Waste company digs deep for needy children

Big-hearted staff at a successful waste management company, based in Eastbourne, have donated more than £2000 to help sick children in the south east.
CountyClean Environmental Services, which specialises in removing liquid and hazardous waste, decided to sponsor local resident Stella Grimshaw £2000 towards her Great Wall of China trek in October 2010, in aid of local children’s hospice Chestnut Tree House.

Chestnut Tree House is the only children's hospice in Sussex and cares for children and young adults from 0 to 19 years of age with progressive life-limiting and life-threatening illnesses from all over the county.

Jo Carden, events and fundraising officer for Chestnut Tree House, said: “We are so grateful to Stella for taking on this challenge, and to CountyClean Environmental Services for their generous sponsorship. Without the support of local people and companies like CountyClean, we would not be able to continue helping life-limited children and their families across Sussex.”

The CountyClean team was also moved when they heard about a seven year- old Kent boy - Max Walsh - with cerebral palsy who is in desperate need of an operation to improve his quality of life. Directors Mike Walker and Darren Baldwin agreed to sponsor a hole for £500 at a forthcoming charity golf day in Gillingham.

CountyClean managing director, Mike Walker, said: “We are continuing to grow, had a fantastic 2010 and have recently taken on a number of prestigious new clients. So we felt it was only right to give something back to the local community and especially to people who are less fortunate than ourselves. When we heard about Chestnut Tree House we wanted to help and we were equally moved to hear about Max Walsh’s plight.’

A charity golf tournament is being held at Gillingham Golf Club on 22 May to help raise the £43,000 needed to send Max Walsh to America for an operation to help him retain the use of his legs.

Organiser Chris Edwards said; “We cannot thank CountyClean enough for their kind donation. The golf day will consist of prizes for the golfers, and in the afternoon we shall be holding an auction as well as a raffle.”

www.countycleanenvironmental.co.uk

The Cleaning Show 2011 - ‘an outstanding event’

Anybody that had concerns that the current economic climate might damage the quality of attendees at The Cleaning Show 2011 needn’t have worried - the event closed its doors on Thursday 3rd March following three vibrant days which both exhibitors and visitors described as ‘outstanding’.

The official number of visitors attending this year’s event is 7652, with the vast majority being in a position to purchase or specify equipment and services. Martin Scott, exhibition sales director, said: “The Cleaning Show 2011 exceeded all our expectations, and was a clear demonstration that the UK cleaning industry continues to thrive despite tough economic times. As organisers we were struck by the quality of the exhibits and the amount of genuine innovation on show. From our exit survey, it appears that visitors were similarly impressed. We welcomed almost 90 new exhibiting companies to this year’s event - I look forward to seeing them all again in 2013.”

Mark Woodhead, chairman of the British Cleaning Council, said: “The Cleaning Show was a huge success from the BCC’s perspective. Throughout the course of the three days I was able to meet numerous decision-makers and influential people from a variety of industries and countries, as the show once again displayed that its appeal spans continents and industry sectors. I particularly liked the new innovations for the show, particularly the Green Zone and the improved Innovation Awards, which demonstrated our industry’s appetite to engage with issues of sustainability and social responsibility, both of which will be explored again at our own Cleaning Conference in October. I would like to pass on my congratulations to Quartz for another successful show from all of the BCC’s members, and look forward to seeing everyone again in two years time.”

Exhibitors, too, were full of praise for the event. Lyndsay Taylor from first-time exhibitor New Zealand Pump Company, said: “It was the first time exhibiting for us at The Cleaning Show and the response that we had was phenomenal. It ranks among the top five shows that we have exhibited at across the globe. We would also like to thank the event staff for making the booking process easy and hassle-free. Now the hard work begins with following up the leads.”

Other new initiatives that proved particularly successful were the Priority Pass Scheme, which enabled visitors to prepare their badges in advance on-line, and the VIP Visitor Programme, sponsored by ICE.

Innovation Awards

The organisers of The Cleaning Show 2011 rewarded innovation with an expanded and enhanced awards programme at this year’s event. Neil Nixon, chair of the judging panel and editor of C&M, said: “Judging the expanded scheme was a tougher task than ever before, but extremely rewarding. I am very grateful to my fellow judges - Bob Vincent, Paul Thrupp, John Stinton, Maureen Marden and Michael Poulter - for their diligent work, enabling us to physically judge almost 50 products during the first day of the show. Competition was fierce, and we had some excellent winners. Thanks to all the exhibitors that took part, submitting 100 products and services for the consideration of the judges.”

Congratulations to this year’s winners:

Carpet & upholstery cleaning products/services: Chemspec Europe - DFC 105.
Chemicals and dosing systems: GLORIA - Foam Master.
Eco/green products: Centrego - Toucan Eco.
Floor cleaning machines (indoors): ICE?Cleanfix - Robo 40.
Floor cleaning machine (outdoors): Gumclear - CCR3000.
Food hygiene products/services: Bio-Based Europe - Hard Surface Sanitiser.
Healthcare products/services: Chemspec Europe - Infection Control Fogging Solution.
Pressure washers/graffiti removal products/services:?Bio-Based Europe - Graffiti Remover.
Retail cleaning products/services: Prodifa - Aluminium Ashtray Bag.
Washroom products/services: Cannon Hygiene - Activap.
Software and management systems: OGL - ProfIT Plus Business Intelligence Module.
Window cleaning products/services: Aqua-Dapter - Flow Controller.
OVERALL WINNER: Aqua-Dapter - Flow Controller.

The Cleaning Show 2013 will be staged at the NEC, Birmingham from 19 to 21?March 2013. The event will co-locate with the highly successful IMHX exhibition, ensuring the crossover of visitors from the materials handling and warehousing event.

The Cleaning Show is organised every two years on behalf of the cleaning industry by BCCE Ltd, a company jointly owned by the British Cleaning Council and Quartz Publishing & Exhibitions Ltd, publisher of C&M.

For further details on The Cleaning Show please contact Martin Scott on: Tel: 01895 454438 or Email: martinscott@quartzltd.com

 www.cleaningshow.co.uk

Apprentices: ‘better value than graduates’

After business secretary Vince Cable announced that the Government plans to increase the annual funding of apprenticeships to £1.4 billion, a survey has indicated that employers find apprentices worth more to their businesses than university graduates.

City & Guilds, one of the most prominent vocational education organisations in the UK, surveyed 500 employers, half of which had used on-the-job training. Of those that had hired apprentices, 52% claimed they proved better value than graduates.

Cable announced the increase in apprenticeship funding by stating that the creation of a new generation of highly skilled workers will be crucial to sustainable economic growth while “reinforcing the message to business and young people that apprenticeships are a first-class way to start a career”. The announcement by the business secretary is part of the government’s wider commitment for apprenticeships to acquire the same level of prestige as university degrees.

The number of young people leaving school to take up apprenticeships rose sharply under the previous Labour government, from 60,000 in 1997 to almost 300,000 this year. Under the schemes, the government pays for apprentices to attend college while employers offer them paid employment.

Mark Woodhead, chairman of the British Cleaning Council, said:  “Facilities management is an increasingly demanding sector, and apprenticeships are a great way for firms to benefit from the energy and enthusiasm of new workers while they acquire the skills they will need in their careers. Our member organisation, Asset Skills, has just released details of its level 3 facilities management apprenticeship, with events to mark the launch currently taking place all over the country - check its website for further information about getting involved.”

www.britishcleaningcouncil.org

The Cleaning Show 2011 - ‘an outstanding event’

Connect survey unveils £2.6 billion ‘sickness’ cost

An independent survey amongst office workers has shown that the major cause of absence from work is colds and ‘flu and a major contributor to the spread of the infection at work is poor hand hygiene. But to date, the hand drying element is rarely referred to. Indeed the survey showed that whilst 87% of office employees thought hand washing was effective at controlling the spread of infection, only 13% thought hand drying had any contribution to make.

However, the latest study on effective hand hygiene carried out by Bradford University confirms the truth of the widely accepted view that hand washing is a hugely important infection control measure, a view also held by the Health Protection Agency and the NHS Infection Control Team. This latest survey, commissioned by Connect Hygiene Products, showed that 93% of employees thought that too. However, the Bradford study goes on to state that hand drying is vitally important in preventing post wash translocation of bacteria from the hand’s surface to the next hard surface it touches.

The survey shows that on average, an office worker in the UK takes six days off sick each year. The office managers surveyed underestimated that finding, surmising that each member of staff takes only around three days off per annum through sickness. They further surmised that it costs around £200 to organise replacements for absent staff members by drafting in other staff members or by recruiting temporary agency workers as cover. Office workers total around 10 million of the total UK workforce of some 29 million. If the manager’s figure is correct, then £1.3 billion is spent on covering for members of staff who are ill. That’s money straight off the bottom line. But it’s not correct.

The survey showed that managers were only concerned with their own immediate responsibilities, they did not include other administration costs nor additional management time. In fact the figure is likely to be twice their own estimate. That’s a £2.6billion cost.

There is more bad news. The survey showed that when the workforce was depleted through sickness, many managers amended the service to cope with reduced resource. Options included dealing with inbound calls only, suspending parts of the service or not calling back as agreed. No attempt has been made to put a price on the lost opportunity cost or loss of reputation with angry customers, but it is out there somewhere.

So what can be done to reduce this invisible cost? Good hand hygiene is very simple to achieve. "Cheap, old-fashioned methods can be very effective in cutting your risk of catching flu," said Dr Tom Jefferson of the Cochrane Collaboration, "and that includes thorough hand drying on a disposable paper towel. Perhaps that it is why it is rarely considered at senior management level. But the numbers suggest that it should be."

Connect Hygiene Products believes that hand drying is the Cinderella of the hand hygiene process. Perhaps, it says, we should start to think of the twin critical actions of washing and drying as separate components of a single and very important infection control procedure. So that hand washing and hand drying with paper towels are recognised as being two equally important elements of effective hand hygiene.

www.connecthygiene.co.uk

Micro Rider Charity Challenge

From 2pm to 4pm on Wednesday 2 March, area G25 at the Cleaning Show in Birmingham's NEC will host the annual micro-rider charity challenge. Competing teams from companies attending the Cleaning Show will participate in the challenge, with the winning team selecting a charity they would like to see benefit from the fund. The event is not a race, however, rather a test of the competitor's skill and agility behind the wheel of a micro-rider.