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Training event for barrier laundry systems
When hygiene is critical, there is no room for compromise. When the Health and Social Care Act 2008 was updated in October 2010, a new code of practice for health and adult social care on the prevention and control of infections and related guidance was introduced. The new document sets out what registered providers of health and social care services should do to ensure compliance with the Care Quality Commission.
Good laundry hygiene is critical when conforming to the new code of practice and having the right equipment in place can significantly enhance the prevention and control of infection. As experts in barrier washers, Electrolux Laundry Systems (ELS) can give you and your establishment peace of mind by providing a defence against the spreading of micro-organisms and cross infections. Keeping linen clean requires excellent and consistent practice and discipline. Using Electrolux barrier washers makes this simple.
Now ELS is about to go one step further with its technically advanced equipment and customer support service, by holding a training event on barrier laundry systems at its head office in Luton on 13 September 2011.
The event will take place between 9.30am and 4pm and is specifically aimed at care home groups, healthcare trusts, facilities management companies and architects involved in laundry design. A series of presentations will be given by experts in the field of barrier systems and how these are needed for optimum laundry processes. Lunch and refreshments will be provided.
For more information and to book a place, please contact Julie Fell: julie.fell@electrolux.co.uk .
www.electrolux.co.uk/laundrysystems
Companies urged to prepare for new AWR
Leading time and attendance software specialist Auto Time Solutions is urging cleaning businesses that use temporary staff to ensure they are well prepared for new legislation, which will give temporary workers the same pay and rights as permanent employees. The Agency Workers Regulation (AWR), which becomes law from October this year, is set to have profound implications for temporary agency workers, employers and agencies.
Under the new EU regulations agency staff who have worked for 12 consecutive weeks at a company will be entitled to the same pay, overtime allowances, annual leave and breaks as permanent staff doing the same job. But Christian Berenger, business development director at Birmingham-based Auto Time Solutions, fears that many companies could fall foul of the new AWR regulations when they come into force as they are unprepared for the changes: “Having spoken to companies throughout the UK, it is evident that many are still ill-prepared for the impending regulations. With the new AWR rules drawing ever closer it is vital that managers prepare for the new changes before the rules come into effect rather than leaving it until the last minute and relying on support from recruitment providers to ensure compliance.”
In the UK, 4% of workers are employed via agencies - almost double the average across Europe. Agency workers are popular amongst employers as they are seen as a short-term solution to meet flexible workplace demands or provide cover for staff absences.
But putting temporary agency workers on equal terms with permanent employees with regard to pay and conditions will put companies and recruitment providers under increasing pressure to administer the time and attendance of temporary staff.
One of the biggest challenges facing organisations under the new regulations will be determining the accrual of the 12 week qualifying period as there are many factors that affect the qualifying ‘clock’, such as breaks for sickness, maternity leave, holidays and jury service. For that reason Auto Time has developed its flagship product Vanquish with new features that will assist companies with their compliance to AWR.
With Vanquish, employees simply clock in and out using biometric handscan terminals or web-enabled devices such as mobile phones. All captured data is instantly transmitted to a web portal, enabling managers to monitor employee time and attendance in real-time, and identify when temporary workers are coming up to the 12 week qualifying period under the new regulation.
Managers can input specific company rules relating to shift patterns, breaks and overtime allowances, and clocking data can be stored and retrieved easily. The system also allows managers to proactively monitor staff absences by sending SMS or email alerts should an employee fail to turn in for work.
Berenger believes Vanquish will deliver significant benefits to employers that frequently use temporary workers in terms of accurate real-time attendance data and reduced administration costs: “The new legislation presents an enormous challenge for companies who recruit temporary staff. By taking control of staff time and attendance, businesses can protect themselves from unknown breaches of the new regulation. Employers that frequently use temporary workers will understandably be concerned about the increasing administration they will face because of the new rules. However, investing in a workforce management solution like Vanquish can deliver significant cost savings by reducing the administrative burden and automating much of the attendance and payroll process.”
www.autotime.co.uk
Competition helps ex-offenders secure employment
An awards ceremony has taken place to mark the achievements of prisoners who took part in a national cleaning skills competition, the Team Clean Challenge. The event, now in its fourth year, is run by Asset Skills, the Sector Skills Council for cleaning. It aims to demonstrate the high quality training that takes place in prisons as part of preparing offenders with work skills to help their rehabilitation on release.
Richard Beamish, chief executive of Asset Skills, said: “This contest has been extremely successful in promoting jobs in cleaning to prisoners. There are now 50 ex-offenders working in the cleaning industry as a result of the competition. Getting a job is a key factor in helping ex-prisoners settle back into society and in cutting reoffending rates. It helps save the UK taxpayer millions each year.”
Despite the economic downturn, there is still a shortage of cleaners and more employers are recognising the benefits of hiring a well- trained ex-offender, who will have been vetted and sees the job as a chance to start a new life. There are clear career paths in cleaning and it can offer a rewarding and worthwhile job.
The Team Clean Challenge is an opportunity for offenders to show the skills they have acquired through their training in prison and meet employers who may be able to help them find work on their release. The competition also operates an ‘open strand’ in which cleaning companies across the UK enter teams of their staff. The skills competition seeks to raise the profile of cleaning and instil pride in those who do such an essential job.
The 2011 awards ceremony to mark the participants’ achievements took place at the Botanical Gardens in Birmingham on 22 June. The prisons challenge ran in several categories. Winners included: HMP Erlestoke for Best Prison; HMP Feltham for Best Young Offenders Institute; Christopher Burgan, HMP Hewell, for Best Supervisor; and Mike Linker from HMP Erlestoke for Best Operative.
www.assetskills.org
OCS ranked in Sunday Times ‘Top Track 100’
Britain’s top 100 private companies with the biggest sales have been revealed in this year’s Sunday Times Deloitte Top Track 100. International facilities services provider OCS has again successfully appeared in the listings and has ranked 75th this year.
Cahal Dowds, head of private markets & advisory corporate finance, UK at Deloitte, title sponsor of the league table, said: “Large private companies are playing an increasingly important role in the UK’s economy, and it is great to see the strength of this year’s league table. While current macro-economic conditions leave no room for complacency, the featured companies have proved their resilience and adaptability, and they continue to make an invaluable contribution towards sustaining jobs and growth.”
OCS CEO, Chris Cracknell, said: “I believe that our family passion and commitment to social values, coupled with our business professionalism, helps to forge strong client relationships and this is particularly important in times of economic austerity.”
Ranked 75th in the top 100 of Britain’s biggest private companies, based on turnover, the OCS family-owned business started trading over 100 years ago. Now in the fourth generation of family ownership, the company lies at the forefront of its sector, harnessing advanced technologies and management systems to deliver quality, performance and accountability to its customers. In almost every sector businesses rely on OCS for a wide range of property support services.
www.ocs.co.uk
BTA Innovation Awards
The 2011 British Toilet Association Innovation Awards will recognise innovation in three key areas of ‘away from home’ toilet provision: new products, new services and efficiency improvements. BTA wants to hear about innovation that really improves the use or provision of publicly accessible toilets.
Anyone can nominate a provider or supplier or their own organisation or company by sending an email to enquiries@britloos.co.uk by Friday 30 September 2011. Nominations must include details of why the product, service or efficiency should be awarded a BTA Innovation Award. All nominations will be acknowledged.
Entrants will be invited to display their innovative products or services at the BTA annual conference on 21 September, before judging is completed. "Our annual conference is a once a year opportunity for providers of 'away from home' toilets to network with product and service suppliers, as well as user group representatives, to discuss best practice and hear about fresh ideas which are already working", said Mike Bone, director of BTA. "It also provides an ideal opportunity to recognise the cutting edge of washroom product development and service provision through entries to the BTA's Innovation Awards."
A panel comprising members of the BTA management committee will judge each nomination and decide who will gain awards. There may be more than one award in each category, dependent on the number and quality of nominations. The decisions of the judges will be final.
Each award winner will receive a trophy designed specifically for the BTA Innovation Awards and a framed BTA Innovation Award certificate.
The awards will be announced and presented to the winners by a celebrity guest during the 2011 Loo of the Year Awards presentation event on Friday 2 December at the Chesford Grange Hotel, Kenilworth.
www.britloos.co.uk
Thumbs-up for new cleaning initiative
A healthcare cleaning expert has welcomed the recent introduction of the British Standard for Healthcare Cleaning. Brian Boll, systems director at Jigsaw Cleaning Systems, has outlined the importance of the initiative and has indicated that it will provide much needed assurance to the public.
The British Standard for Healthcare Cleaning, to be known as PAS 5748, was introduced by the Association of Healthcare Cleaning Professionals (AHCP) at the recently held AHCP conference in Telford. The standard is the first time a British Standards Institute (BSI) backed initiative has been introduced for healthcare cleaning.
Boll said: “Even though substantial cuts are being made to the NHS, the quality of cleanliness in hospitals is something that cannot be allowed to suffer. This standard will go a long way to reassuring the public on hospital cleanliness and, importantly, gives hospitals clear guidelines on how to ensure a clean and safe hospital environment. Patient safety needs to be at the heart of hospital care and the standard provides a framework for continuous improvement to cleanliness. It ensures risks associated with hospital cleanliness have been fully assessed and will assist in the provision of cleanliness in support of infection prevention and improved patient, public and staff confidence.”
PAS 5748 has been developed after a joint research and development programme was entered into by the Department of Health, the BSI and AHCP. The new standard offers guidelines for planning, measuring and improving cleanliness services in the NHS in England.
Although it will not be mandatory for hospitals to use PAS 5748, they will be able to use it to provide good practice evidence to the Care Quality Commission that nationally agreed procedures are in place for their premises to prove they are clean and safe for patients.
PAS 5748 will exist alongside the existing national specifications for cleanliness and is expected to be adopted for use by most NHS trusts as well as other healthcare providers including GP surgeries, clinics and nursing and care homes.
www.jigsawcleaningsystems.co.uk
