from March 10-12 at Excel exhibition centre.

With the move the organisers are promising a host of new features and events.

These include the Training Academy, which is the opportunity for visitors to learn more about products and techniques and to get professional advice in developing their business.

The Cleaning Show Innovation Awards have been updated and improved to encompass broader categories: Cleaning Products; Floor Cleaning; Outdoor Cleaning; Carpet Cleaning; Window Cleaning; Washroom Hygiene; Sustainable Cleaning; and Management Systems.

The free seminar proECJ entrevoit les produits et activités du salon britannique de la propreté, The Cleaning Show, qui se tiendra à Londres du 10 au 12 mars.

gramme organised by the British Cleaning Council (BCC) will include presentations on topics such as healthcare hygiene, paying a living wage, training, immigration rules, carpet cleaning and retail cleaning.

Networking There will also be a VIP lounge and a series of social and networking events.

Doug Cooke, chairman of the BCC which co-organises the event said: “I cannot over-emphasise the importance of the Cleaning Show to this industry - it provides the vast majority of all income generated by the British Cleaning Council, and it is therefore vital for funding programmes that further professionalise and enhance our sector.” www.cleaningshow.co.uk

Das ECJ wirft einen Blick auf die bevorstehende The Cleaning Show, die vom 10.-12. März in London stattfindende britische Reinigungsmesse.

ECJ si occupa di The Cleaning Show, la fiera britannica del settore del cleaning che si terrà a Londra dal 10 al 12 marzo.

February/March 2015 | ECJ | 53

THE CLEANING SHOW

Prochem Europe Prochem’s Endeavor portable carpet and upholstery extractor has been upgraded with a boost in output to 220 psi. Other features include low noise vacuum motors, handle mounted wheels for easy vehicle loading, top front mounted controls and new front mounted wand stowage.

The company’s Steempro Powerplus has also had an output boost, from 150 psi to 220psi, while the Powerflo model has had its brush motor replaced with an induction pump for better efficiency. www.prochem.co.uk

use, are on display at Wecoline’s stand. Full Cycle Wecoline pads by Americo start biodegrading in a fraction of the time needed for standard pads, the company claims.

The company has also developed its own floor pad app, which offers users professional advice about the correct use of pads on various floors.

In terms of microfibre developments, Wecoline has launched the microfibre disposable cloth on a roll - designed for applications such as healthcare where hygiene is a priority. And for quick and easy cleaning, there is the Clean ‘n’ Easy ready-made cloth. www.wecoline.com

Wecoline Floor pads made from 100 per cent recycled PET plastic, with accelerated degradation after

• Prochem lance une version améliorée de son extracteur portable de moquettes et de garnissages, l’Endeavor.

• Wecoline expose sa gamme de produits à microfibres ainsi que ses tampons de nettoyage de plancher recyclés Full Cycle.

• Hydro Systems fait la démonstration de ses derniers systèmes de dosage et de distribution de produits chimiques.

• Prochem stellt eine modernisierte Ausführung des tragbaren Saugers für Teppiche und Polstermöbel Endeavor vor.

• Wecoline zeigt die Produktfamilie mit Mikrofaserprodukten zusammen mit den recyclten Bodenpads Full Cycle.

• Hydro Systems demonstriert die neuesten Portionierungs- und Spendersysteme für Chemikalien.

• La Prochem presenta per la prima volta la nuova versione potenziata dell’estrattore portatile per moquette e stoffe per arredamento Endeavor.

• La Wecoline espone la sua linea di prodotti in microfibra e i suoi dischi per pavimenti in materiale riciclato Full Cycle.

• La Hydro Systems dimostra i suoi sistemi più nuovi di proporzionamento ed erogazione di prodotti chimici.

February/March 2015 | ECJ | 54

Hydro Systems Chemical dilution and dispensing specialist Hydro Systems is focusing on two recentlylaunched products.

EvoClean is a low maintenance venturi-based water-powered laundry unit which does not require tube replacement. It features an integrated control

system that can be used with up to eight products and also offers an integrated flush manifold and out-of-product alarm.

EvoDose is a dispensing unit, featuring patent pending AccuPro pressure regulation technology that delivers dilution accuracy regardless of fluctuations in water pressure. It boasts easier installation and maintenance, as well as improved tube routing and neatness. www.hydrosystemseurope.com

THE CLEANING SHOW

Kimberly-Clark

changing requirements.

Debuting is the Steribin with pedal operated single lid, designed for use in environments where hygiene is a high priority. www.leafieldrecycle.com

Gojo Europe New from Kimberly-Clark Professional is the Scott Max rolled hand towel system, which the company claims offers more sheets and hand dries than any other on the market. The high capacity solution is designed for large offices, healthcare environments and other high-traffic washrooms.

Scott Max is used in conjunction with the Aquarius rolled hand towel dispenser, which boasts a sleek design for onewipe cleaning and no dirt traps.

It dispenses one sheet at a time. www.kcprofessional.com

Leafield Specialising in recycling solutions is Leafield Environmental, which will be demonstrating its latest Meridian Envirobin, a 110 litre capacity, slim-line bin originally designed to take two waste streams in one unit with a 70:30 split; mixed recyclables to non-recyclable waste.

Updated features include triple lid configuration, a 100 per cent open lid version, liquid reservoirs and a liner system with food waste caddy for those adopting a bag-less approach to recycling.

Because the lids are interchangeable, customers can reconfigure the bins to suit their

Exhibiting its range of skin care and hand hygiene products is Gojo. These range from ecolabelapproved foam soaps and hand sanitisers to skin conditioners and dispensing technology.

The company says it takes a total solution approach, offering complete programmes to encourage better hand hygiene behaviour. Its products and dispensers are complemented by education and training. www.gojo.com • Kimberly-Clark a introduit le système Scott Max à rouleau de serviettes pour les mains.

• L’Envirobin Meridian est une poubelle effilée de 110 litres signée Leafield Environmental et capable de recevoir deux flux de déchets.

• Gojo expose sa gamme de nettoyants et de désinctants des mains.

• Neu von KimberlyClark Professional ist das Papierhandtuch-Rollensystem Scott Max. • Bei der Meridian Envirobin handelt es sich um eine schlanke 110-Liter-Einheit von Leafield Environmental, die zwei Abfallbehälter in einer Einheit enthält.

• Gojo zeigt seine Produktreihe mit Handreinigungs- und Desinfektionsprodukten.

• Il nuovo prodotto della KimberlyClark Professional è il sistema di asciugamani arrotolati Scott Max. • Meridian Envirobin è una unità slimline della capacità di 110 litri prodotta dalla Leafield Environmental e progettata per accomodare due contenitori per rifiuti.

• La Gojo espone una gamma di prodotti per la pulizia e la disinfezione delle mani.

February/March 2015 | ECJ |55

THE CLEANING SHOW

• La nouvelle GBI proposée par Osprey Deepclean est une nettoyeuse de chewing-gum à batterie fonctionnant à la vapeur sèche.

• Produit nouveau et breveté par SYR, l’appareil de nettoyage Pal-O-Mine fonctionne à la manière d’une gomme.

• Trafalgar Cleaning Equipment propose en première le Poovac, un aspirateur conçu pour ramasser les déjections animales.

• Beim neuen GB1 von Osprey Deepclean handelt es sich um einen batteriebetriebenen Trockendampfreiniger zum Entfernen von Kaugummi.

• Neu von SYR ist der patentierte Pal-O-Mine, ein Reiniger, der laut eigenen Angaben wie ein Radierer auf Schmutz wirkt.

• Trafalgar Cleaning Equipment stellt Poovac vor, ein Staubsauger für Haustierverschmutzungen.

• La nuova BG1 della Osprey Deepclean è una macchina per la rimozione di gomma da masticare a vapore secco e alimentata a batteria.

• La novità della SYR è il prodotto brevettato Pal-O-Mine che a detta di un addetto alle pulizie agisce come una gomma sullo sporco.

• La Trafalgar Cleaning Equipment lancia Poovac, un aspirapolvere progettato per raccogliere gli escrementi degli animali domestici.

February/March 2015 | ECJ | 56

Osprey The GB1 is a new self-propelled, battery powered dry steam machine for chewing gum removal from OspreyDeepclean.

The company is also showing its SteamCare machine range which has been designed to tackle infection control issues through the removal of pathogens and biofilm.

For more challenging applications there is the SteamForce line, for use across different sectors. From the entry level SF Compact & SF Eco and the versatile SF3, to the compact SF6 and the heavy duty SF10 & SF20, there is a model to suit most applications says Osprey. www.ospreydc.com

SYR Continental Manual cleaning solutions specialist SYR Continental is launching its patented Pal-O-Mine, which it describes as a cleaner that acts like an eraser on dirt.

Visit ECJ on stand G21 at the show

Trafalgar Working like an extremely fine sandpaper, it gets into tiny grooves and pits in the objects being cleaned.

There are eight solutions from one handle and Pal-O-Mine can be used to clean sinks, walls, grout lines, as an edging tool and difficult-to-access areas like behind the toilet.

Visitors can also see demonstrations of Rapid Mop, the ‘grab it and go’ bucketless mopping system designed for daytime cleaning. Its alloy handle has an internal reservoir and the thumb operated sprayer provides a triple output spray to moisten the floor. www.syrcontinental.com

The latest addition to the Trafalgar Cleaning Equipment is the Poovac, a battery-powered vacuum cleaner specially designed to collect pet mess.

Poovac uses a rechargeable battery to suck the mess straight into a biodegradable

bag. The waste never touches the unit or the operator’s hands - eliminating the risk of cross-contamination. www.poovac.com

THE CLEANING SHOW

Numatic

Vectair Systems Among the launches on the Vectair Systems stand is the MVP range of dispensers. The line includes the new V-Air Solid multi-phasing air freshener, which uses multi-phasing, sub micron air freshener technology through a passive dispenser and solid fragrance cartridge, delivering consistent fragrance intensity.

V-Air Solid is VOC exempt and completely free of any solvents,

Launching a new scrubber dryer range for 2015 is Numatic - visitors to the stand can see it for the first time.

The CRO8055, for example, is the new compact ride-on boasting user convenience, manoeuvrability and time saving on mediumsized applications.

The VersaCare range of compact mopping systems and enclosed cleaning trolleys is also a central feature of the show. www.numatic.co.uk

propellants and batteries.

The sanitary disposal unit Femcare MVP now has a Femcare antimicrobial liner - a feminine hygiene sanitary waste liner incorporating Biomaster antimicrobial silver ion protection and odour elimi-

nating technology. www.vectairsystems.com

Morclean Exhibiting its Wheelie Bin Wash Machine is Morclean, who says the product is sturdy, fully selfcontained, purpose-built and petrol-driven.

Designed to offer owners and operators an economical entry into the bin cleaning market, Morclean’s machines can be towed on a small trailer and used to clean not just bins but driveways, patios, decking, etc.

The Morclean Binwash Machine can clean either two domestic bins (240 litres) or one commercial bin (1100 litres) at a time. The bin lifting mechanism makes for less labour intensive and strenuous cleaning, while up to 350 litres of recycled water can be carried in the water tank.

New to the line is the Binwash City, a battery-powered model. www.morclean.com

• Le visiteur au stand Numatic verra une nouvelle gamme d’autolaveuses ainsi que le système de balayage humide et de chariots VersaCare.

• La gamme MVP est la nouvelle famille de distributeurs pour toilette proposés par Vectair Systems.

• La machine de nettoyage de poubelles Wheelie Bin Wash de la société Morclean est une unité autonome, spécialisée et à moteur à essence.

• Besucher am Stand von Numatic werden eine neue Produktreihe mit Scheuersaugmaschinen neben VersaCare Mopp- und Reinigungswagensystemen sehen.

• Bei MVP handelt es sich um die neue Produktreihe mit Waschraumspendern von Vectair Systems.

• Die Mülltonnen-Waschmaschine von Morclean ist unabhängig, speziell angefertigt und benzinbetrieben.

• I visitatori dello stand della Numatic potranno vedere una nuova gamma di lavasciuga pavimenti e inoltre i sistemi di mop e carrello VersaCare.

• La gamma MVP è la nuova famiglia di dispenser per sale da toilette della Vectair Systems.

• La Wheelie Bin Wash Machine della Morclean è autonoma, progettata appositamente per lo scopo e alimentata a benzina.

THE CLEANING SHOW

• Le Dosely est un distributeur de solution de nettoyage qui se monte sur un chariot et trempe des têtes de balayage humide une à la fois.

• L’adjonction la plus récente à la gamme de soufflantes de circulation d’air Truvox est le Hybrid Blower 3400 pour le séchage de planchers et de moquettes.

• La société Disposables UK a lancé un nouveau distributeur de serviettes pour les mains, le Bay West Alliance.

• Bei Dosely handelt es sich um einen mechanischen Spender für Reinigungslösungen, der an einem Reinigungswagen befestigt ist, um jeweils einen Mopp einzuweichen.

• Der neueste Zuwachs in der Produktreihe mit Luftgebläsen von Truvox ist der Hybrid Blower 3400 zum Trocknen von Teppichen und Böden.

• Neu von Disposables UK ist der Papierhandtuch-Rollenspender Bay West Alliance Dispenser.

• Dosely è un dispenser meccanico di soluzione detergente montato su un carrello che impregna un mop alla volta.

• Il più recente prodotto aggiunto alla gamma di soffiatori d’aria della Truvox è il modello Hybrid Blower 3400 per asciugare moquette e pavimenti.

• Il nuovo prodotto della Disposables UK è il dispenser di asciugamani in rotolo Bay West Alliance Dispenser.

February/March 2015 | ECJ | 58

Tecno Trolley

Dosely is a mechanical cleaning solution dispenser designed to soak one mop at a time while it is on the trolley.

Designed by TTS, the dosing system is secure in that detergent goes into a removable hermetic tank which can be locked into the trolley using a key. The operative also has the flexibility to adjust the amount of cleaning solution applied to the mop during cleaning, which saves on cleaning chemical.

This means no more carrying of heavy buckets filled with pre-soaked mops and no manual pre-soaking - saving on time and labour. And reducing the risk of cross-contamination says TTS. Less water and electricity are used because there are fewer mops to wash and detergent consumption is also reduced because Dosely soaks only the cleaning side of the mop which saves up to onethird of cleaning solution for each mop. www.ttsystem.com

Truvox The latest addition to Truvox’s air mover range is the Hybrid Blower 3400, for fast drying of

carpets and floors after extraction cleaning, spillages or flooding.

Also on show is the new model in the Multiwash range of machines - the Multiwash 340/ Pump Battery allows for cordless and extra quiet cleaning of hard and soft floors. With a 34 cm cleaning width, the battery running time is up to 50 minutes and there is a four-litre removable solution tank. www.truvox.com

Disposables UK Disposables UK is presenting its three core brands - Bay West, Optimum Professional and Optimum ProWipers.

Among the new launches is the Bay West Alliance dispenser, a unit that holds two full-size hand towel rolls. And the company’s Impressions line is a range of toilet tissue and hand towels for the luxury market. www.disposablesukgroup.co.uk

SCRUBBER DRYERS

A brush with technology How important is the type of squeegee and the size, shape and position of the brushes in determining a scrubber dryer’s performance? Ann Laffeaty finds out.

Scrubber dryers come in all shapes and sizes and the average customer will consider the size, comfort, cost and ease of use of the machine when considering which model to purchase. All these factors have a major impact on the performance of a scrubber dryer. But what about the tools that actually perform the scrubbing and drying tasks, namely the brushes and squeegees? How much of an impact do these have on the productivity or otherwise of a machine?

According to Hako marketing director Klaus Serfezi the brushes and squeegees are the most important components of any scrubber dryer in terms of cleaning results. “It is always essential to choose the right kind of brushes or pads for the type of floor to be cleaned,” he said. “Once that is done, step one – namely, removing the dirt from the surface - has been taken care of.

“The next step, however, is just as important: sucking up dirt and water with the squeegee. The more efficient the suction performance, the better the cleaning result. This is the one big advantage of scrubber drying compared with manual cleaning where the dissolved dirt is not removed from the floor sufficiently if at all.

It is important, however, that the operator carries out regular checks on the state of the brushes or pads and the squeegee.

The sealing strips of the squeegee in particular need to be monitored and any dirt deposits removed.

He says the size and shape of the brushes and squeegees play a part in the machine’s performance and efficiency.

“Naturally the actual working width of these tools needs to match the size of the building to be cleaned. That’s why it is important to advise customers on site.

Before the customer decides to use a machine with a wider working width, we have to ensure that the machine will be able to access all areas of floor space and that any doors or ramps do not become insurmountable objects.

“More often than not, however, customers make the mistake of choosing a machine that is too small in order to save costs. What they don’t take into account is the fact that daily working time will increase significantly, resulting in unreasonably high labour costs.”

He adds that the shape of the squeegee is key to good suction performance.

“Parabolic or V-shaped squeegees offer huge advantages over straight, standard squeegees,” he says. “This becomes obvious when cleaning uneven surfaces or tiled, jointed floors. The same applies to working in curves where the difference becomes clearly visible.”

Materials significant And he claims that the materials used to make the brush heads, squeegees and fittings are also significant. “Brush heads and squeegees are particularly exposed to collisions which means they need to be very robust. Scrub decks and squeegees made from pressure-casted aluminium are extremely durable and can withstand a fair amount of rough treatment.

“In addition, millimetre-thick metal fittings on a full metal frame allow for heavy-duty operation. Naturally these elements initially make a machine more expensive, but the investment pays off quickly as customers save costs in the long run. The aim is to ensure the machines are constantly in service.”

He says Hako is continually working on improving its scrubber dryers. “We only act as consultants for brush and pad manufacturers, but squeegees are our domain and we are continuously working on improving them further. New types

of flooring come on to the market all the time and this creates new challenges for the cleaning industry.”

Kärcher’s environmental matters public relations officer Linda Schrödter agrees that the cleaning result is greatly dependent on using the right brush for the job.

“The brush must be suited to the particular type of floor - whether it has a smooth surface, indentations or a porous structure - since the brush needs to be able to reach the dirt in all areas,” she said.

“The suction lips should also be able to pick up water reliably even when turning so that the surface can be walked on soon after cleaning without any risk of slips.”

She adds the size and shape of the tools is important. “The first thing to decide is whether a disk or roller brush should be used,” she said. “For textured floors, heavy dirt or where there are many crevices, a roller brush is recommended since it maintains contact with the floor very well when higher contact pressure is exerted on a smaller contact area. Scrubber dryers with roller brushes can also include a presweep unit which makes the important task of pre-sweeping redundant.

“Corners can also be cleaned more effectively using roller brushes since the distance between the roller and the brush enclosure is smaller than for disk brushes.”

According to Schrödter, the rotation speed and contact pressure of the brush will also affect the cleaning result. “The working width of the scrubber dryer is determined by the size and width of the brushes,” she said. “The squeegee is generally a little wider than the brushes to ensure that water is picked up reliably, even in corners. Whether straight or curved, the results are identical in terms of suction.

Curved squeegees are mainly used on flatter surfaces whereas straight squeegees are more often used on textured floors where adjusting the tilt of the squeegee may be necessary.”

Even the position of the brushes and squeegees on the machine can make Continued page 62

February/March 2015 | ECJ |61

SCRUBBER DRYERS A brush with technology (continued) a difference, she adds. “In principle the greater the distance between brushes and squeegees, the longer the cleaning agent has to take effect and therefore the better the dirt will be removed,” she explained.

“There is also the ever-present challenge of dealing with wheel tracks left on the floor by larger walk-behind machines where the squeegees are located directly behind the brushes. This is why squeegees are best placed behind the traction wheels in order to avoid wheel marks.”

Kärcher has recently developed a new squeegee with a suction bar that has a trapezoid shape, the side elements being angled towards the front of the machine.

“It is therefore literally wrapped around the machine,” said Schrödter. “When cornering, the suction bar swings sideways almost as far as the drive wheels. This means even when turning sharply the design ensures that water is reliably collected.”

She says the company is always working to increase the lifespan of its rubber blades and to adapt them to different cleaning tasks. “Lifespan is the main cost factor since the longer you can use the blades and brushes, the happier the customer,” she said. “But you can also influence lifespan by adjusting the contact pressure of brushes using a proper cleaning agent; by recommending the perfect brush for the application and by adjusting the speed of the brush.”

A scrubber dryer is only as good as its pick-up according to global marketing manager for machines at Diversey Care Laurent Ryssen. “If the pick-up is not efficient, any dirt loosened by the brushes, pads, chemicals and water will simply be redeposited back throughout the facility where it will be redistributed and smeared,” he said. “This will reduce cleaning quality while also increasing the risk of slip and fall accidents.”

The company claims its own W-Shape squeegees offer superior water pick-up while reducing the number of stops during a cleaning operation. “We also offer self-levelling squeegees and polyurethane blades for longevity and consistent pickup, along with diamond pad technology.”

However, he adds that brush and squeegee technology is evolving slowly compared with other products on the

market. But they are still definitely evolving according to Wetrok’s machine product manager Mark Meng.

“Previously tried and tested technologies are continuously being improved upon,” he said. “Product development focuses specifically on the shape, contour, and material of the squeegee.”

He claims brushes and squeegees play a central role in the workings of a scrubber dryer. “Good cleaning results and a dry floor are largely dependent on these components.” Wetrok has introduced a dual scrubbing brush system on its Discomatic Tango and Mambo compact scrubber dryers. “This has the advantage of a selfdrive forward propulsion by means of the brush motion as well as greater surface pressure; improved reach into corners and more revolutions per minute for a better cleaning result,” says Meng.

He says factors like materials and design also have an impact on scrubber dryer performance. “The type of brush movement and the shape of the brush have a significant impact on cleaning results while the geometry of the power nozzle plays an important role in suction performance. A curved design with a central suction system has proven to be most successful.

“The choice of materials used to make the brushes and squeegees is important.

Selecting the right material will ensure a good result and will optimise the service life of the squeegee.”

According to Nilfisk-Advance’s floor care group product manager Anders Sandstrom, the correct brush and pad tools are essential for achieving optimum cleaning results without damaging the floor.

“These tools can help preserve the flooring and keep it in top-level condition while extending its life and helping to drive down costs for the future,” he said. “The squeegee needs to perform in different

environments and a high level of suction performance is essential for removing the dirty solution while leaving the floor safe and dry and capable of being accessed immediately.”

He too feels the size and shape of the tools is significant. “A squeegee that is too large but has insufficient suction will leave dirty solution and detergent on the floor,” he explained. “This will incur the risk of slips and falls and over a period of time, the floor condition will deteriorate.

“A straight squeegee will perform well on a flat, even surface but may have jumping issues on tiles and uneven floors.

A curved squeegee will always direct the water into the centre of the squeegee where the suction point is located and will therefore lead to higher performance and create fewer jumping issues.”

He says larger brushes can offer advantages over smaller models. “A larger disk brush will maintain contact with the surface for longer and will offer a higher level of cleaning efficiency. But a smaller brush combined with higher pressure will increase the risk of too much mechanical pressure which could cause floor damage.”

According to Sandstrom, cleaning tools vary from one model to the next. “A cylindrical brush will have contact with a smaller section of the floor than a disk brush, but unlike a disk brush may offer the advantage of being able to sweep away small items. So a cylindrical brush would be an advantage in a small warehouse with a concrete floor where there is some minor debris from pallets, for example, since no pre-sweeping is required.

“However in a supermarket or a shopping area where a high cleaning performance and floor finish is needed, the disk brush or pad solution would be a better choice depending on the flooring.”

Suppliers are constantly working on new designs and materials to achieve higher levels of performance, says Sandstrom.

“The types of flooring available are endless and new types of floors are constantly being introduced,” he said. “Also, new tools for our scrubbers are hitting the market all the time and we are always expected to have machines that match these new tools. So we are always having to compromise since the ‘one size fits all’ concept never really seems to work.”

La dimension, la forme et la position des brosses, ainsi que l’efficience de la raclette, jouent toutes un rôle dans le rendement d’une autolaveuse. ECJ se renseigne auprès des fabricants sur la technologie des brosses et raclettes et sur son évolution en vue de l’amélioration constante de la productivité des machines de nettoyage.

Die Größe, Form und Position der Bürsten sowie die Wirkungskraft des Abziehers sind ausschlaggebende Faktoren, um die Effizienz einer Scheuersaugmaschine zu bestimmen. Das ECJ befragt Hersteller zur Bürsten- und Abziehertechnologie und wie sie sich entwickelt, um immer produktivere Maschinen zu bieten.

La dimensione, la forma e la posizione delle spazzole, insieme all’efficacia del tergipavimento, sono tutti elementi cruciali per determinare l’efficienza di una lavasciuga pavimenti. ECJ chiede ai produttori informazioni sulla tecnologia delle spazzole e dei tergipavimento e come questa si stia evolvendo per creare macchine che siano più produttive che mai.

Pick-up vital

February/March 2015 | ECJ | 62

PRODUCTS: SCRUBBER DRYERS

• Le Taski IntelliTrail est un dispositif de dépistage par GPS, et basé sur le Web, de machines de nettoyage proposé par Diversey Care.

• ICE propose des autolaveuses en location avec dispositif i-synergy, un opérateur et un système de gestion de machine.

• La SC500 est une nouvelle autolaveuse de taille moyenne à conducteur à pied qui se signale par sa faible consommation d’eau.

• Bei Taski IntelliTrail handelt es sich um eine web-basierte GPS-Nachverfolgungslösung für Reinigungsmaschinen von Diversey Care.

• ICE bietet die Vermietung von Scheuersaugmaschinen, die mit i-synergy, einem Verwaltungssystem für Bedienpersonal und Reinigungsmaschinen, ausgestattet sind.

• Die SC500 ist eine neue mittelgroße, handgeführte Scheuersaugmaschine, die einen niedrigen Wasserverbrauch bietet.

• Taski IntelliTrail è una soluzione di localizzazione GPS per le macchine per le pulizie della Diversey Care.

• La ICE propone lavasciuga pavimenti da noleggio dotate del sistema di gestione operatore e macchina i-synergy.

• Il modello SC500 è una nuova lavasciugatrice con operatore al seguito di medie dimensioni che vanta un basso consumo di acqua.

February/March 2015 | ECJ | 64

Intelligent

fied daily communication, documentation and management of on-site or mobile teams. www.diversey.com

For rent

Diversey Care has developed Taski IntelliTrail, a web-based GPS machine tracking system that enables users to locate, monitor and manage scrubber dryer fleets from anywhere, in real-time, via the internet.

As well as geographical position the system shows operating hours and critical statuses of machines - it provides total visibility of assets, monitors machine working time, negligent use and crashes, and sends notifications when machines leave a predefined area.

Taski IntelliTrail is one module of Diversey Care’s holistic SmartView solution for simpli-

ICE offers a range of scrubber dryers for rent, which it says will become an increasing trend. A number of options are available - over one, two or three years including an ownership option at the end of the rental period.

All machines feature the i-synergy operator and machine management system which uses the Internet of Things (IoT), designed to maximise efficiency.

Daily usage reports can be generated so customers know the specific times machines are used, when batteries are charged etc. In the event of a malfunction service personnel instantly receive an email and a phone message that also identifies the specific faulty electrical component. www.icecompanies.com

Mid-sized Nilfisk’s new mid-sized walkbehind scrubber dryer SC500 is equipped with a dashboard with intuitive icons to enable the operator to adjust cleaning parameters while working.

The low sound level - 60 dBA in silent mode - makes it suitable for daytime cleaning and noisesensitive areas.

Thanks to the Ecoflex detergent system the user can completely control the level of water and detergent, and there is also the opportunity to clean using only water. On more heavily soiled areas the operator can activate the burst of power button, then return to the original settings.

Nilfisk claims the SC500 has low water consumption (up to 3,000 square metres per tank), and it also monitors brush motor power consumption - automatically reducing the power when not needed. www.nilfisk.com

PRODUCTS: SCRUBBER DRYERS

Versatile

Convenience

Comac says its latest ride-on scrubber dryer - Optima - has been designed to be versatile.

Claimed to be equally effective on industrial floors and in commercial applications, brush pressure can be set up to 100 kg.

The double vacuum motor is said to leave the floor dry and safe to use after one pass, making it suitable for shopping malls. Three versions are available: two scrubbing versions with 85 or 100 cm working width and a scrubbingsweeping version, Optima 90 S with 86.5 cm working width.

For the operator there is visibility of all working areas, and all parts to be cleaned are accessible. www.comac.it

The CRO8055 is the new compact ride-on scrubber dryer from Numatic, boasting user convenience, manoeuvrability and time saving on medium-sized applications which may previously been cleaned by a walkbehind.

Features include 80-litre clean and dirty water tanks; anti-tip system that prevents the machine from tipping when cornering sharply; on-board charger; extending and flexible filling hose; and TwinFlo vacuum motor for optimum wet pick-up. www.numatic.co.uk

Compact seated Developed for working on small and medium-sized areas is the compact ride-on scrubber ARA 66|BM 70 from Columbus. The

• L’autolaveuse à conducteur monté Optima, de Comac, est munie d’un double moteur d’aspiration afin de sécher les planchers en une seule passe.

• La CRO8055 est la nouvelle autolaveuses compact à conducteur monté de Numatic.

• L’autolaveuse compacte à conducteur monté ARA 66|BM 70 de la société Columbus est conçue pour les superficies exiguës à moyennes.

company says one of its special features is the long seat, which enables any operator to find the right ergonomic position for working comfortably.

The brush system adapts to different floor surfaces, while the patented mounting system allows brushes and pad holders to spin on and off at the push of a button. And the arc-shaped squeegee tool also adapts to the machine’s movements to collect dirty water without leaving any residue.

Total length of this model is 138 cm, with a width of 85 cm.

Turning radius is 165 cm. www.columbus-clean.com

• Die Aufsitz-Scheuersaugmaschine Optima von Comac hat einen doppelten Saugmotor, der trockene Böden in einem Durchgang sicherstellt.

• Die CRO8055 ist die neue AufsitzScheuersaugmaschine von Numatic.

• Die kompakte AufsitzScheuersaugmaschine ARA 66|BM 70 von Columbus wurde für kleine und mittelgroße Flächen konzipiert.

• La lavasciuga pavimenti con operatore a bordo Optima della Comac ha un motore aspirante doppio per assicurare che i pavimenti siano asciutti in una sola passata.

• CRO8055 è la nuova lavasciuga pavimenti compatta con operatore a bordo prodotta dalla Numatic.

• La lavasciuga pavimenti compatta con operatore a bordo ARA 66|BM 70 prodotta dalla Columbus è progettata per aree di piccole e medie dimensioni.

PRODUCTS: SCRUBBER DRYERS

• Les autolaveuses Scrubmaster B310 R/B310 R CL sont des machines à conducteur monté et à contenance de réservoir de 301 litres.

• L’autolaveuse à conducteur à pied Kärcher BR 35/12 C est dotée de la technologie KART assurant une maniabilité maximale.

• Bei Scrubmaster B310 R/B310 R CL handelt es sich um AufsitzScheuersaugmaschinen mit einem Tankinhalt von 310 Litern.

• Die handgeführte Scheuersaugmaschine BR 35/12 C von Kärcher bietet dank KART-Technologie maximale Manövrierfähigkeit.

• Le lavasciuga pavimenti Scrubmaster B310 R/B310 R CL sono modelli con operatore a bordo e con una tanica di 310 litri di capienza.

• La lavasciuga pavimenti con operatore al seguito BR 35/12 C della Kärcher è dotata della tecnologia KART per la massima manovrabilità.

February/March 2015 | ECJ | 66

Many models

The Scrubmaster B310 R/B310 R CL ride-on scrubber dryers and combi-machines with 310litre tank capacity from Hako are for use in shopping malls, multi-storey car parks or in the industrial and logistics sector.

Various models of the Scrubmaster B310 R are available - two disk-brush machines with working widths of 102 and 123 cm, plus a cylindrical brush version for rough and structured floors. The cylindrical brush version sweeps up fine and coarse dirt during the wet cleaning process, while optional side brooms are available for cleaning close to edges and walls.

The combination sweeper and scrubber dryer Scrubmaster B310 R CL carries out three working steps in one operation.

First the 138 cm wide frontmounted vacuum sweeper enables dust-free intake of fine and coarser dirt.

Then the patented Take-itEasy system allows for easier and more convenient emptying of the dirt hopper. www.hako.com

Better steering A new steering concept has been introduced by Kärcher to its compact walk-behind scrubber dryer BR 35/12 C. KART (Kärcher Advanced Response Technology) is designed to offer maximum manoeuvrability, because the steering wheel directly controls the machine’s brush head.

The company says this model is particularly light and easy to handle thanks to the maintenance-free lithium ion recharge-

able battery. This makes it useful for use in narrow rooms and crowded spaces.

The steered brush head dictates the travel and cleaning direction while the propulsion force of the roller brush drives the machine forward, which Kärcher says is a new handling concept. It not only allows the user to clean away from a wall even at right angles and reach right into corners, but also makes it quick and simple for users to learn how to use.

Thanks to the brush roller the BR 35/12 C can clean even highly structured floors. It can also be used for pre-sweeping, combining the functions sweeping, scrubbing and drying. www.karcher.com

Improved abrasive action for all the cleaning needs.

Maximum effectiveness, durability and washability.

Range 6 floor pads have been designed to satisfy the professional cleaning world’s demand.

Their open structure ensure the most efficient abrasive action. The right compromise between wear resistance and ease of reuse.

NEW HIGH SPEED RANGE 6 FLOOR PADS Fibratesco has completed the Range 6 line with a new set of floor pads to be used with medium and high speed machines.

The new products allow to perform a wide variety of treatments on any surface and are suitable for daily use. Here are the new references: F 6900 – ONYX: aggressive blend for thermal buffing on hard finishes F 6700 – SAPPHIRE: soft pad for high luster polishing F 6800 – RUBY: to enable a fast burnishing to medium finishes

Top quality floor pads.

Directly from the manufacturer.

Fibratesco S.r.l. - Via Rossini 1 - 20067 Tribiano (MI) Italy - Tel. +39 02 90634206 - info@fibratesco.com - www.fibratesco.com

PRODUCTS: SCRUBBER DRYERS

• La dernière autolaveuse RCM est la Tera, dont la largeur de nettoyage est variable entre 1100 et 1300 mm.

• La Turbolava 35 Plus Li-ion est une autolaveuse à batterie au lithium destinée au nettoyage d’aires très fréquentées.

• TVH propose une gamme étendue de pièces pour autolaveuses et balayeuses.

• Tera ist die neueste Scheuersaugmaschine von RCM, die eine Reinigungsbreite zwischen 1100 und 1300 mm bietet.

• Bei der Turbolava 35 Plus Li-ion handelt es sich um eine Scheuersaugmaschine, die mit einem Lithiumionenakku betrieben wird und für beengte Bereiche entwickelt wurde.

• TVH bietet eine große Auswahl von Ersatzteilen für Kehr- und Scheuersaugmaschinen.

• La più nuova lavasciuga pavimenti della RCM è il modello Tera che ha una larghezza di pulizia fra 1100 e 1300 mm.

• Turbolava 35 Plus Li-ion è una lavasciuga pavimenti alimentata a batteria agli ioni di litio progettata per la pulizia di aree molto affollate.

• La TVH propone una ampia gamma di parti per lavasciuga pavimenti e spazzatrici.

February/March 2015 | ECJ | 68

Autonomy

No more cords

With the introduction of its Tera large ride-on scrubber dryer RCM has incorporated the durability and reliability of the previous Metro model with new features. These include working autonomy, more versions available, stability and traction, better drying, ease of maintenance and ergonomics.

For small and medium sized hard floors, Cimel developed the Turbolava 35 Plus Li-Ion scrubber dryer. This model can be used to clean in congested areas because it can navigate around tables, desks, appliances and beds. And because it is compact and light, and cordless thanks to the lithium-ion battery, it is simple to use.

The manufacturer says it can be used for both a daily clean and scheduled deep cleaning.

The battery, which weighs less than three kg, can run for 45 minutes continuously.

Two inclined counter rotating brushes remove dirt right up to skirting boards, while two suction squeegees and the vacuum system dry in one pass - forwards and backwards.

Turbolava 35 Plus comes with a range of accessories including brushes, pad holders and microfibre pads. www.cimel.com

RCM says Tera can also be customised to suit different applications. It is available with disk or roller brushes, in cleaning widths between 1,100 and 1,300 mm.

And with the addition of the MY option operators can choose the best way of cleaning while using the least time and energy. www.rcm.it

Specialist parts

From TVH comes a complete range of parts for scrubber dryers and sweepers - squeegees, floor pads, brushes, drive and vacuum motors. Online search tools, brochures and catalogues offer 24/7 ordering, and the company can work in 32 languages. www.tvh.com

The April/May edition of ECJ will feature a special report on washroom hygiene

BIOCIDAL REGULATIONS

Know your obligations The Biocidal Products Regulation No. 528/2012 (BPR) has been in force in the EU since September 2013. It concerns the placing on the market of biocidal products, the active substances used in biocidal products, and treated articles incorporating active substances.

Judith Friesl at The REACH Centre offers advice and clarification of substances now covered in this article written exclusively for ECJ.

The Biocidal Products Regulation No. 528/2012 (BPR) has been in force in the EU since September 1 2013. It concerns the placing on the market of biocidal products, the active substances used in biocidal products, and treated articles incorporating active substances. The BPR repealed and replaced the Biocidal Products Directive 98/8/EC (BPD) and, amongst other features, includes extended provisions for treated articles marketed in the EU. This revision of scope has resulted in the BPR impacting industries that previously had no biocides-related obligations, and who may not have been prepared for a role under the BPR, including suppliers and manufacturers of finished goods containing preservatives. The use of pre-

servatives in finished goods from textiles to wooden furniture, and from coatings to food contact materials is widespread and well established. Companies in such industries need to be aware of these new requirements and any new obligations, particularly when importing products containing preservatives from outside the EU.

Defining treated articles In the first instance it is crucial to define what is meant by the term ‘treated article’.

Those familiar with the REACH Regulation (Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals) (Regulation (EC) No 1907/2006) will be aware that an article is defined as ‘an object which during production is given a special shape, surface or design which determines its function to a greater degree than does its chemical composition’. The meaning of a treated article within the BPR takes things a step further in that it includes articles, as per the meaning of REACH, along with substances and mixtures which are ‘treated with’ or ‘intentionally incorporate’ one or more biocidal product.

The biocidal product may be present either to protect the treated article itself e.g. in the case of an in-can preservative added to a cleaning fluid, or to contribute to the function of the treated article, e.g. a surface wipe incorporating a disinfectant to be used to clean the surface, rather than to clean the wipe itself; it is this specific function of the biocidal product which determines the obligations placed on suppliers of the treated article. In the case of the latter scenario, treated articles with a biocidal function could fall under the scope of the definition of a biocidal product depending on the relative importance of the biocidal function, which brings with it more extensive obligations on the supplier.

To add further complexity to the situation, since treated articles were not included in the scope of the BPD, there are a series of transitional measures in place with regard to the marketing of treated articles. Treated articles will eventually

only be allowed on the EU market if the active substances used to treat them have been included in the EU positive list – known as the Union List. However, the transitional measures allow treated articles to be placed on the EU market during the time the active substances in the biocidal product it has been treated with are being evaluated for inclusion in the positive list. In certain cases, this may require submission of a dossier of information on the active substance(s) to the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA).

This requirement to submit information on the active substances results from the need for all active substances on the market in the EU to be approved in accordance with EU standards, and it is this level of robustness which industry, both EU and non-EU, has indicated may be problematic when applied to all treated articles. There is concern from industry regarding the import of complex articles into the EU, and the compliance requirements for their components, as well as concern across the board from industries using preservatives in manufacturing, which may or may not be present in the finished goods.

On a positive note, there is already evidence that the ECHA and the EU Commission are listening to industry with regard to treated articles, as demonstrated in the amendment to the BPR, published in April 2014 (Regulation (EU) No 334/2014).

This amendment saw the removal of an unforeseen market freeze affecting new treated articles (those not on the market on or before 1st September 2013), which would have been forced to remain off the market until all relevant active substance evaluations had been completed and approved.

Obligations With reference to the example of a cleaning solution treated with an in-can preservative, the obligations under the BPR are reasonably straightforward, especially where no biocidal claims are made on the finished label. In such a case, the Continued page 70

February/March 2015 | ECJ | 69

BIOCIDAL REGULATIONS Why battery power to Know your obligations. (continued) treated article should be labelled with any relevant instructions for use, including any precautions to be taken, if this is necessary to protect humans, animals and the environment. However, it can reasonably be expected that such information is likely to be already included on the standard product label.

In addition to the label consideration, however, suppliers of treated articles should be aware of the need to respond within 45 days to consumer right-to-know requests regarding the biocidal treatment of the treated article, free of charge.

It is important to be prepared for such

information requests, especially where the treated articles you supply are provided by non-EU manufacturers; it may take time to obtain the relevant information from the manufacturers. The BPR does not specify what sort of information consumers can request; it could be information on whether the item contains a biocide, and if so at what quantities and whether the biocide is harmful.

In cases where a biocidal claim is made on the label of a treated article, e.g. if the label includes a statement such as ‘contains a preservative to control microbial deterioration’, then the label must also

contain a statement that the treated article incorporates a biocidal product; the biocidal property; the name of all active substances contained in the biocidal product; the name of all nanomaterials contained in the biocidal product, followed by the word ‘nano’ in brackets; and any relevant instructions for use, including any precautions to be taken due to the presence of the biocidal product. This labelling requirement can also be imposed upon treated articles containing certain active substances based on the evaluation of the active substance(s). It is important to note that the label information may need to be provided in multiple languages depending on the EU Member States of marketing.

Complex treated articles The latest guidance from the EU seeks, amongst other topics, to clarify the situation concerning complex articles, i.e. articles consisting of multiple materials or components, for example a piece of footwear, manufactured using textile materials outside the EU, with component parts joined with an adhesive. In such cases it is likely that the adhesive would have been treated with a biocidal product, probably a preservative for a specific function, at some stage in the manufacturing process. The use of the adhesive to produce the finished item of footwear may not be with the purpose of passing on the preservative function from the adhesive to the footwear. In this case the treated article provisions would not be applied to the adhesive. It should be noted however that any other treatment, either of other components or of the finished item of footwear, which was carried out with the intention of conferring a biocidal property to the footwear as sold would be within the scope of the treated article provisions.

Primary biocidal functions A far more complex procedure is in place for the formal authorisation of treated articles deemed to have a primary biocidal function e.g. an antibacterial surface wipe, where the antibacterial treatment is to be used against

February/March 2015 | ECJ | 70

BIOCIDAL REGULATIONS surfaces rather than to disinfect the wipe itself. Such treated articles are defined under the BPR as biocidal products, and consequently must be authorised in accordance with the requirements for biocidal products. The authorisation procedure involves the submission of a dossier of information on the product, for subsequent evaluation by the ECHA or a chosen EU Member State.

The term ‘primary biocidal function’ is not defined in the BPR but is covered in treated article guidance documents issued by the EU Commission. A treated article will generally be considered to have a primary biocidal function if the treated article has one or more function and the biocidal function is of first rank, importance or value, compared to the other functions. Whether the biocidal function is considered to be primary will depend on a number of considerations such as the prominence of the claim in relation

to other property claims; or whether the claim is one related to public health effects e.g. a claim of effectiveness against MRSA bacteria. The decision as to the primary function of a treated article will in the end be made on a case-by-case basis, with input from the Member States.

Judith Friesl, du centre REACH, présente une information actuelle sur la réglementation européenne des biocides, qui impacte désormais des industries qui auparavant n’avaient pas d’obligations dans ce domaine.

Judith Friesl vom The REACH Centre bringt uns auf den neuesten Stand der EU-Verordnung über Biozidprodukte, die sich auf Branchen auswirkt, die zuvor keine biozidbezogenen Verpflichtungen hatten.

Strategies It is clear that the obligations placed on suppliers and importers of treated articles have increased significantly and industries with no previous biocides concerns now need to consider what steps may be needed to ensure compliance. Industry is advised to adopt a best-practice approach to allow identification of what actions they may need to take, including: • Being aware of the products in your portfolio that contain preservatives at any quantity (note there is no tonnage consideration for biocides obligations).

This may require communication along the

supply chain particularly where products are manufactured outside the EU. • Where preservatives and other active substances are present in your products, reviewing the status of the active substances in relation to the stages of evaluation under the BPR. • Identifying any treated articles that are marketed for their biocidal function, based on intended uses and labelling claims.

• Considering any additional labelling requirements for treated articles, including those with biocidal claims.

• Generating a mechanism to allow consumer requests to be managed within the defined timescale. This will involve ensuring that as much information as possible is known on each of the treated articles, including those imported into the EU. • Keeping up to date with new developments regarding treated article regulation, based on discussions between industry and the regulators.

Judith Friesl, al centro REACH Centre, ci aggiorna sulle norme EU Biocidal Product che hanno avuto un impatto sulle industrie che precedentemente non avevano nessun obbligo relativo ai biocidi.

February/March 2015 | ECJ | 71

NEW PRODUCT REVIEW

• Chicopee propose une serviette conçue spécifiquement pour le nettoyage de machines à café professionnelles.

• Le paillasson pour planchers de vinyle Web Trax constitue la dernière adjonction à la gamme Superior Manufacturing.

• Tersus Niteo a développé la Tech Range, une gamme de produits de nettoyage pour les marchés du recyclage et de la maintenance de produits électroniques.

• Reliant AGM à technologie C-Max, la nouvelle batterie à décharge poussée de la société Trojan, présente une performance soutenue et une capacité électrique accrue.

• Leafield Environmental a introduit une option sans sac pour sa poubelle Meridian Triple Envirobin.

• Americo a lancé un certain nombre de tampons de nettoyage de plancher.

• Neu von Chicopee ist ein Reinigungstuch, das gezielt für professionelle Kaffeemaschinen konzipiert wurde.

• Bei der Vinylbodenmatte Web Trax handelt es sich um den neuesten Zugang im Angebot von Superior Manufacturing.

• Tersus Niteo hat die Produktreihe Tech Range mit Reinigungsprodukten für die Elektronikrecycling- und -wartungsmärkte entwickelt.

• Reliant AGM mit C-MaxTechnologie ist die neue Deep Cycle-Batterie von Trojan, die nachhaltige Leistung und erhöhte Energieausbeute bietet.

• Leafield Environmental hat eine beutellose Option für die Meridian Triple Envirobin eingeführt.

• Americo hat mehrere neue Bodenpads eingeführt.

• Il nuovo prodotto della Chicopee è un panno di pulizia progettato specialmente per le macchine da caffè professionali.

• Il tappetino in vinile per pavimenti Web Trax è la più recente aggiunta alla gamma della Superior Manufacturing.

• La Tersus Niteo ha sviluppato la gamma di prodotti di pulizia Tech Range per i settori della manutenzione e del riciclo elettronico.

• Reliant AGM con la tecnologia C-Max Technology è la nuova batteria a ciclo continuo della Trojan – che vanta un rendimento prolungato e una maggiore energia prodotta.

• La Leafield Environmental ha introdotto un’opzione senza sacchetto per il suo contenitore per rifiuti Meridian Triple Envirobin.

• La Americo ha introdotto dei nuovi tamponi per pavimenti.

February/March 2015 | ECJ | 72

Coffee machines Chicopee has launched a cleaning towel specifically designed for professional coffee machines. The Chicopee Coffee Towel has heat resistant properties that which allow baristas to clean machines thoroughly in seconds, without risk to their own safety and comfort.

Heat resistant up to 250˚C and designed to be stronger than traditional cloths when used wet or dry, the towel can absorb up to nine times its own weight.

The structure also reduces bacteria pick-up, says Chicopee, and the towel can be machine washed many times. And it is approved for use in food handling environments. www.chicopee-europe.com

Vinyl mat

Web Trax is a new multifunctional vinyl floor mat from Superior Manufacturing that can be used in a variety of wet applications. The wave pattern design creates a slip-resistant walking surface while the open construction allows for drainage of liquids, further increasing traction on wet and slippery floors.

Made from an industrial grade vinyl compound that is soft enough to be comfortable on bare feet in applications such as changing rooms and shower facilities, Web Trax is also resistant to caustic

chemicals, oils, and greases in industrial environments.

The PVC material has an antibacterial treatment that prevents the growth of fungi or bacteria and is also UV resistant. www.notrax.com

mat and plates which protects against stratification for extended battery life; plastic polymer case design for durability; and maximum flame arrestors for maximum safety. www.trojanbattery.com

For electronics

Going bagless

UK-based Tersus Niteo is a brand new company that has developed the Tech range of professional cleaning products, aimed at the electronic recycling and maintenance markets.

Re-use is a very important part of the recycling process when it comes to waste electronics, however, in order to resell used electronic items the machines must be re-worked and refurbished to a certain standard. This includes the equipment being cleaned inside and out.

The Tersus Niteo cleaning products range includes Graffiti Prokleen, Eco-Removit for sticky labels, Pro-Multikleen, Shine Rejuvenator, and Glass & Screen Cleaner. www.tersus-niteo.co.uk

Leafield Environmental has introduced a bagless option for its Meridian Triple Envirobin which consists of a system of plastic liners, one for each lid aperture.

A 28-litre liner takes the landfill waste while a 63.5-litre liner accommodates the recyclables.

This liner also contains a 10-litre food caddy that sits beneath the food waste lift lid.

Claimed to be easy to remove, the liners come with lifting handles and are made of HDPE which means they can be rinsed out occasionally.

New battery Trojan Battery has launched what it claims to be the first true deep-cycle AGM battery - Reliant AGM with C-Max Technology. This battery, it says, maximises sustained performance and increases total energy output to meet demanding deep-cycling requirements in the cleaning machine sector.

Key features include proprietary paste formula that comprises elements designed to address the unique needs of deep-cycle applications; separator composition whose design ensures high compression for effective contact between glass

Meridian bins have a black or grey-white body as standard and lids come in WRAP approved colours with accompanying labels. www.leafieldrecycle.com

Pads and others New from Americo is a line of floor pads and other food service products. TurfScrub is a brush type floor pad which gets down into the cracks and crevices of uneven floor surfaces and deep grout lines while Natural Blue Blend is an ultra-high speed burnishing pad made of blended polyester and natural fibres.

Beige carpet pad is designed for use with carpet encapsulation cleaning systems and features a special binder.

Also new is a melamine block erasing sponge for spot-cleaning without chemicals; a pumice stone grill brick for cleaning griddles; and a griddle cleaning kit. www.americomfg.com

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