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Speakers announced for AHCP conference
Details of the keynote speakers at the AHCP (Association of Healthcare Cleaning Professionals) 2012 annual national conference taking place in Telford on 11-13 June have been announced.
Heading the line-up is Dame Claire Bertschinger, author of 'Moving Mountains' and the woman credited with inspiring 'Live Aid', the biggest disaster relief programme ever mounted, which raised more than £150 million and saved an estimated 2 million lives in Africa. Dame Claire has received a series of awards for her work including the Florence Nightingale Medal and the Woman of the Year Award in 2005.
She is a well known public speaker and will be addressing delegates about motivation and raising awareness of key issues in public health.
Joining her on the platform are an array of other figures from the healthcare cleaning and hygiene field. These include leading HR consultant Karen Young who will be looking at some of the issues surrounding the critical area of staff recruitment and retention.
Alongside Young will be head of governance and assurance at Rotherham NHS Foundation Trust, Lisa Reid who will be running an interactive session covering legislation and regulation.
In the innovation area, this year delegates will be given a glimpse into the latest thinking on 'Bed-Pods'. This new concept, currently under trial within the NHS, has gone back to the drawing board of what is needed to improve the patient experience while delivering the ability to clean and sanitise an entire bed fixture and area.
Following its successful move to the Telford International Centre in 2011, record numbers of delegates and exhibitors are expected to attend. The popular Patrons' Panel, first introduced in 2011, will be back again this year, with a special focus on 'Four Nations' designed to highlight issues and successes across England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales.
With the Care Quality Commission focussed as strongly as ever on the need to maintain the highest standards of cleanliness and hygiene in the UK's hospitals, clinics and care homes, this important top level event provides a vital opportunity to focus on professional healthcare cleaning.
www.ahcp.co.uk
Tennant revises claim after Kärcher’s challenge
The US cleaning equipment manufacturer Tennant has revised its controversial claims for ec-H2O technology in scrubber-driers after Kärcher initiated legal or regulatory action against the company at the beginning of September
2011 for ‘misleading advertising’. Tennant made the changes prior to legal or official rulings in Germany, Belgium and UK, according to Kärcher.
Kärcher objected to the claim that ordinary tap water can, in scrubber driers, be converted into ‘active water’ that then functions as a powerful detergent. Tennant’s website no longer refers to a ‘powerful detergent’ and the claims made for the cleaning effect of ec-H2O technology are now non-committal.
“In bringing about a change in Tennant’s advertising, Kärcher has achieved one of the fundamental objectives of its proceedings in Germany, Belgium and the UK,” said Markus Asch, deputy chairman of the Kärcher Group’s management board.
CHSA accreditation scheme ‘has never been more important’
Figures revealing the levels of abuse being perpetrated by non-members of the Cleaning & Hygiene Suppliers’ Association (CHSA) Manufacturing Standard Accreditation Scheme were unveiled at the scheme’s AGM recently.
52.4% of samples from non-members were not correctly labelled and 24.2% of samples were over 10% deficient in the stated length. This compared to 3.9% of routine samples from members being incorrectly labelled and 1.4% being over 5% deficient in length. No routine samples from scheme members were over 10% deficient.
“This year we have seen an increase in the scale of abuse amongst non- members,” said Graham Fletcher, secretary of the CHSA, as he addressed the AGM. “I believe that now more than ever the Manufacturing Accreditation Scheme has a crucial role to play, giving buyers the confidence that they are getting what they are paying for. A quick glance at these figures proves that it is a valuable and effective self-regulating scheme.”
The challenging macro-economic environment has been the driving force behind disreputable suppliers increasingly cutting corners to the detriment of distributors and end users. At the AGM, the scheme’s auditor, Gordon Butt, provided a review of the abuses to which buyers need to be alert. He said: “We have seen a clear jump in the number and extent of deficiencies amongst non-members. They are reducing the number of sheets, shaving a little off the width or length of each sheet; in some cases the net efficiencies are as high as 20%. There’s no legal requirement to label the dimensions of the product and some suppliers are exploiting this. They’ll tell you the number of sheets but not the dimensions - if this is the case you can’t possibly know if something you have always understood to be one size has suddenly ‘shrunk’.”
Against this backdrop, buyers of plastic refuse sacks, industrial cotton mops and paper products need to be careful.
“The only way they can be certain to get what they pay for is to buy from Manufacturing Standard Accreditation Scheme members,” concluded Graham Fletcher. “Members of the CHSA are audited annually and so buyers can completely trust the Manufacturing Accreditation Scheme’s logo.”
www.chsa.co.uk
Greyland finds a new home
UK cleaning chemicals manufacturer Greyland, renowned for its ‘speed manufacturing’ policy that sees an order to delivery turnaround in only four days, has found a new home.
With hundreds of distributors around the UK, as well as in Europe, Greyland is now one of the country’s leading cleaning chemicals manufacturers but, after 13 years in business, has far outgrown its original premises.
Having grown into all the available space at the old factory, as well as taking over a second site nearby that was entirely devoted to warehousing, the continued growth in turnover (currently standing at £4 million annually, and which is expected to double within three years) meant that in order for capacity to keep pace, more modern premises where the entire process could be made even more efficient was becoming a real necessity.
Fortunately, a 34,000 sq ft factory and warehouse sited not more than four miles from the old factory in Stockport, became available. Located in a modern purpose-built estate in nearby Tameside Park, and with easy access to the M60 Manchester ring road and the rest of the UK motorway network, the new site is proving to be ideally suited to the task.
Not only is there ample space to organise the frequent large and small deliveries in and out of the expansive fully enclosed yard, but all the warehousing of both raw and manufactured stock can also now be held in one place.
The chemical manufacturing area is well thought out, having been carefully pre-planned and made ready beforehand including necessary building works to adapt the premises in the weeks prior to Greyland’s occupation.
The production area itself holds several vats of various sizes, up to and including 10 tonnes capacity. This is to ensure that large orders can easily be accommodated at the same time as the more regular batch sizes are produced. Because mixing is all done by weight and not by volume, industrial weighing scales have been set into the floor beneath each vat.
Consistency in quality has always been a vital ingredient of the Greyland success story, together with competitive pricing and the rapid turnaround in delivery. To facilitate this, stocks of the appropriate chemical containers are now stored close by, and in parallel to each filling line, enabling a continual production process with no unnecessary delays. A large amount of high-level storage racking has been installed, served by the latest in versatile heavy lifting equipment.
Both quality control and the label printing departments are each located alongside the production and filling areas, making each of those functions readily convenient. Goods in and goods out are sited just where they should be, meaning that even the largest deliveries can be taken off or put on at the front of the building - and all with minimum cartage within the factory itself.
www.greyland.co.uk
Pr1me receives top safety accreditation
Pr1me Cleaning Services Ltd is one of the latest group of successful companies to join a leading edge scheme, designed to help industry improve its safety record. The West Sussex based firm recently received accreditation from SAFEcontractor, a programme which recognises high standards of health and safety practise amongst UK contractors.
Specialising in the commercial office sector and retail industries, employing over 180 people and with a £1 million plus turnover, Pr1me’s most recent clients have included Lookers Mercedes Group, Robins and Day Peugeot Group, Duncan Lawrie Private Bankers, and Careers Development Group.
The company’s application for SAFEcontractor accreditation was driven by the need for a uniform standard across the business.
“We are very mindful of the standards expected in this very demanding industry and having again retained the SAFEcontractor accreditation,” said Gavin Kent, divisional director of Pr1me Cleaning Services.
SAFEcontractor accreditation is expected to enhance the company’s ability to attract new contracts and its commitment to safety will be viewed positively by its insurers when the company liability policy is up for renewal.
John Kinge, head of risk at SAFEcontractor, said: "Major organisations can no longer run the risk of employing contractors who are not able to prove that they have sound health and safety policies. More companies need to understand the importance of adopting good risk management in the way that Pr1me Cleaning Services Ltd has done. The firm’s high standard has set an example, which hopefully will be followed by other companies within the sector."
www.safecontractor.com
Columbus appoints UK agent
The Wrennalls Group, a Lancashire-based cleaning consultancy, is celebrating a ‘coup’ having brokered an import agreement to work exclusively with German floor cleaning machine manufacturer, Columbus Cleaning Machines. This new operation will trade as Columbus Cleaning Machines Ltd and operate as a division of the Wrennalls Group.
Columbus is an integral part of the long established Staehle Group, a family run business with a turnover in excess of € 75 million. With its head office located in Stuttgart, Columbus has based its success on designing and manufacturing a wide range of automatic scrubbers, single disc machines, wet and dry vacuum cleaners and spray extraction machines for any environment.
Shaun Bradbury, managing director of the Wrennalls Group, said: “For the last five years, I have been struggling to source a manufacturer that would provide me with the opportunity to bring something to the UK market that no other carpet and floor cleaning company is offering.
With an impressive and very high quality product range, not only can Columbus offer its UK based customers exceptional cleaning machines which will address any cleaning requirement across a variety of industries, but together we can deliver those products within a time frame and at a price that will give us a clear advantage over the
competition. The technical expertise within the Wrennalls Group adds a further benefit in that full onsite training and technical support will be offered as part of the sales and service package. ”
Valerie Comandre, export manager, Columbus Cleaning Machines, said: “Here at Columbus, we invest heavily in product development and never stand still. Our machines are both sustainable and versatile but are most importantly good value for money. Our clients have immense confidence in our products and the Columbus reputation of delivering a superior machine which is also reliable and effective is renowned worldwide. I am very pleased to be working alongside the Wrennalls Group. As a family run business it truly appreciates the same brand values of honesty, hard work and responsibility as Columbus.”
www.wrennalls.co.uk
