The Field Guide supplements the existing ANSI/IICRC Cleaning Standards and Certification Courses containing valuable information that cleaning professionals should employ:
- Safety and health hazard identification procedures
- Safe work practices
- Control methods
"This new Field Guide walks the reader through the processes of identifying and controlling hazards," explained Lee Senter, Field Guide Committee chair. "It discusses the mandatory plans required of a company by OSHA."
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Furnishing outdoor spaces can sometimes be a complicated task, involving a different set of considerations than those that apply to their indoor counterparts. For facility managers, this job entails achieving a balance between aesthetics and functionality while also reconciling the harsh realities the outdoors bring — weather, UV light, fluctuating heat and cold, and the harder everyday wear and tear to which the furnishings are subjected. Compound these considerations with the increasing expectations surrounding sustainability in production and manufacturing, and you have quite a laundry list of boxes to check. Solving these challenges is an innovative new category of site furnishings that utilizes recycled high-density polyethylene (HDPE) to create pieces that are changing minds about the role of plastic in high-profile, high-design outdoor spaces.
Places to gather and collaborate
Tables like Harvest from high-design site furniture manufacturer Landscape Forms reimagine the familiar picnic table form and take it in a more professional direction. Crisp lines, refined shapes, appealing textures and additional features merge style, functionality, and longevity. A light spanning the table’s center sets the mood with gentle candle-like illumination and extends usability into the evening. Beneath HDPE tops, the table’s and benches’ legs and understructure are robust, constructed from aluminum finished with a polyester powder coat that resists fading and chipping. The table is offered in two heights — standing and dining height — with corresponding benches, enabling different ways to gather — sitting, standing, perching, leaning, eating, or having a meeting.
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True Understanding, a VergeSense podcast, dives deep into workplace transformations. You’ll tune in to in-depth conversations with some of the most innovative workplace leaders as we explore the strategies shaping the workplaces of tomorrow.
We’ll peel back the layers and get to the core of how workplace leaders approach the real-world problems we’re all facing today.
Leave every episode with real stories and practical tips on how to create remarkable workplace experiences. Tune in right now to episodes 1 and 2 and hear how workplace leaders at Miro are leveraging adaptive and experimental spaces during a new era of dynamic work.
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by Mark A. Bodenschatz — As we wrap up the first few weeks of 2023, FM educator and director of the Penn State Facilities Engineering Institute Mark Bodenschatz, P.E., CSSP, ProFM, is back to break down the top four FM priorities for the coming year. Read Mark’s 2022 breakdown here.
Many of the challenges in facilities management (FM) that I shared in my articles from the last few years are unfortunately still relevant today, particularly those of inflation, workforce management, and security and cybersecurity.
I remember a professor in graduate school consistently pushing us to not just make decisions based on the current status, but to look at the trend and to consider both root and contributing causes in finding a path forward. These assessment techniques to solve for dynamic multivariable problems were essential to success then, and they apply directly to many of the dynamic challenges facilities managers (FMs) face today. In other words, the solutions we applied to problems in the past may not be relevant in 2023 because their trends are influenced by different elements than they were in the past. So with that in mind, let’s dive into a few significant challenges for facilities managers to illustrate this point.
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No one wants to hear the phrase, “We’re being audited.” It ranks up there with “I’ve booked your root canal appointment.” Randy Burke, founder of DCS Global, says a cleaning audit can be quick and painless, support your overworked staff, help your cleaners, and improve building health and safety.
Facility managers understand the need for visual cleaning inspections. Using a third party provides proof that your cleaning program is meeting specifications. No matter how good your quality control (QC) program is, letting cleaners ultimately grade their own work isn’t good governance.
Hygiene compliance audits are no longer nice to have in the aftermath of the pandemic — they are essential. Combining a cleaning-for-health program (like GBAC STAR) with periodic inspections by a well-qualified independent expert sends a powerful health and safety message to stakeholders, enhances the brand of your facility, and supports your environmental, social, and governance (ESG) initiatives.
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Facility solutions provider ABM recently initiated an Energy Performance Contracting Program for Dooly County School System in Georgia. Expected to create $3.7 million in projected energy and operating cost savings over a 20-year period, ABM’s custom solution addresses capital and operational upgrades through ABM’s unique ability to deliver both energy-saving infrastructure solutions and ongoing services such as custodial and maintenance.
In addition to energy savings and operational cost reductions from improved lighting, controls, and heating, ventilation and air-conditioning (HVAC) equipment for Dooly County’s K-8 Academy and High School, the project includes increased space for the bus maintenance facility and upgrades for student athletic facilities, including additional bathrooms, new lighting systems, and upgrades to playing surfaces for the track, tennis courts, and football/soccer field.
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The first facilities industry event this year returns to Baltimore with NFMT 2023, the National Facility Management and Technology Conference & Expo. The McMorrow Reports & FMLink have been attending for at least 20 years, and we know our readers should, too. Facilities managers, executives, engineers and allied professionals will gather March 21-23 at the Baltimore Convention Center in Maryland. Both the educational conference sessions, starting on Tuesday at 8:30 a.m. and ending on Thursday at 4:45 p.m., and the expo floor are bountiful with exhibitors from all segments of FM.
Use NFMT’s event explorer while registering to pre-register for sessions. Build your agenda to include conference sessions roundtables, networking functions, product zone sessions, and time in the exhibit hall. Research the education sessions and the exhibitors to successfully choose the ones that apply to your position and company needs. The conference tracks include: Asset Management, Energy & Sustainability, Future Trends, Health & Safety, Maintenance & Operations, Security, Technology and Think Tank.
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Imagine writing a screenplay about facility management, says Bill Conley, CFM, SFP, FMP, LEED AP, IFMA Fellow. The stage is the built environment. There are antagonists aplenty: Climate change, equipment attrition and breakdowns, budget limitations, customer complaints and many others. Yet even these can be fluid based on occurrence. Right-sizing a production is a moving target; there could be a call for a cast of thousands, like Game of Thrones or just two, like Beckett’s Waiting for Godot. The story dictates the participants, just as a particular facility demands a certain staff.
What is necessary is a thoughtful development of the various roles. There are stereotypical characters in every tale and pre-defined roles and responsibilities which demand action. The same goes for FM; there are well-documented standards on the diverse types of FM workers needed to manage the built environment.
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Titled “The event for everything new in HVACR,” and first held in 1930, the AHR Expo offers three full days of networking, education, socializing and experiencing everything new in heating, ventilation, air-conditioning and refrigeration (HVACR). This year's show will be held in Atlanta, GA, February 6-8, 2023. Attendees range from product designers, engineers and architects to installers, end-users and facility operators. Explore best practices, trends, and key issues facing the HVACR industry with the expansive education program featuring accredited sessions including AHR Panel Discussions, Seminar Sessions, New Product Presentations, and free ASHRAE Winter Conference sessions as well as paid ASHRAE Learning Institute courses. The co-located ASHRAE Winter Conference will take place February 4-8.
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