Textile Rental最新文献

This is the third in a series of three articles on OSHA's new ruling on bloodborne pathogens. It covers engineering and work practice controls, employee training, record keeping, and signs and labels.

The time is right to market the environmental benefits of reusable textiles. Take it from Stan Wiener, director of sales for Unitex Textile Rental Services, Mount Vernon, N.Y. Wearing one of his company's reusable cloth examination gowns, Wiener made a sales call to a leading New York health services center. Persuaded by the environmental friendliness of reusables, the health center made the switch from paper gowns and has realized a 5,000-lb. reduction in disposable trash.

Second of a three-part series on the new bloodborne pathogens rule, this article covers exposure control plans, personal protective equipment for laundry workers, and compliance monitoring. In short, the rule mandates more record keeping for employers and less exposure for employees. By May 5, every laundry with employees who could "reasonably anticipate" coming into contact with blood-soiled linen and needles or sharps must establish a written exposure control plan. Turn to page 60 for information to help you get into compliance.

Could you continue operating under mandatory water restrictions? During a drought, textile rental operations can expect mandatory water cuts of 10% to 20% or more. If you're already running a tight ship and not wasting water, you may think you have no choice but to reduce the poundage of fabric processed. Not so. Here are some simple procedures to help you conserve water every day.

Get ready to update and improve your company's safety program. On pages 24-38, you'll find a comprehensive guide to safe industry practices to enhance your operation and help you stay in compliance with OSHA regulations such as the General Duty Clause and the Right-to-Know law. Achieving a safe, healthy, productive, and profitable business doesn't happen by accident. It takes upper-management commitment to improve equipment, procedures, and employee training. Managers have a personal and a legal responsibility for employees' safety on the job. Don't delay safety improvements!

If you supply healthcare linen, OSHA's new ruling comes with a price tag, but it may be a marketing boon as well. The costs of compliance are high--about $1.19 million annually. One of the most costly and important parts of the ruling is the required employer-paid hepatitis B vaccination of employees. But behind the costs, there's good news for the textile rental industry. The opportunity to serve small medical facilities and nursing homes as well as hospitals with reusable healthcare garments could create a revenue source estimated to be at least $177 million a year.

U.S. and European laundry equipment manufacturers are striving to gain efficiencies with high technology. They are well aware that operators want to use resources--including energy, water, labor, and merchandise--better. Also, meaningful information about plant operations is becoming a top priority. Many high-tech options are available now and others are in the works to carry this industry into the next century.

Textile rental operators face tough wastewater cleanup challenges in many communities nationwide. Depending on the local POTW regulations and the textile rental company's customer base, wastewater pretreatment isn't always necessary. However, many plants must pretreat or risk being put out of business. In this article, eight manufacturers of wastewater treatment equipment explain their systems to help industry operators comply with POTW limits.

Spontaneous ignition fires pose an unpredictable threat that textile rental operators may overlook in their safety planning. The possibility that a fire can start spontaneously in clean linen or towels may seem remote, but fire experts say the phenomenon is quite real. The lethal combination is hot, damp, oxygenated, and cotton--conditions that are present in laundries every day. Yet, fires can be prevented if companies educate their employees, adhere to dryer manufacturers' recommendations, and exercise safety vigilance.

When a charitable hospital begins competing with businesses that normally are "for profit," such as laundries, the hospital stands a substantial chance of losing its state and county tax-exempt status. Nevertheless, healthcare organizations across the country routinely undertake commercial projects and amass profits without challenge. Here are two case histories that prove citizen involvement can spell the deathknell for unfair competition.