FDA Says There's No Proof Antibacterial Soaps Work

In several previous posts (April 9, 2014; April 28, 2015; September 29, 2015) I shared articles on the concerns that antibacterial soaps were under consideration as to whether or not they were effective. Now the FDA has decided they are not.  Here's a copy of the article found in Yahoo! news in the health section last week.

The federal government has banned more than a dozen chemicals long used in antibacterial soaps, saying manufacturers failed to show they are safe and kill germs. Friday's decision primarily targets two once-ubiquitous ingredients — triclosan and triclocarban — that some limited animal research suggests can interfere with hormone levels and lead to drug-resistant bacteria. The chemicals have long been under scrutiny, and a cleaning industry spokesman said most companies have already removed the now banned 19 chemicals from their soaps and washes. The agency told manufacturers nearly three years ago that they must show their products are safe and effective. Regulators said Friday the data submitted for the chemicals did not meet federal standards for proving safety and effectiveness.

We have no scientific evidence that they are any better than plain soap and water.

Dr. Janet Woodcock, director of the FDA's Center for Drug Evaluation and Research

The FDA ban comes more than 40 years after Congress asked the agency to evaluate triclosan and dozens of other antiseptic ingredients. Ultimately, the government agreed to publish its findings only after a three-year legal battle with an environmental group, the Natural Resources Defense Council, which accused the FDA of delaying a decision on the safety of triclosan. The FDA is now undertaking a sweeping reevaluation of soaps and washes used by consumers and health professionals. The FDA decision does not apply to hand sanitizers, most of which use alcohol rather than antibacterial chemicals.

Consumers may think antibacterial washes are more effective at preventing the spread of germs. In fact, some data suggests that antibacterial ingredients may do more harm than good over the long term.

Dr. Janet Woodcock, director of the Center for Drug Evaluation and Research

Peeing in Public Now Okay

Well, if you live in San Francisco, it's now okay to pee in public, that is in the new outdoor, open style urinal at Dolores Park.  The city is trying to reduce urinating in public and this is one of their newest ideas.  Last year they experimented with paint that caused fluid to splash back on the person. This brief article will explain more about this newest park addition.

Living in A Custodial World: Urine Trouble - Don't Try Peeing Here! Mar 6, 2015 ... To give potential offenders a fair warning, Reuters reports the group has put up signs that read “Do not pee here! We pee back!” The paint ... custodialworld.blogspot.com

People Are Drawn to Cleanliness

I've posted several comments and articles in the past on how a person's first impression of a building can be highly influenced by the cleanliness inside and out. Once again, a survey by Procter and Gamble has confirmed that thinking. Here's the brief comments made about this subject from cmmonline.com.

Survey: Cleanliness Leads to Customers

By Cleaning & Maintenance Management® Staff

March 11, 2015

Ninety-seven percent of hospitality guests rated cleanliness as the most important factor when choosing a restaurant, café, bar, or hotel, according to a recent survey commissioned by Procter & Gamble Professional.

More than 4,000 consumers throughout Europe participated in the P&G study. The results indicated that cleanliness not only leads to an increase in customers, but also better tips for staff. More than 90 percent of respondents stated that an establishment’s cleanliness also impacts whether or not they would leave a tip.

Source: European Cleaning Journal

The Ebola Games

No, this is not some sick, twisted adventure on a deadly and devastating disease.  It is scientists using the minds of video gamers to try and find a cure for Ebola.  Scientists at the University of Washington are using these unusual thinking methods of gaming individuals to study ways to prevent or cure Ebola.  This article goes into more detail on how this is being done and the studies involved.

Chikungunya Cases Surpass 100,000

Those rascally little mosquitoes continue to share their pain with over 100,000 people now being infected with the Chikungunya virus. I posted about this virus outbreak a few weeks ago. Amazingly, it has spread quite rapidly in a short time. There is no known vaccine for this other than bed rest and pain medication. Maggie Fox shares a few more details in her article on this outbreak.

A Second Case Has Appeared

I've been following the information dealing with the new MERS virus. Last week the first case was found in the U.S. Today, a second case has been found in a patient in Florida. I've linked the article here if you're following this virus of high concern which is similar to SARS which killed almost 800 people a few years ago.

Dromedaries and MERS

My previous post discussed the dangers and concern over MERS (Middle East Respiratory Syndrome). Last week when this was posted, there were fears this virus could reach the U.S. Now it has. The first case has been identified in a patient in Indiana. The CDC, WHO and other agencies are working on this situation.

According to research, it appears that MERS may have originated with dromedaries (camels). Many of these animals have the MERS virus or substrains in them. More research is underway.

This link will provide more in-depth details on the current situation. As always, regular hand-washing, common sense and reasonable cleaning will slow or prevent the spread of disease.

And Now There Is MERS

You've heard of MRSA. You've heard of SARS. But have you heard of MERS? MERS is another new virus emerging from the Middle East which was discovered in 2012. It stands for Middle East Respiratory Syndrome. Like SARS, it affects the respiratory system of humans and in some cases is fatal. Currently there's no specific treatment, no cure and no vaccine to fight it off. It's another in a line of modern ailments that has health agencies like WHO concerned and worried about what the next few years will bring. Read the article here by Maggie Fox to get more information and details about this emerging concern. In the meantime, thorough cleaning, regular hand washing and common sense tactics can help reduce the possible risk of getting this infection.

Just in: A follow-up article on MERS - Click here.

Working Up to the Last Second!

The big day dawns Tuesday morning at 7:45 a.m.  The first day of school!  That means our work is done, to some degree.  When I say that, I mean that all the big jobs for the summer are complete.  The floors are cleaned and waxed, the carpets have been cleaned, the rooms cleaned, maintenance completed, painting done, machinery serviced and so on. 

Our crew worked right up to the last second on Friday to complete everything and have the building ready to go Tuesday morning.  I went around and made sure the HVAC system was back online, compressors for shop and science were running, timers were set and everything else that keeps the building running and comfortable for learning was on. 

I must commend our crew for their extremely hard work.  They accomplished an amazing amount of work in the short time we had during the summer.  A huge "thank you" to our student helpers who we couldn't have done without.  They saved us a lot of time and did a tremendous job helping us prepare the building for use.
Now that we are back to school, the normal jobs will fall back into place.  Until next summer rolls around, we'll see you in our buildings somewhere!

P.S.  Check out a few snippets of things that we did this summer in our custodial newsletter. 

Stripping in June

In one month, school will be out. Then what? Well, for our department, one of the biggest cleaning events this year. Stripping the floors in the commons and related areas.

Since the school was remodeled in 1999, the floors in this area have not been stripped. Stripping is more time-consuming and labor-intensive than just a normal scrub and re-coating of floors. Stripping involves removing all the wax right down to the original tile. Then wax is reapplied to the freshly cleaned floor bringing the shine back to a fine luster.

Over the years, no matter how often you clean a floor, small amounts of soiling work their way into the wax. Even when you scrub the floor and re-wax, there is some soiling and discoloration that cannot be helped. So, every few years you basically have to start over. When its finished it looks beautiful. Getting to that point is the time-consuming part.

So what areas exactly will we be stripping? The commons, choir room, front of the kitchen, Main St. hall, security office, ASB office, student store, room 405 and the alcove in front of 405 and the vestibule above the gym stairs as well as the ramp and hallway by the band practice rooms. It's a huge area and will take our whole team at least a week or so to accomplish. During that first week after school is out, those areas will be closed in sections as we strip and then finally closed completely while we wax everything. Once that's done, we will begin working on cleaning the rest of the building.

Every year is a busy one in the summer. This year is no exception. Our goal, as always, is to have all major cleaning done by August 15. The rest of August is then spent working on areas that are not so public and taking care of other items that we don't get to during the school year.

So, if you want to help, drop on by! We'd love to show you what we do and get some extra hands in the mix.

24 Hours to Do the Extra Stuff

Here we are again! The time of year when we attempt to do some extra cleaning and maintenance around the building. This year because of the way the days fell and based on the school calendar, we have December 27, 28 and 29 to do some of this extra stuff.

Our crew will be cleaning carpets, touching up paint, maintenancing scheduled items, changing lightbulbs and preparing for the return of semi-eager students on January 4th. It's a constant juggling act to keep things maintained in such a busy building and a challenge.

On our crew we have one new custodian working with the night crew, so he'll find out what the break cleaning entails. He's a great addition and we look forward to his energy and enthusiasm to get the work done.

We'll see you all in 2011! Have a great extended weekend!

Two Weeks and Counting

Where did the summer go? Here in the Northwest it seems like summers are very short. And when you are cleaning a school it's even shorter.
In just two weeks, the entire High School has to have all of the cleaning complete. That's floors, carpets, general cleaning (walls, whiteboards, windows, counters, etc.), and other items that would interfere with teachers, students and parents who begin returning for any number of items on August 16.
In reality, every summer, we only have about eight weeks to do everything required in the school to be ready for the next ten months of usage. After that it's just trying to keep up with the daily demand of requests and maintenance that occur regularly.
The crew has done an awesome job in getting the building prepared. It always seems like it will never get finished when we start in June, but then by August 1st there's light at the end of the tunnel.
So, in the next few weeks, there will be busy bees flying around the school preparing for the return of those eager to learn and those not so eager. Either way, school is approaching quickly.

Bumping Up for Awhile

For the past few weeks some changes have occurred in the district. Since one of the maintenance employees had to go in for surgery, there was a need to fill his position for a few months.

I was asked if I was interested and I said "yes" so I have been working in the maintenance department. The other employees at the high school have bumped up to cover things while I'm out and we have one sub covering for the vacancy.

So far things have gone fairly smooth. At this time, these changes will continue for at least three months, maybe more. As in any job, when things happen, people move around to fill in the gaps. Thanks for your support.

Hot, Cold and Everything In Between

Most of the time heating and cooling the school is not a problem. Since it is controlled by hundreds of electronics, motors, valves, dampers and other HVAC related equipment including the main computer, most of the balancing is automatic.

However, when the temperatures go to an extreme in either direction, it can be difficult to keep the building comfortable. Last spring and summer when we were hitting the 90's and above some areas of the building were difficult to cool due to the amount of heat outside. Now we're facing the opposite. The outside temperatures are so cold that it is difficult to keep some parts of the building warm.

The boilers are running non-stop to keep up with the demand. We've also had problems with the cold air kicking the air handling units offline. This happens automatically to prevent valves and pipes from breaking due to the cold. It's been a battle all week not only in our school but in others throughout the district.

Hopefully, people understand that we are trying to adjust and monitor the temperature to the best of our ability as we battle the extreme elements outside. Since most machines are made to function well between 35 degrees and 85 degrees, you can imagine what happens when the temperatures go beyond those points to any extent.

Thus, the battle continues until the weather warms up and gets back into what is considered normal for this area at this time of the year!

Harried. Hectic. Homecoming.

The busiest week of the year has arrived! Homecoming.

Why the busiest? Because so much is going on and so much extra time is put in by our crew to work with the events, clean up after them and keep the school in some semblance of order while everything is going on.

This week we have spirit week. There is also a door decorating contest which has been "under construction" for over a week. There's the big Homecoming game Friday night and of course Homecoming dance Saturday night. Amidst all of these events there is the normal routine of cleaning which happens daily as well as other athletic games that need extra attention. So, yes, this week is very hectic.

As we do every year, we will do everything we can to keep things running smooth behind the scenes to allow for an atmosphere of learning, fun and health. Of course any help provided by others to make the week less hectic is always welcome!

Welcome to Homecoming!

The Crew Flew for You!

School started yesterday. We made it. The school was cleaned and ready on time. And we did extras. I must commend our crew for all the "stuff" they did this summer. In addtion to the normal cleaning, they were able to paint almost every exterior door in the building, they painted hallways, patched and painted walls in different classrooms, cleaned gutters and drains on all the portables and the main building and the list goes on and on.

We have had several positive comments from teachers and staff about how nice the building looks. Without our crew's positive attitude and willingness to work hard, the building would not look like it does.

Again, I thank our crew and all their hard work this summer!!

Thanks to Beaker, The Green Hornet, Scooby-Doo, Sugamomma, Inspector Gadget and our yet as unnamed super hero Jordan. Great job guys!

Connected Even More

As of today, this blog is now linked from my new blog on the Covington Reporter web site. Cool! Perhaps more people will be able to share their thoughts and input on this blog via linking. It's exciting to be connected on a World Wide Web for people anywhere to share thoughts. Of course, caution on a large network like this is always in order. But with careful thought and safe Internet practices, a world of educational possibilities is open to all.

Go to this link and click on Reminiscences

Covington Reporter

The Final Countdown

Monday morning marks the beginning of the final week we have to complete our cleaning of the building. Each year, due to the return of staff and students, we need to have the entire building cleaned by August 15 or a day or two therein. Then, for the final two weeks before school starts, we will finish up odd jobs and other school-related items as needed.

Those might include painting, sorting KCDA orders, delivering furniture to rooms, receiving and transporting new furniture that was ordered during the summer, cleaning up after sports practices that have begun, cleaning up after sports games that may start before September, finalizing maintenance requests and more. The atmosphere definitely begins to take on the school-in-session phase and interaction between our crew and the staff increases.

As we finish up this week, we are confident that when students, parents and staff return the middle of the month they will be greeted by a clean, tidy and repaired facility. Thanks for your support as we begin another year of learning.

Title Nostalgia

Top to Bottom and End-to-End

Today was the last day of school. Now the real work starts. Come Monday our crew will begin the process of cleaning the entire school from one end to the other. That's right. Our summers aren't leisure. In the 45 days or so that we have during the summer, we have to clean all the rooms throughout the school. This includes, but is not limited to, such things as scrubbing and waxing all floors, cleaning all carpets, washing windows, painting, cleaning every room; which means cleaning walls, cabinets, doors, sinks, ceiling vents, smoke detectors, light fixtures and more; moving furniture, moving teachers from one room to another, collecting and preparing surplus items for pickup, doing maintenance projects and other duties as assigned. We do enjoy time as an entire crew working together, but with a shorter summer and no extra help we will be hard-pressed to get everything done. The teachers are great as they have already helped with as much as they can and that is fantastic.

It is also a juggling act to coordinate the cleaning around classes and other sessions that are scheduled throughout the summer. There's more to do than meets the eye. Although the building may seem quiet from the outside, inside it is like a beehive of activity.

As the summer progresses, we will slowly advance to that point in September when the students return, the teachers teach and the building once again sounds, smells and looks like an educational facility.

Have a safe summer!

Mid-Winter Maintenance

We enjoyed having Monday off to relax and prepare for this week's activities. As usual during breaks, we will be doing cleaning and maintenance that we normally don't get to during a typical school day.

Over the course of the next four days we will be cleaning and burnishing floors, stenciling some new tables, cleaning carpets, changing filters, greasing pumps, repairing damaged or broken equipment, painting and more. It is never a dull moment around the campus. We never sit down and say I have nothing to do! If it is not a school day, it is a catch-up, maintenance of the building day. But we enjoy it.

During breaks our entire crew gets to work together and that is always enjoyable. We take breaks and lunches together and have some good laughs.

When the staff and students return next week, the building should look and smell fresh once again. It is ongoing and rewarding. Thanks for your support!