Month: May 2022

54% of facility customers say that a healthy and sanitary environment for building occupants is the most important factor when choosing a cleaning contractor. (2020 Building Service Contractor Market Report)

With many cleaning contractors available how do you differentiate your business from your competitors? How do you show clients the effectiveness of your services? 

A big piece of the puzzle is missing; the data needed to provide you and your clients with validated results and reports, eliminating outdated processes to simplify and standardize procedures.

Advance your facility with Optisolve’s precision cleaning for health.

Optisolve provides building service contractors with a comprehensive technology-enabled cleaning quality management solution for monitoring cleanliness, health and hygiene to increase productivity and ensure environmental health and safety requirements are monitored, measured, and met with confidence.

Visual observation

One of the most common approaches to monitor cleaning and cleanliness is a visual observation performed by a trained supervisor. This method is appropriate when determining a “hotel clean,” i.e. beds are made and a floor has been vacuumed. In addition, it allows for direct feedback between supervisors and cleaning personnel to assist in training and continuous improvement.

For those reasons, and the fact that visual observation is easy to implement, this method of environmental hygiene evaluation is widespread across facility types and industries.

Unfortunately, it is also widely acknowledged that this system of assessment does not provide any level of validation of surface cleanliness, cannot indicate microbial contamination, and that results often vary widely depending on the observer.

ATP bioluminescence

The use of ATP meters is common throughout a wide variety of facilities, from food service and education to healthcare. This technology is a swab-based methodology, and currently one of the most popular forms of environmental hygiene monitoring. ATP (Adenosine triphosphate) is a substance found on living cells. ATP meters can be used to determine if a specific, quantitative level of ATP is present on a surface these meters are relatively easy to implement and provide quick feedback. However, the use of ATP meters comes with known limitations. The technology’s efficacy may be corrupted by a number of products including bleach, hydrogen peroxide, quaternary ammonium compounds and even the use of microfiber cloths. In addition, there is a lack of consensus on benchmarks for ATP readings that indicate “safe” or adequately cleaned surfaces. Lastly, the technology’s efficacy varies depending on the monitor type and manufacturer.

Other options for environmental hygiene evaluation

An additional method to test for the presence of specific pathogens on a surface is environmental culturing. Environmental cultures are not commonly practiced outside of regulated environments because they are more costly and require a level of access to labs and technology not available in most settings. In addition, the process for taking environmental cultures can be slow, limiting teams’ ability to incorporate results in training and quality management programs. Environmental markers are sometimes used to evaluate surface cleanliness. This is a process when a surrogate invisible tracing agent, often a fluorescent marker, is applied to a surface prior to cleaning. After a surface is cleaned, an audit using a revealing agent determines whether the agent has been removed. This process is easy to implement, however it is reactive, does not measure actual contamination on a surface, and is viewed as an enhanced version of visual assessment.

The Limitations of Guesswork

The level of guesswork involved in all of the current methods of environmental hygiene monitoring is particularly high, especially in a post-pandemic context. Not only does the lack of real-time data contribute to poor results and an increased risk of infection, but other aspects of cleaning effectiveness are also directly related to the ability to verify cleaning outcomes. When validation measures are standardized and integrated seamlessly into a quality management system, cleaning for health and safety can be improved at all levels of performance. Some of the other aspects of a cleaning team that are impacted by improved validation measures include:

Training and Education

Facilities across the globe are under pressure to hire more cleaning workers as public health regulations, new protocols and an attentive public demands more of their teams. Increased cleaning frequencies, more disinfection tasks, the need for social distancing and the new imperative to have cleaning workers be visible to the public mean more new cleaning workers to train. For a facility to be cleaned efficiently, personnel must be trained properly and continuously from day one. Cleaning workers often come from many different backgrounds, education levels and even speak various languages. This has always been a challenge for facilities teams in the past, but it will continue to become even more pronounced as they hire more entry level workers in the future. That means there will continue to be a need for feedback incorporated into training.

Environmental testing and validation that relies too heavily on guesswork, is subjective or is not tied with benchmarks that will be difficult to integrate into education programs that meet the new hiring and training demands for facilities departments. There will be a need for more robust test results that can be incorporated into individualized training programs to not only help educate new employees, but also to provide the necessary motivation to keep those employees coming back.

Product Validation 

The fight against infections goes well beyond COVID-19. In fact, drug-resistant infections are currently the fourth leading cause of death worldwide and predicted to be the leading cause of death by 2050. Because of this alarming rise in the threat of infection to human health, more and more new cleaning and disinfection products are hitting the market every year. The market is moving quicker than it has in the past, meaning there are more products to choose from, with more impressive claims than have been available in the past. The guesswork lies with purchasing officers and facility management to decide which of these new products is effective and cost-efficient. Purchasing decisions will be further complicated by tighter facilities budgets.

A straightforward method of product testing that can be backed up with data will be a valuable tool for facilities managers dealing with these new challenges. If a team can already have a system in place that integrates real-time environmental test data into standard operating procedures, then new purchasing decisions will become much easier to make. Rather than relying on manufacturers’ marketing initiatives or the word of those with incentive to sell products, facilities will be able to independently, objectively measure the claims of new products, test their worth and pilot them in their cleaning programs. Purchasing decisions could become more efficient, less costly and more effective.

Standardizing Process

A facilities team can have the best people working and the best possible products, but without standard operating processes and policies, it won’t be able to achieve continuous success. Standardization and automation are critical factors for an effective cleaning process. When weaknesses are identified, better data will help with root cause analysis to put stronger processes in place. These factors allow cleaning teams to implement a continuous feedback loop to identify strengths as well as opportunities for improvement. This takes dedicated work. In the past, facilities haven’t been provided the support and resources needed for advanced level infection prevention programs. In the future, facilities must find ways to incorporate standardization and automation into their standard operating procedures to provide the level of service being demanded of them,

The Path Ahead

As facilities teams look for ways to adapt to increased pressure in a post-pandemic landscape, there will be a continued push away from the guesswork that once dominated evaluation methods in the field, across industries and facility types. Facilities teams can take the following steps to begin the move away from guesswork toward a data-based approach to environmental evaluation that will lift their cleaning teams toward success.

Enhanced validation tools

While many facilities managers have had to rely on a combination of multiple forms of surface testing to account for limitations in their results, there will be an imperative for teams to find higher quality testing measures. Any tool that can bring strong data into assessment of processes will be a significant step in improving infection prevention processes.

Optisolve Pathfinder™ is answering this call. Using smart-technology and analysis techniques, Pathfinder captures macroscopic surface images and generates contamination density maps. It enables facilities teams to eliminate the guesswork of what’s happening on a surface, providing real-time data to inform improved processes and best practices.

Integrated standard operating procedures

To get the most out of enhanced validation measures, a facilities team must establish standard operating procedures that are accessible to all, continuously revisited and revised, and which form the basis of all education and training programs. Robust standard operating procedures should include everything from the types of products being used to the processes for using them. The goal of standard operating procedures will be to ensure consistent, effective outcomes. When data and analytics can be used to complement standard operating procedures, they become a powerful tool for continuous improvement. Optisolve SAVI™, a cloud-based quality management system, allows facilities managers to input existing cleaning procedures, specify test methodologies and measure key performance indicators. SAVI then helps cleaning organizations tie test results to performance, procedures, products or other aspects of the cleaning program in detailed analytics and reporting.

A culture of continuous improvement

This brings us to the last factor that is essential for success in any facility today—a culture of continuous improvement. Change is often difficult for people to accept, and that reluctance to improve or disrupt more traditional, if not as effective, methods of doing things can become an impediment for any team looking to compete in a modern world.

In order for facilities to keep up with the challenges of cleaning public spaces in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic and into the future, a culture of constant reflection and continuous improvement must exist.

Everyone from the top down in the organization must have the desire to do their best work, the open mind to want to improve and a process that includes feedback with the goal of cleaning more efficiently, more effectively and more safely for everyone.

Re-introducing SAVI and Pathfinder

2020 was a global wake-up call for the importance of infection prevention. But this is a topic Optisolve has been considering for years. While the world continues to adapt to the continuous changes driven by the COVID-19 pandemic, it’s safe to say we have collectively learned more about pathogens, environmental risk, cleaning and disinfection. The public expects more from facility managers than ever before. In fact, a recent survey revealed that 87 percent of respondents want proof their workplaces and businesses are clean. In large part, we have shifted from cleaning for appearance to cleaning for health.  And a new facility management system, focused on mitigating environmental risk, is hitting the market just in time to meet that moment

Right as public spaces and buildings across the globe are reopening, Optisolve has launched SAVI, a cloud-based quality management system along with Pathfinder 2.0, which provides real-time, on-site visual surface testing. This system is designed to help facilities achieve precision cleaning and new efficiencies in infection prevention, with the validation data needed to measure and track results.

What is SAVI?

SAVI is a cloud-based quality management system that can be used across many locations, facilities and team members to elevate and integrate cleaning standards. SAVI stands for Site Assessment Validation Indicator. This is a centralized reporting dashboard that makes it simple to validate your cleaning processes.

Some of the features of SAVI include:

1. Assessment: Proactively plan, track and standardize site assessments for cleaning and disinfection validation.
2. Action: Routine site assessments provide data that can include checking compliance items by visual observations as well as testing surfaces with advanced methods such as Optisolve Pathfinder imaging technology.
3. Analytics: Reports and dashboard communicate results for monitoring, feedback, training, and continuous improvement.
4. Assurance: Share high-level feedback with the team, managers and customers to demonstrate and deliver clean, healthy and safe spaces.

What is Pathfinder?

Pathfinder is an award-winning, proprietary imaging technology used to detect contamination on hard, non-porous surfaces. Pathfinder provides high-quality intensity maps and spatially specific locations showing exactly where contamination remains on surfaces, in real time. The technology fully integrates with SAVI to attach real-time imaging to site assessments and advanced analytics and reporting.

Why We Launched Optisolve Ltd.

Over decades of experience in the cleaning and disinfection industry, the Optisolve founders recognized that checking off a box saying a surface was clean was not good enough.

When a team of researchers at a cleaning product manufacturer collaborated with academic partners to find innovative methods to improve cleaning processes and public health, Optisolve was born. They set out to find a better way to validate clean surfaces and improve disinfection processes through a collaboration with leading researchers, medical device engineers, and digital technology partners.

Looking ahead, Optisolve is focused on precision cleaning, which uses resources more effectively for better outcomes, saving time and effort. In response to COVID-19, many have been employing ‘deep cleaning’ which may include spraying entire rooms with chemicals without knowing the unintended consequences. Optisolve aims to help people better understand what’s on a surface and how to clean it with the appropriate products and processes.

The current need for evidence-based standardization, monitoring, and continuous improvement of environmental hygiene

Many of the ways facilities managed cleaning prior to 2020 have been changed irrevocably by the COVID-19 pandemic. What once was aesthetically “good enough” won’t cut it in the new landscape of enhanced cleaning, disinfection, and public health. Top among those relics of the past are outdated methods of environmental hygiene monitoring that relied heavily on guesswork and a patchwork system of processes without standardization.

In this article, we will look at the role that guesswork plays in existing best practices for environmental hygiene monitoring and how those systems are no longer adequate after the COVID-19 pandemic. We will outline the new challenges facilities and custodial teams face due to the pandemic. Lastly, we present three reasons for introducing evidence-based evaluation tools into cleaning programs to elevate productivity and improve duty of care outcomes.

The Current State of Environmental Hygiene Monitoring

The options available to facilities management teams to objectively evaluate environmental hygiene are acknowledged to have both strengths and weaknesses. Overall, processes rely heavily on guesswork, and experts recommend a combined use of multiple evaluation methods to account for a lack of accuracy in reporting. Let’s take a closer look at the options for assessment of environmental cleaning recommended by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and PIDAC.

Visual observation

One of the most common approaches to monitor cleaning and cleanliness is a visual observation performed by a trained supervisor. This method is appropriate when determining a “hotel clean,” i.e. beds are made and a floor has been vacuumed. In addition, it allows for direct feedback between supervisors and cleaning personnel to assist in training and continuous improvement.

For those reasons, and the fact that visual observation is easy to implement, this method of environmental hygiene evaluation is widespread across facility types and industries.

Unfortunately, it is also widely acknowledged that this system of assessment does not provide any level of validation of surface cleanliness, cannot indicate microbial contamination, and that results often vary widely depending on the observer.

ATP bioluminescence

The use of ATP meters is common throughout a wide variety of facilities, from food service and education to healthcare. This technology is a swab-based methodology, and currently one of the most popular forms of environmental hygiene monitoring. ATP (Adenosine triphosphate) is a substance found on living cells. ATP meters can be used to determine if a specific, quantitative level of ATP is present on a surface. ATP meters are relatively easy to implement and provide quick feedback. However, the use of ATP meters comes with known limitations. The technology’s efficacy may be corrupted by a number of products including bleach, hydrogen peroxide, quaternary ammonium compounds and even the use of microfiber cloths. In addition, there is a lack of consensus on benchmarks for ATP readings that indicate “safe” or adequately cleaned surfaces. Lastly, the technology’s efficacy varies depending on the monitor type and manufacturer.

Other options for environmental hygiene evaluation

An additional method to test for the presence of specific pathogens on a surface is environmental culturing. Environmental cultures are not commonly practiced outside of regulated environments because they are more costly and require a level of access to labs and technology not available in most settings. In addition, the process for taking environmental cultures can be slow, limiting teams’ ability to incorporate results in training and quality management programs. Environmental markers are sometimes used to evaluate surface cleanliness. This is a process when a surrogate invisible tracing agent, often a fluorescent marker, is applied to a surface prior to cleaning. After a surface is cleaned, an audit using a revealing agent determines whether the agent has been removed. This process is easy to implement, however it is reactive, does not measure actual contamination on a surface, and is viewed as an enhanced version of visual assessment.

The Limitations of Guesswork

The level of guesswork involved in all of the current methods of environmental hygiene monitoring is particularly high, especially in a post-pandemic context. Not only does the lack of real-time data contribute to poor results and an increased risk of infection, but other aspects of cleaning effectiveness are also directly related to the ability to verify cleaning outcomes. When validation measures are standardized and integrated seamlessly into a quality management system, cleaning for health and safety can be improved at all levels of performance. Some of the other aspects of a cleaning team that are impacted by improved validation measures include:

Training and Education

Facilities across the globe are under pressure to hire more cleaning workers as public health regulations, new protocols and an attentive public demands more of their teams. Increased cleaning frequencies, more disinfection tasks, the need for social distancing and the new imperative to have cleaning workers be visible to the public mean more new cleaning workers to train. For a facility to be cleaned efficiently, personnel must be trained properly and continuously from day one. Cleaning workers often come from many different backgrounds, education levels and even speak various languages. This has always been a challenge for facilities teams in the past, but it will continue to become even more pronounced as they hire more entry level workers in the future. That means there will continue to be a need for feedback incorporated into training.

Environmental testing and validation that relies too heavily on guesswork, is subjective or is not tied with benchmarks that will be difficult to integrate into education programs that meet the new hiring and training demands for facilities departments. There will be a need for more robust test results that can be incorporated into individualized training programs to not only help educate new employees, but also to provide the necessary motivation to keep those employees coming back.

Product Validation 

The fight against infections goes well beyond COVID-19. In fact, drug-resistant infections are currently the fourth leading cause of death worldwide and predicted to be the leading cause of death by 2050. Because of this alarming rise in the threat of infection to human health, more and more new cleaning and disinfection products are hitting the market every year. The market is moving quicker than it has in the past, meaning there are more products to choose from, with more impressive claims than have been available in the past. The guesswork lies with purchasing officers and facility management to decide which of these new products is effective and cost-efficient. Purchasing decisions will be further complicated by tighter facilities budgets.

A straightforward method of product testing that can be backed up with data will be a valuable tool for facilities managers dealing with these new challenges. If a team can already have a system in place that integrates real-time environmental test data into standard operating procedures, then new purchasing decisions will become much easier to make. Rather than relying on manufacturers’ marketing initiatives or the word of those with incentive to sell products, facilities will be able to independently, objectively measure the claims of new products, test their worth and pilot them in their cleaning programs. Purchasing decisions could become more efficient, less costly and more effective.

Standardizing Process

A facilities team can have the best people working and the best possible products, but without standard operating processes and policies, it won’t be able to achieve continuous success. Standardization and automation are critical factors for an effective cleaning process. When weaknesses are identified, better data will help with root cause analysis to put stronger processes in place. These factors allow cleaning teams to implement a continuous feedback loop to identify strengths as well as opportunities for improvement. This takes dedicated work. In the past, facilities haven’t been provided the support and resources needed for advanced level infection prevention programs. In the future, facilities must find ways to incorporate standardization and automation into their standard operating procedures to provide the level of service being demanded of them,

The Path Ahead

As facilities teams look for ways to adapt to increased pressure in a post-pandemic landscape, there will be a continued push away from the guesswork that once dominated evaluation methods in the field, across industries and facility types. Facilities teams can take the following steps to begin the move away from guesswork toward a data-based approach to environmental evaluation that will lift their cleaning teams toward success.

Enhanced validation tools

While many facilities managers have had to rely on a combination of multiple forms of surface testing to account for limitations in their results, there will be an imperative for teams to find higher quality testing measures. Any tool that can bring strong data into assessment of processes will be a significant step in improving infection prevention processes.

Optisolve Pathfinder™ is answering this call. Using smart-technology and analysis techniques, Pathfinder captures macroscopic surface images and generates contamination density maps. It enables facilities teams to eliminate the guesswork of what’s happening on a surface, providing real-time data to inform improved processes and best practices.

Integrated standard operating procedures

To get the most out of enhanced validation measures, a facilities team must establish standard operating procedures that are accessible to all, continuously revisited and revised, and which form the basis of all education and training programs. Robust standard operating procedures should include everything from the types of products being used to the processes for using them. The goal of standard operating procedures will be to ensure consistent, effective outcomes. When data and analytics can be used to complement standard operating procedures, they become a powerful tool for continuous improvement. Optisolve SAVI™, a cloud-based quality management system, allows facilities managers to input existing cleaning procedures, specify test methodologies and measure key performance indicators. SAVI then helps cleaning organizations tie test results to performance, procedures, products or other aspects of the cleaning program in detailed analytics and reporting.

A culture of continuous improvement

This brings us to the last factor that is essential for success in any facility today—a culture of continuous improvement. Change is often difficult for people to accept, and that reluctance to improve or disrupt more traditional, if not as effective, methods of doing things can become an impediment for any team looking to compete in a modern world. In order for facilities to keep up with the challenges of cleaning public spaces in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic and into the future, a culture of constant reflection and continuous improvement must exist. Everyone from the top down in the organization must have the desire to do their best work, the open mind to want to improve and a process that includes feedback with the goal of cleaning more efficiently, more effectively and more safely for everyone.

The need for enhanced infection prevention while maintaining budgets has pushed facility management to rethink their environmental health & safety results. With “cleaning for health” as the new standard, efficient and effective processes are key.  A precision cleaning approach and smart technology help monitor and measure performance to optimize returns and resources.

Precision Cleaning Approach

The benefits of standardized assessments and monitoring results include saving time, saving money, and increasing competitive advantage.

It takes the guesswork out of managing performance and productivity to provide a better return on investment. The four-step approach for a best-in-class, differentiated quality management system includes:

1. Assessment: Proactively plan, track and standardize site assessments for cleaning and disinfection validation.
2. Action: Routine site assessments provide data that can include checking compliance items by visual observations as well as testing surfaces with advanced methods such as Optisolve Pathfinder imaging technology.
3. Analytics: Reports and dashboard communicate results for monitoring, feedback, training, and continuous improvement.
4. Assurance: Share high-level feedback with the team, managers and customers to demonstrate and deliver clean, healthy and safe spaces.

Driving Performance With Next-Level Technology

Optisolve® is an emerging technology leader in environmental health and safety. We innovate and engineer solutions to proactively improve productivity for clean, healthy, and safe spaces. Optisolve Pathfinder is a proprietary diagnostic tool that generates images of contamination on hard, nonporous surfaces. To achieve meaningful adoption, Optisolve integrates data and results in our SAVI cloud-based quality management software that aligns with current infection prevention best practices.

#HealthcareEnvironmentalServicesWeek

The second week in September is National Healthcare Environmental Services Week, when we honor the men and women who ensure safe, healthy and clean facilities all year long. During the COVID-19 pandemic, these unsung heroes have worked tirelessly on the front lines keeping us safe. We would like to take this week to recognize these workers, thank them for protecting public health and validate their efforts in providing clean and safe spaces!

It’s never been more important to focus on our environmental services workers and give them the recognition they deserve. We are so glad for the opportunity to thank these hard-working protectors of public health. If you see an environmental services worker this week, tell them thank you.

Invest In Your Environmental Services Workers

By validating cleaning work with data, the public can see quantifiable proof that a cleaning worker’s job is tied with public health and safety. This is an integral piece of the larger picture of the cleaning industry. For so long, so much of how buildings are cleaned has been based on guesswork. Now there are tools that can quantifiably measure clean, provide data and prove to the public the importance of the work.

A validation tool used consistently to provide recognition, communicate to the public and measure success can add significant value to your environmental services team. Learn more about advanced validation tools from Optisolve’s collaborative approach to validation, featuring Optisolve Pathfinder, a breakthrough solution in surface imaging and Optisolve SAVI, a cloud-based quality and inspection software.

#IIPW2021

The theme of International Infection Prevention Week 2021, which runs from October 17-23, is “Make Your Intention Infection Prevention.” A pillar of infection prevention is environmental hygiene. There is now considerable attention on the cleanliness of our shared spaces.

With this comes a focus on high-level standards while also managing budgetary challenges, employee wellness issues, sustainability impact, overuse and improper use of cleaning products and procedures. This brings to mind Precision Cleaning™, a term that promotes monitoring and measuring cleaning performance in order to optimize your return on investments and resources. It’s a clear understanding and demonstration of what, where, why, and how to clean, in favor of efficiency and health-based outcomes.

The guiding principle behind precision cleaning is cleaning for health. It marks a significant step in the cleaning industry’s shift to move beyond cleaning for appearance, and also focus on overall environmental health and safety in buildings.

Elements of a Precision Cleaning Focused Procedure

Infection prevention that not only prevents infection but also limits the human health impacts of disinfectant product overuse should be built on clearly defined standard operating procedures (SOP) that focus on efficiency, public health and precision cleaning. When this approach to facility maintenance is implemented, other benefits include increased productivity and cost savings.

Precision cleaning supports the following elements of an SOP:

High-end training programs: Leading experts recommend that cleaning and disinfecting be accompanied by evidenced-based measurement and feedback for continuous improvement.  A combination of in-person and virtual instruction is preferable when access to technology and Wi-Fi is available. Training programs should also include both demos and hands-on training sessions, with the opportunity for recognition. SOPs should include clear designation of high-touch surfaces in a location that requires daily or more frequent disinfection as well as low-touch surfaces that will not need to be disinfected as frequently.

Validation measures: SOPs should include a proactive method for validating work. It is important to be able to track whether surfaces have been cleaned, but it is also important to provide a functioning feedback loop to support continuous improvement in a workforce. With many options for validation on the market, each facility will need to weigh the benefits and drawbacks of the systems available to them. Finding a validation system that encourages a positive, collaborative approach to training and education will be key.

Start Precision Cleaning with Optisolve Pathfinder®

Contact Us For Demo

Addressing overuse: Anticipating the situations that would lead to product overuse will help to eliminate the dangers to human health and the environment caused by overusing disinfectants. Testing product application methods to find the most efficient process and including that in SOP’s will be a solid start. Focusing on employee comfort and ergonomics will also help to promote efficiency and prevent workplace injuries.

Education without barriers: As facility teams hire more and more new workers and the workforce continues to diversify, it will be imperative to provide accessible education that crosses different learning styles. Technology can help make education even more accessible, and new innovations are providing advanced tools and insight for training and education.

Product verification: With many new products on the market, product testing that can be backed up with data is becoming more prevalent. When a team has a system in place that integrates real-time environmental test data into standard operating procedures, then new purchasing decisions will become much easier to make. Facilities are able to independently, objectively measure the claims of new products, test their worth and pilot them in their cleaning programs. With products that are proven to work, precision cleaning becomes attainable and efficient.

Careful use of disinfectants: Disinfectants are a powerful infection control tool when used properly. Product labels should be strictly followed. All SDS and labels will clearly list personal protective equipment needed for product use, dwell time and the dilution ratios necessary to reach disinfectant kill claims. In addition, surfaces should always be cleaned prior to disinfection.

Working towards a Healthy Future

International Infection Prevention Week is an excellent opportunity for your team or facility to set its intention for a healthier future. As COVID-19 continues to be a concern, flu season approaches, and hospital acquired infections continue to be among the top five causes of death in North America, infection prevention has never been more important. When an organization has an infection prevention SOP that supports precision cleaning through the elements listed in this article, it can advance its level of performance for the best possible outcomes.

With the recent increase in cyber threats and vulnerabilities in the past few weeks, our tech expert CTO shares some helpful articles so you can gain more knowledge to stay protected.

Protect yourself while using public Wi-Fi this holiday season.

These days, you can’t walk down the street without being prompted to connect to a public Wi-Fi network. From coffee shops to doctors’ offices to buses and subways, Wi-Fi is available almost everywhere you go.

But while they’re convenient, public Wi-Fi networks aren’t the safest option. Anyone can connect — including potential cyber criminals. It’s important to be cautious about which Wi-Fi networks you connect to and how you use your device for while connected.

Read this article from “Get Cyber Safe – Government of Canada”

How to shop online safely during this holiday season.

“Whether shopping online for personal reasons or using your organization’s accounts to make company purchases, protective practices for shopping online will help you and your organization keep sensitive information and assets private”.

Read this article from Canadian Center for Cyber Security.

The internet was on fire last week as tech firms race to fix software flaw.

Hundreds of millions of devices around the world could be exposed to a newly revealed software vulnerability last week which most cyber security experts label as “one of the most serious” flaws they have seen in decades.  Note, OptiSolve applications are not affected by the ‘Log4j’ so not susceptible to this software vulnerability,

Read this article from CNN’s Article Here

Note : Optisolve applications are not affected by the LOG4J / CVE-2021-44228  vulnerability.

Healthy spaces is a topic many of us in the industry have been advocating for years. Having data to support this critical work is key.

We have taken the opportunity to assemble a list of helpful resources we think demonstrate these new expectations and support the importance of clean in our shared spaces.

1. The value of clean; enhance brand reputation, customer satisfaction, and employee wellbeing through cleanliness.

Cleaning is an investment in human health, the environment, and an improved bottom line. Discover more about the Value of Clean® in this infographic from ISSA, the worldwide cleaning industry association, and learn how a modest investment in cleaning can help facilities reap big savings.

View the Infographic here: ISSA The Value of Clean

2. Survey: Cleaning still prioritized for returning to work.

A new survey by the Cleaning Coalition of America (CCA) finds that U.S. workers increasingly value enhanced cleaning of the workplace and feel safer seeing professional cleaners onsite – a sentiment shared by both vaccinated and unvaccinated Americans.

Read the Article and Survey here: Survey-Cleaning Still Prioritized For Returning To Work

3. As COVID-19 lingers, workers have mixed views on employers’ response to the pandemic

This new Eagle Hill Consulting national survey finds that only 29 percent of U.S. employees say that their organization has trusted leaders and managers to navigate the COVID-19 crisis, down from 32 percent in 2020. Few workers (20 percent) say that their organization has a culture that fosters innovation and collaboration to deal with this global pandemic, down from 24 percent in 2020.

Read the Article and Survey Here: workers have mixed views on pandemic responses

4. CMM’s 2021 BSC/Contract cleaning benchmarking survey report.

For the second year, we asked BSCs how their business has been impacted by the coronavirus pandemic. This year, nearly half (48%) of respondents said they experienced an increase in business because of the pandemic, up from 41% in 2020.

Almost all BSCs (95%) reported they perform coronavirus-related cleaning services now. The demand for more cleaning has led to a need for more workers.

Read the Report here: CMM cleaning benchmarking survey report