Content about Massachusetts

Northeast Laundry Association 100th Anniversary Celebration and Fall Conference. To be held September 21-23, 2012 at the Park Plaza Hotel in Boston, Mass.

FALL RIVER, Mass. — Following three years of ownership by Stonebridge Partners, American Dryer Corp. (ADC) has named Joe Bazzinotti its new president and CEO, the company says. Bazzinotti has brought four years of positive change to ADC while playing a number of vital roles, including vice president of operations, chief operating officer and president.

“We have gained a tremendous amount of respect for Joe and his exceptionally capable management team,” says David Schopp, a partner in Stonebridge Partners, a New York-based private equity firm. “We believe that ADC is well positioned to take full advantage of the rebounding economy and look forward to renewed growth in the business.”

GRAND PRAIRIE, Texas — Don Rakow Jr. has joined the staff of Kannegiesser USA as project engineer, the company says.

He comes to Kannegiesser with more than 10 years of project engineering experience.

His background ranges from performing single machine installations to total plant design and machinery installation. His projects have taken him around the world to locations in South America and Asia, which will serve him well with the company’s German manufacturing and North American installations, Kannegiesser says.

Rakow Jr. has a bachelor of science degree in industrial engineering from the University of Texas at Arlington. He is also a registered professional engineer.

ANDOVER, Mass. — The Occupational Safety and Health Administration recently cited Royal Institutional Services Inc., a commercial laundry in Somerville, Mass., for four alleged violations of workplace safety standards following a worker injury.

OSHA opened its inspection after learning that a mechanic sustained a crushing hand injury on Jan. 26 while lubricating the chain of an ironer that was running.

The laundry, which is owned by Angelica Corp., faces a total of $49,935 in proposed fines.

OSHA’s inspection found that the machine had not first been de-energized and had its power source locked out before maintenance was performed, as required by the agency’s hazardous energy control or “lockout/tagout” standard.

OSHA cited Royal Institutional Services for one repeat violation with a fine of $35,000 for the lack of energy-control procedures; two serious violations with $14,000 in fines for the lack of effective training and evaluation; and one other-than-serious violation with a fine of $935 for a lack of documented lockout procedures for a machine.

Upon receiving the citations and proposed penalties, Royal Institutional Services had 15 business days to comply, meet with OSHA or contest the findings before the independent Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission.

WILMINGTON, Mass. — UniFirst CEO Ronald Croatti, recently featured on the CBS reality TV series Undercover Boss, wasted no time implementing corporate policy and procedural changes as a result, the company reports.

WILMINGTON, Mass. — Adopting a “hippie look” to go undercover in his company for the CBS series Undercover Boss, UniFirst President and CEO Ronald Croatti often found himself unable to match the speed of the workers training him, as he sought to discover if he could “make the cut” as an employee.

But his week-long journey was as much about seeing the company through his employees’ eyes and learning if the “family culture” he believed to be in place was truly there.

WILMINGTON, Mass. — If you want to see a sickly expression on a hospital administrator’s face, point out that the Committee to Reduce Infection Deaths (RID) says hospital-acquired infections cause more than $30 billion a year in needless healthcare-industry overhead which, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, conservatively reflects 1.7 million infections and 99,000 associated deaths annually.

WILMINGTON, Mass. — When it comes to identifying hospital personnel, the medical community could take a basic apparel lesson from the classic cowboy movies in which the good guys wore white hats and the bad guys black.

In contrast, given the rainbow of colors, clothing styles, and fabric patterns many doctors and nurses wear today, patients and visitors can often have trouble telling the difference between the professional and support staffs—which could cause a delay in the delivery of necessary emergency medical attention.

“To ensure that the laundry I manage is achieving top production on an ongoing basis, what records should I be keeping and why? Do you track anything out of the norm?”

Consulting Services: Charles Berge, American Laundry Systems, Haverhill, Mass.

This year’s contributors introduce themselves, describe their operations, identify challenges and list their accomplishments for 2009.

Long-Term-Care Laundry: Gary Clifford, Pines of Sarasota, Sarasota, Fla.

Your company is weighing its options for plant construction. Should you build new or retrofit?

American Laundry News recently invited several engineering, construction and consulting firms with laundry services expertise to respond to some questions about this debate, and identify some of the factors in making the decision.

Your company is weighing its options for plant construction. Should you build new or retrofit?

American Laundry News recently invited several engineering, construction and consulting firms with laundry services expertise to respond to some questions about this debate, and identify some of the factors in making the decision.

CHICAGO — Celebrating its 90th anniversary this year, the National Restaurant Association (NRA) Restaurant, Hotel-Motel Show at McCormick Place provided a high-energy forum where tens of thousands restaurant and hospitality operators from around the world connected with exhibiting companies to boost business.