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NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. — The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) is “struggling” with incentive programs that recognize employers for exemplary efforts in preventing workplace injuries and illnesses, Richard E. Fairfax, deputy assistant U.S. labor secretary, told an audience of Textile Rental Services Association (TRSA) members on Tuesday.

Fairfax, speaking to TRSA’s Leadership & Legislative Conference, said limited resources have prevented OSHA from expanding these efforts after they grew significantly in recent years, particularly during President George W. Bush’s administration.

In more recent years, OSHA has concentrated on evaluating their effectiveness. “I think the world of the program,” Fairfax says of the Voluntary Protection Program (VPP), but he indicated that such endeavors might need better quality control.

The VPP, Safety & Health Achievement and Recognition Program (SHARP) and other honors awarded to employers, including many in the textile service industry, are under evaluation by an OSHA team Fairfax appointed last summer. “I told them to take as long as they want, to do a top-to-bottom review,” he says.

In the meantime, he urged employers to take advantage of other compliance assistance programs, such as the free OSHA consultation service for companies with 250 workers or less. Agency personnel who visit a business and find violations don’t notify the federal office of these unless the location’s management refuses to fix them. This program saw a budget increase in 2011, Fairfax notes. Each OSHA area office employs a compliance assistance specialist who performs these inspections.

“Our senior and best compliance officers have moved into those positions,” he explains. “They’re not allowed to do anything in enforcement.” They exist for training and outreach and usually “all it takes is a phone call to the office” to involve them in a voluntary compliance effort.

Fairfax also pointed out that the agency hopes to increase its use of private-sector safety pros to help with other employers’ preventive efforts. In this special government employee (SGE) program, such an individual receives three days of free OSHA training, and then participates annually as a member of an OSHA team evaluating other companies’ safety procedures. The agency wants to increase the number of SGEs who can help permanent OSHA staff work with employers in preventive efforts.

Fairfax’s presentation included numerous statistics on the agency’s enforcement activities in 2011, such as a leveling of inspection totals from the prior year (down about 300 to 40,600) and a 6,000 decline in violations to 91,000. The textile services business had no willful or repeat violations, a rarity among industries, Fairfax says.

Those findings are consistent with TRSA’s SafeTRSA education and benchmarking program, which has logged results of improved safety practices among member companies during the past five years:

• 42% reduction in total recordable injuries and illnesses rate (TRIR)
• One-third reduction in DART Rate (days away from work, restrictions or transfers)
• Most recent annual improvement of 5% in TRIR and 2.5% in DART rate

The Executive Management Institute (EMI) develops the management and leadership skills of students by providing them with a comprehensive understanding of successful management principles and practices relevant to textile care operations. This understanding improves both individual and business management performance.

EMI is a formal education program designed to deliver one week of management education a year to participants in up to five successive years. Each year of the program includes 30 hours of instruction over a four-day period. Students complete each of the first three years of the program before advancing to the next year. A participant receives the maximum networking benefit by maintaining this sequence, remaining with the same classmates year after year and developing strong bonds with them. The staying power of these professional networks attest to the value of EMI not only for the classroom experience, but the informal exchange of ideas and experiences with counterparts.

For more information: http://www.trsa.org/calendarevent/executive-management-institute-emi

LAUREL, Md. — The board of directors of the Drycleaning & Laundry Institute (DLI) announced Monday that Chief Executive Officer William (Bill) Fisher is leaving his position at the association. Senior Vice President Mary Scalco will become acting CEO to ensure a seamless transition, DLI says.

“We would like to thank Bill for his years of service and dedication to the industry and our institute,” says DLI President Rick Kasperbauer. “His contributions have been enormous over the last four decades.”

PHILADELPHIA — ARAMARK Uniform Services (AUS) is rolling out 25 hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs) into its national fleet and anticipates having 78 hybrid step vans motoring along its service routes in 28 states by spring.

ARAMARK says it is the first commercial uniform supplier to introduce HEVs. The launch was made possible by a $2.7 million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy and the Maryland Clean Cities Program, which is dedicated to stimulating alternative fuel and advanced technology in the transportation sector.

GAITHERSBURG, Md. — Sodexo Laundry Services recently received CIO Magazine’s 2010 CIO 100 Award for its Laundries Dashboard, a technology that increases operational efficiency by providing key metrics for its commercial laundry operations.

The dashboard, which reportedly has saved Sodexo more than $100,000 since its implementation, presents corporate leaders and field managers with key metrics in a customized, easy-to-use presentation, the company says.

ALEXANDRIA, Va. — The Textile Rental Services Association (TRSA) has finalized plans for its 2010 Ehrlich-Stempler Executive Management Institute (EMI), its 44th edition, set for Aug. 8-13 at the University of Maryland University College.

EMI is a professional management development program for managers in all areas of textile care operations. It’s a formal education program that involves one week of management education a year for five years.

This year’s EMI will provide strategic knowledge in areas including:

BENTON HARBOR, Mich. — Maytag Commercial Laundry recently honored its exceptional distributors, including top award-winner Equipment Marketers, during the company’s 52nd Annual Meeting in Orlando, Fla.

“MRSA is a four-letter ‘word’ no healthcare worker wants to hear. What exactly is it? How does it spread, and how can it affect my laundry operation? Does my staff need to take any special precautions? Should I be concerned about my workers unknowingly taking it home to their families?”

Textiles: Elizabeth Easter, Ph.D., University of Kentucky, Lexington, Ky.

LANDOVER, Md. — It’s common for most people today to work for more than 10 companies during their careers, according to recent U.S. Department of Labor statistics. Lucille Burns definitely skews those results.

She celebrated 50 years of employment with UniFirst Corp. on April 30. On her first day of work in 1958, a first-class postage stamp cost just three cents, and the United States was celebrating the successful launch of Explorer I, its first space satellite.

ANNAPOLIS, Md. — Beginning July 1, commercial laundries in Maryland that purchase new equipment will be exempt from paying the state's 5% sales and use tax under a new law.

Gov. Robert Ehrlich signed the legislation, the Sales and Use Tax — Production Activity — Taxable Laundering Services, last month.

Purchases made by businesses that provide commercial cleaning services for businesses requiring recurring cleaning are exempt from the tax.