Technical Articles

Sustainable change and improvement in the workplace can only be achieved when staff understand the need to embrace ground breaking technology. It is also necessary that the workforce culture is ready to accept this change. For the first time in 15 years a new floor care technology is being introduced into hospitals. It is this particular ground breaking technology, called FaST, which Tennant believe will change the way hospitals are cleaned in the future. In the search for better hygiene standards it is the responsibility of all senior managers to help find the right solution.

Tennant’s new technology is aligned to the hospital’s workplace needs as follows: Improved hygiene standards, environmental savings, improved health and safety, higher employee morale and productivity, lower costs and improved public image.

In an effort to provide greater convenience to customers, many retailers now remain open 24 hours a day, seven days a week. This customer convenience forces retail facility managers to clean in plain view of customers. In turn, they must worry about customer safety, cleaning durations, noise levels, and equipment size—all while maintaining the image of the retail facility and the shopping experience of customers.

To overcome these challenges, when it comes to floor care, retailers are trending toward cleaning programs, processes and products that support the old axiom that less is more by focusing on anytime cleaning that:

Industry studies have shown that the top concerns of business owners and operators of carpet cleaning equipment are: improving carpet appearance and cleanliness, and shortening carpet dry time after cleaning. Yet with the methods of carpet cleaning historically available to the commercial market, “quality cleaning” and “short dry times” have been mutually exclusive.

Now, there’s a new technology—soil transfer extraction—available to the commercial carpet care industry that provides high quality cleaning, yet greatly reduces carpet dry times by dramatically reducing the moisture left after cleaning. The new technology creates clean carpeted spaces that are ready for foot traffic in 30 minutes or less—without the ill effects of some other low moisture methods.

Having worked in school maintenance for more than 26 years, I’ve seen my fair share of accidents. It’s hard not to with kids running through the halls, pushing and shoving to get to class; lunch trays getting tipped over, and food and beverages awaiting a misplaced foot; or locker doors getting left open or slammed on fingers.

It’s no secret that accidents will happen—especially in such a busy and frantic setting as a school. But some accidents can easily be prevented.

A lesson in chemistry

Wet, slippery or sticky floors seem to be one of the primary causes of accidents—whether in a school, an office complex, a hospital or a retail facility. Throughout my maintenance career, floor safety and cleanliness have been my two biggest concerns. But for much of that career, it seemed that the two didn’t go hand-in-hand.

The Lahey Clinic in Boston is widely considered one of the elite healthcare facilities in the Northeast. The clinic has approximately 900,000-square-feet of flooring and seven floors that accommodate 3,000 patients per day. The facility is cleaned by Sodexho, one of the leading Building Service Contractors in the U.S.

"We have plenty of traffic through this hospital that makes it necessary to clean the floors everyday," said Frank St. Peter, director of environmental services for Sodexho. "It is a huge job with a lot of demands for us to deliver great performance while continuously lowering our costs."

There are a number of steps and considerations to take if you desire to give your in-filled field a winning appearance, including:

• knowing the hazards of debris;
• implementing a consistent and comprehensive cleaning program;
• properly training your maintenance crews; and
• budgeting for maintenance upfront.

Dangers of debris

Grit, sand, mud, salt, and even tiny pieces of glass can all make their way onto your artificial turf. This foreign debris can create obvious safety hazards for those using the field. It can also break down and decay, causing bacteria to grow in the turf and increasing the risk of staff infections. Additionally, if fine matter isn’t kept from clogging the pores in the surface’s drainage system, water can pool on the surface of the turf and cause early deterioration.

The Tennant Sentinel power sweeper offers state of the art dry dust control.

While most other outdoor sweepers are a bust when it comes to catching dust, the Tennant Sentinel traps particles as fine as 3 microns, making it simply the best in the business. Along with its state-of-the-art dry-dust control system, the Sentinel offers an optional 2.9m high dump that allows discharge into large roll-off bins and dump trucks. In addition, the trim, compact size of the Sentinel means it squeezes down the narrowest of alleys, and its power, four-wheel steering offers impressive maneuverability to easily sweep around obstacles and snake through congested city streets.