The Janitors' Closet

General McCaffrey comments

Interesting remarks by General Barry McCaffrey, our onetime "drug czar", on the dangers of our dysfunctional immigration and border control policy.  Covers the economic impact of what I'd call "high end" and "low end" immigration, impact of our "war on drugs" and huge prison population on the growth of gang activity, Mexican drug cartels, and so on.  It's contained in a dispatch by Michael Yon, my favorite military correspondent.

McCaffrey's thoughts resonate with a number of points I've made here on various aspects of immigration policy, and with what I've argued elsewhere on our self-defeating (and hugely expensive) corrections system.

Enjoy!

Good thing the carpet wasn't easy to ignite...

I see a lot of other firm's equipment in the janitor closets of places I'm quoting.  Besides the usual (and oft
remarked upon) safety and regulatory concerns of unlabeled squirt bottles and other chemical containers, lack of MSDS books, unfiltered vacuums, etc., one notices quite a few vacuum cleaner cords of questionable provenance.  Think twisted, nicked cords, taped up repairs, ungrounded (those pesky third prongs keep pulling out), perhaps of too small a gauge to support the length of cord or the vacuum.

Here's a fun video of the potential result.

We figure it's better to check our crew's equipment regularly, than to have to move the file cabinet.

Phoenix GoGreen 11

We at CBN Building Maintenance are quite proud to have been a sponsor of, and an exhibitor at, Phoenix's GoGreen '11 Conference, joining our friends at the City of Phoenix, our Chamber of Commerce, Harmon Solar (who are lined up to put some solar panels on my roof) and a lot of other folks that we work with.

The event featured a day of educational panel sessions and networking opportunities, showcasing statewide sustainable business leader case studies and their success stories, to allow conference attendees the opportunity to learn and implement best practices and create viable partnerships locally.

Got some good ideas, a bit of media exposure, and several service quotes.  Most gratifying, we're starting service for a school next month - the owner was trying to implement an environmentally friendly cleaning program, using a ma & pa firm that had not a clue.  And we're still working a couple of prospects.

Made our registration fee back already.

Industry certification

Caught an article in BSCAI's SmartBrief to the effect that less than 1% of the janitorial industry carries any sort of professional certification.

I've long believed in training my managerial folks, and assisting them on the path to professional certification.  The "less than 1%" figure is born out, at least locally, by the BSCAI's website:if you search for folks in Arizona holding BSCAI's executive or managerial certifications, you find that half of them are with my firm.

Here's some notes I posted a couple of years ago on the subject:

"I'm asked, from time to time, what the owner of a new janitorial firm ought do to both gain technical competence in his chosen field, and to demonstrate to his potential clients both his bona-fides, and that technical competence.   

" Besides joining and participating in his local BBB and Chamber of Commerce (covered earlier), I suggest a bit of what we've done (we provide janitorial service in Phoenix AZ):

• Building Service Contractors Association International - great seminars and conventions, links to member firms from their website, accreditation programs, industry contacts and a monthly magazine

• American Indoor Air Quality Council- local champers give workshops, good contacts in the HVAC and mold remediation industries, and a monthly publication

• U. S. Green Building Council - knowledge you need should you have a client looking at LEED certification; local chapters can train in LEED criteria

• IMAGE- a new Immigration & Customs program, allowing firms to partner with the Feds to better control ones hiring and screening procedures.

Try it - you'll be more competent, more legitimate, and can demonstrate it."

University of Minnesota Team Cleaning dispute.

The Minnesota Daily informs us that the University of Minnesota and the Teamsters Union, representing the University's janitors, disagree on the University's attempt to implement "Team Cleaning" procedures in cleaning campus buildings.  “The custodians’ contract states that each worker can bid on a specific area to clean, based upon seniority. Curtis Swenson, a business agent for the union, said the new team cleaning practice, which has multiple custodians cleaning the same area, violates that clause of the contract”.  Wonder if the senior janitors know where the easiest buildings lie.

"Team Cleaning" allows a multi-man crew in a large building to specialize, each crew member doing a particular task.  It generally replaces "zone cleaning", such as the University's janitorial staff uses, in which an individual cleaner does all tasks in a given area.   Here's how we summarize "Team Cleaning" in our firm's Procedures Manual:

 “Team Cleaning” can be used to divide tasks among several workers, or to set up a routine for one person who cleans the entire building.  Generally, the system involves moving in a circular path and the following steps:

1) “Light Duty” includes: emptying trash, ashtrays, dusting, spot cleaning, carpet spotting and door and interior glass spotting all in one operation (includes restroom & lunchroom trash).

2) Vacuuming floors (both carpet and tile), vents, webs, etc. with backpack vacuum. Do this after your “Light Duty” cleaning and check previous work as you go.

3) Rest rooms & lunchrooms (can easily be combined with light duty cleaning when in a small building).

4) Damp and wet mopping."

"Team Cleaning" promotes both efficiency (worker productivity) and quality, by training and equipping each worker in a specialized task.  Productivity allows for better pay, and a wealthier society.  Those societies that do not increase productivity stagnate; those industries and firms that do not increase productivity loose jobs to out-sourcing, or mechanization.  Centuries ago, the Luddites in England tried to "protect jobs" by smashing mechanical looms.  These days, you'll notice that folks who try to produce commercial cloth by hand weaving tend to starve.  Didn't work in England; won't work in Minnesota.

Workplace bacteria

With cold and flu season beginning, it seems time to consider a prime pathogen breeding ground - your desk, phone and keyboard.

In a CNN Health Report, Dr. Charles Gerba, a microbiologist down the road from us at the University of
Arizona, "counted bacteria on workplace surfaces for a study sponsored by The Clorox Co., makers of Clorox bleach.  Office toilet seats had 49 germs per square inch, he found. But desktops had almost 21,000 germs per square inch. Phones were worse -- more than 25,000 germs per square inch.  Desks, phones, computer keyboards and mice are key germ transfer points because people touch them so often..."

Easy enough to sanitize desktops and phone handsets, but hard to properly disinfect computer keyboards using a chemical disinfectant - you need to up-plug the keyboard, use compressed air to removed lodged particles, and use a Q-tip to swab disinfectant onto tops and sides of the keys.  Time consuming and sloppy.  I know of no local janitorial firm including such service in their standard package.

A good alternative is an ultra-violet light sanitizer.  It won't help the visual impact of a dirty keyboard but, with a 10 second or so application, it can pretty effectively sanitize the keys.  That's why we're making it available as part of our "cleaning for health" package.