Content about Occupational Safety and Health Administration

NORTH BERGEN, N.J. — The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has cited Prestige Industries LLC, doing business as Prestige, for safety violations found at its commercial laundry facility in North Bergen.

A complaint initiated OSHA’s October 2012 investigation and resulted in $219,000 in proposed penalties.

The agency identified four repeat violations, carrying a $185,500 penalty, based on the company’s alleged failure to protect workers from unguarded machinery, establish a lockout/tagout program and procedures for controlling energy sources, and provide energy control training for workers who perform maintenance on machines.

A repeat violation is issued when an employer previously has been cited for the same or a similar violation of a standard, regulation, rule or order at any other facility in federal enforcement states within the last five years. The same violations were cited in 2012 following a worker’s death after being caught in an unguarded machine at the company’s Bayshore, N.Y., facility, OSHA says.

The agency also noted five serious violations, with a $33,500 penalty, that were due to alleged electrical hazards; an inadequate confined-space program and failure to identify permit-required confined spaces; and no hazard communication program, training and material safety data sheets.

OSHA says a serious citation is issued when there is substantial probability that death or serious physical harm could result from a hazard about which the employer knew or should have known.

“The safety hazards present at this facility pose serious risks to workers and must be immediately corrected,” says Kris Hoffman, director of OSHA’s Parsippany Area Office. “OSHA will continue to hold employers legally accountable when they fail to provide safe workplaces.”

Prestige, based in Jersey City, has 15 business days from receipt of the citations to comply, request an informal conference with the OSHA area director, or contest the citations and proposed penalties before the independent Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission.

The citations can be viewed here.

Healthcare Laundry: Judy Murphy, RN, BSN, CLLM, RLLD, North Mississippi Medical Center, Tupelo, Miss.

There is an increased risk of sharps exposure for laundry employees, especially for those who work in the soil-sort process. To help stem the flow of these items, and to keep the communication lines open with clinical staff, the laundry manager should meet regularly (at least quarterly) with nurse managers, surgery, emergency services, ambulance, etc., to help determine the root causes. This cooperative effort helps establish rapport with clinical staff while addressing legitimate concerns.

Most healthcare organizations have a PI (Performance Improvement) team and/or safety committee that looks at the various OSHA violations (both recordables and non-recordables). The laundry manager should volunteer to participate on this type of team so that these concerns can be voiced to the appropriate people and so that he/she can remain abreast of the efforts being made to address them.

Champion the use of safety devices and engineering controls designed to decrease the risk of employee exposure. Assist with the research and promotion of these efforts by utilizing resources (other laundry managers, industry standards, guidelines, etc.) to determine “best practice” policies and procedures that could be implemented in the facility.

There are circumstances (emergency “Code Blue” resuscitations, for example) that, due to their chaotic nature, increase the likelihood of sharps being lost in linens. Provide education/training to your laundry personnel in the proper shaking-out and separation of soiled linens. And be sure to include techniques on how to pick up sharps (i.e. utilizing tongs or other grasping devices) and dispose of them properly.

Hotel/Motel/Resort Laundry: Charles Loelius, The Pierre New York, New York, N.Y.

Finding foreign objects in linens is not an uncommon occurrence. Trash, glass, dishes and cutlery are sometimes mistakenly and carelessly mixed in with the soiled linens by the end-users when gathering the linen for reprocessing. Healthcare linen poses the additional threat of bacterial and viral contamination from needles and scalpels.

Although my laundry processes hospitality linens, we observe universal precautions when detecting and handling sharps. Sharps, in our case, consist of cutlery and broken glass sent down the laundry chute in error by our end-user, the room attendants.

All incidents are documented, and the appropriate people are notified. All soil sorters wear proper protective equipment, including masks and puncture-resistant gloves. Broken glass is picked up with tongs or brush and dustpan and placed in a medically approved sharps container. This container is disposed of when three-quarters full.

The laundry maintains a log according to OSHA guidelines that lists the date and location of the incident as well as the type of sharp.

We have weekly meetings with the room attendants to provide details of the prior week’s foreign objects found in the linen. We seek to educate them on the danger that sharp objects pose to their co-workers.

We also seek feedback from the housekeeping team on ways to reduce the instances of foreign objects, particularly glasses, dishes and cutlery, which pose a safety hazard.

In the end, we stress regular communications to achieve buy-in from our end-users to reduce the problem with sharps. At the same time, the processes are in place to minimize the safety hazard should these mistakes continue.

Equipment/Supply Distribution: Bill Bell, Steiner-Atlantic Corp., Miami, Fla.

I reached out to a few of my customers who are professional healthcare laundry managers and have decades of experience. They all shared that this problem never goes away. There are procedures in place to control exposure to sharps, but it is extremely difficult to eliminate them from making it to the laundry.

Metal detectors are too expensive and will not detect small needles in bulk linen. You would think that most instruments would be coming primarily from ambulance, emergency rooms and surgical, but that’s not the case. They simply come from everywhere in a facility.

By educating healthcare staff, the flow of sharps will significantly decrease. Most of the sharps on the patient care units have been eliminated or at least reduced by using tubing and needles with safety devices. Re-educating the infection control nurse at each property on a quarterly basis seems to work best.

Most healthcare laundry facilities operating under pool linen or COG programs monitor each facility’s goods upon receipt for control of linen shortages, damage, etc., so anything more intensive than that wouldn’t be cost-effective. So, it’s all about education, education, education!

Check back Thursday for Part 2!

ALEXANDRIA, Va. — AmeriPride Services’ Twin Falls, Idaho, commercial laundry is the first ever to earn TRSA’s Hygienically Clean Healthcare designation, recognizing the plant’s commitment to cleanliness measured through third-party, quantified biological testing and inspection.

The certification process utilized by the Textile Rental Services Association maximizes objectivity in verifying that textiles cleaned in a laundry meet hygiene standards appropriate for medical facilities. The designation is a variation of the association’s standard Hygienically Clean seal, which is suitable to any type of business that uses garments, linens, towels, floor mats, mops and other professionally laundered items.

Hygienically Clean Healthcare inspection protocols emphasize scrutiny of techniques for compliance with OSHA’s bloodborne pathogens standard. To attain either designation, a laundry must deploy best management practices (BMPs) and pass bacteriological testing and facility inspections.

A laundry is not required to use particular processes, chemicals or BMPs to achieve certification—whatever tactics management feels are necessary can be used to achieve TRSA’s Minimum Performance Specifications as measured by bacteriological testing. But BMPs must be documented in a written quality-control manual.

“Congratulations to AmeriPride and their Twin Falls management on the attainment of this industry milestone,” says TRSA President/CEO Joseph Ricci. “This achievement proves their dedication to building their customers’ confidence that their laundry takes every step possible to prevent human illness.”

Despite sentiment that bacteria need not be measured to verify laundry cleanliness, TRSA sees such assessment as vital. The International Standards Organization (ISO) emphatically states that certifications of processes do not reflect product quality. Only if a product itself is subjected to a certification standard can the product label or package be embellished with a certification conformity mark. While there is no U.S. standard for bacterial content in textiles, TRSA prescribes to internationally recognized thresholds established by Germany’s Hohenstein Institute.

CINCINNATI — According to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), more than 1,000 eye injuries occur in U.S. workplaces every day.

“Oftentimes, eye injuries can be prevented, or in many cases minimized,” says Nancy Petersen, senior marketing manager, First Aid & Safety, Cintas. “Understanding the causes of these injuries and ways to reduce their occurrence and impact will benefit both workers and businesses.”

Cintas offers these tips for promoting eye safety:

IDENTIFY WORKPLACE HAZARDS

Eye injuries can be caused by many different hazards, including chemical exposure or contact with work equipment. Conduct a safety walk-through to locate areas and tasks that pose as risks to workers.

SELECT APPROPRIATE EYEWEAR

Eyewear must protect against the specific hazards employees will encounter and be properly fitted to the individual. Since different styles have varying levels of comfort and must help protect certain eye dangers, purchase multiple types of eyewear, including prescription lenses for workers who require them.

PROVIDE REGULAR TRAINING

Use training as an opportunity to highlight eye injury statistics and workplace hazards, demonstrate how and when to wear eye protection, and how to properly care for eyewear. Training should also provide guidelines for proper emergency response in the event that an eye injury occurs.

DISCARD INEFFECTIVE EYEWEAR

Replace eyewear that scratches easily, is not anti-glare, fits poorly or is uncomfortable for employees. Additionally, set up a schedule for inspecting eyewear for cracks or loose frames and throw away damaged PPE.

PROMOTE PPE COMPLIANCE THROUGH VISUAL REMINDERS

Place posters and signs near machinery, chemicals and in common areas such as break rooms. Make sure text is supplemented with pictures to warn employees whose first language may not be English.

PROVIDE EMERGENCY TREATMENT OPTIONS

Eyewash stations should be placed within 10 seconds of eye hazards. Clean equipment every few months or more often if necessary to maintain water and solution levels. Keep eye drops, eyewash and gauze stocked in first aid cabinets that are easily accessible.

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

Textile/Uniform Rental: David Dersheimer, SITEX Corp.

There are certainly differences in what commercial or rental plants may choose or use for equipment and procedures when compared to institution-based laundries and their respective facilities.

Generally, the volume and product mix of a rental or commercial facility tends to fluctuate more than an institutional facility’s does.

Rental facilities tend to make equipment and process decisions based on current mix and volume plus projected growth. They have smaller load quantities in varying item mixes. The soil levels in rental plants also tend to range broadly from light to heavy.

Institutional laundries have a more consistent volume and less variance in soil classifications. And there is typically less variation in soil levels and volumes in a healthcare, nursing home or hotel laundry.

But I’m not sure you could define differences in laundries based only on these two categories or generalities. You might need to ask a few questions, such as:

• What is the item mix, and how many different sort classes/soil levels are there?
• What is the facility’s planned growth? Is there anticipated growth in one segment or area? If so, how will that impact the volume and mix?
• How would product mix affect equipment decisions?
• Is the wash operation running batches or smaller, varying loads, or loads of similar volume and sort class? Does the facility need single or convention machines, or would a continuous batch washer be a better choice?
• If flatwork finishing, is volume or flexibility needed? For large pieces, does the facility need a sheet feeder, table linen feeder, or a machine that can do both? Is an ironer needed to handle napkins and pillowcases?

Differences between any two laundries, whether commercial or institutional, can be quite distinct. One needs to assess current mix, planned growth, and output expectations to determine individual needs.

Consulting Services: Ron Evans, RJ Evans and Associates

There are several procedural differences between industrial rental laundries and institutional laundries. Growth, greater competition, incomparable number of products processed, and profit are the driving and dividing forces.

Since most rental laundries have hundreds if not thousands of customers, their processing practices must be much more flexible and expanded than an institutional laundry that may have a singular or limited common customer base.

Since rental laundries exist in a much more competitive environment, it is essential for the production department’s contribution to the rental company’s bottom line be fully within strict budget forecasts. The trick here is that all production forecasts are predicated on sales forecasts, and the latter can be difficult to project for a coming year.

There is a constant need to search for improved best practices to satisfy the varied demands upon their daily changes in usage, product variation and resource allocation. It becomes essential to leverage all advantages that eliminate or reduce waste while at the same time operate within projected budget requirements. These are all centered on “lean and mean” customer satisfaction.

The production department’s contribution to bottom-line profit in a rental laundry is scrutinized and monitored due to its constantly changing customer base. Rental laundry production management must be much more engaged and “hands on” in addressing all the demands of its varied customers’ needs. Pressures on rental managers are more numerous and dynamic than those on institutional managers. Rental production managers must be good business managers as well as knowing their trade.

Another difference is the role of a production department in a rental industrial laundry. Full-time salespeople use their production department as a sales tool and regularly take potential customers on plant tours. Therefore, the department always has to be in marketable “showplace” condition.

A rental laundry’s service department also uses the production department as a customer-retention tool. Service departments have developed sophisticated programs to elevate a customer’s understanding of the rental laundry’s value in maintaining their fixed costs, convenience, and quality standards. As such, they constantly market environmental advantages in waste treatment, sanitary conditions, safety practices, and inventory control. Processing techniques are used not only for production but to gain and retain customers.

Because of its dedicated freestanding facility, the rental laundry has acquired a “target” on its back for every governmental inspector. Consequently, it must operate under the assumption that it will have city, state, regional and federal government inspectors in its facilities throughout the year. The end result is rental laundries have unsurpassed training and updated performance exercises in safety, waste management, OSHA, and human resource issues out of the realization that they will be audited. This constant pressure creates a professional, self-policing system and a comfort zone for their customers.

Both types of industrial laundries have similar equipment, chemicals and procedures for the items they process in common. Because of the difference in competitive situations, rental laundries must operate at a higher level of customer speed to retain revenue-generating clients.

It has been my experience that most rental production managers could operate an institutional laundry quite easily while most institutional production managers would have to expand their skills to effectively manage a rental industrial laundry.

Equipment Manufacturing: Kim Shady, Laundrylux Corp.

How do you define commercial laundry or institutional laundry? Often, those terms are used interchangeably. So let’s remove the descriptive terms and be more absolute. What is the equipment difference between a laundry processing less than 3,000 pounds per day and a laundry processing more than 3,000 pounds per day?

In the simplest form, the equipment differences can be defined by automation. It may reduce labor costs, improve quality, reduce processing time or save energy. As the pounds processed per day increase, there become economies of scale for each of these items.

While improved quality may be a goal for selecting automation, the determining factor is most likely the return on investment (ROI). You can calculate this by projecting labor savings, energy savings and maybe even overhead by square foot vs. the cost of automation.

A small-piece folder is one of the smallest investments for automation. It can process towels, gowns, blankets or fitted sheets. If your laundry is processing 1,000 pounds of these items a day, a small-piece folder could reduce your staffing by one person. An institutional laundry is likely using a staff of two to hand-fold these items. If a basic small-piece folder is $45,000, what might the ROI be?

Commercial laundries likely process a large quantity of flat goods. Automation in this case may include automatic pickers to replace one or two staff members.

Processing linens through an ironer requires the least amount of energy per pound of finished goods. But that doesn’t mean ironing is the lowest-cost method for processing goods. An institutional laundry may use an ironer but lack automation, thus requiring two to four staff members.

Over the last five years, numerous ironers on the market have offered feeding, folding and stacking built into the ironer, allowing a single operator to process 150 or more pounds per hour. Processing 75 pounds per hour is a common goal in laundries without automation. A machine with these features can reduce the staffing required for ironing. The additional investment for the feeder, folder and stacker may be $100,000. What might the ROI be for this automation?

Labor will always be the largest cost of operating a laundry. An institutional laundry can be limited in methods for reducing labor costs, so automation can be a difference maker. It is the difference between the equipment selections in a commercial laundry and an institutional laundry.

Member at Large: Douglas Story, Swisher Hygiene

When I first read this question, I thought, “What in the heck can anyone say about this? Processing fabric is processing fabric, right?” But it is a good question that has forced me to look not so much at the equipment or procedures that are used by the two laundry types but at the philosophies behind the use of that equipment.

As I was contemplating what I would write, I was inspired by one of my favorite “philosophers,” Jeff Foxworthy. Here, offered somewhat tongue-in-cheek, are some differences between a commercial laundry and an institution-based laundry:

• If the laundry manager is a graduate in hospitality management and is in the job as a learning experience, it might be an institution-based laundry.
• If a washer’s rated capacity is used as the measure of the pounds of linen being processed, it might be an institution-based laundry.
• If a washer’s rated capacity is considered an estimate and everyone knows that it can hold another 100 pounds, it might be a commercial laundry.
• If the laundry manager loads the washer and then walks to the next room to welcome a guest and offer them a cookie, it might be an institution-based laundry.
• If the laundry manager is proud of his washroom’s 2,000 lbs/hr production but can’t understand how two 100-pound dryers can keep up, it might be a commercial laundry.
• If the laundry manager, when asked why he has 10 washers and two flatwork ironers stored in the parking lot, answers, “Parts,” it might be a commercial laundry.
• When employees stay later to produce more laundry, it might be a commercial laundry.
• When employees stay later to clean the rooms or provide patient care, it might be an institution-based laundry.
• When the flatwork ironer goes down and the laundry manager prays for its recovery, it might be a commercial laundry.
• When the laundry manager can give you the cost per piece, labor, utilities, fixed and variable cost itemized, it might be a commercial laundry.
• When the laundry manager says, “I don’t know all of my utility costs,” it might be an institution-based laundry.

There are philosophical differences between commercial (for-profit) and institutional (not-for-profit or support services) laundries, but it is not, for the most part, in the equipment or processes they use. It is more in how management approaches the business and customer service sides of the operation.

In the past, the primary focus of a commercial laundry was the customers that paid for their service. By contrast, this was/is not always the case for the institutional laundry. But as we look to the future, I believe that we are seeing the philosophies of these two operations beginning to merge.

Institutional laundries are becoming more like their commercial counterparts because of economic pressures and because many of the organizations operating these laundries have realized the impact they have on the bottom line of the institutions they serve.

Commercial and institutional laundries are becoming more customer-focused, so both are looking at better, or more efficient, ways to improve the way they do business for the customers they serve. For both, it is a matter of survival.

Click here for Part 1.

ROANOKE, Va. — I once wrote about having an opportunity to use reusable barrier isolation gowns in all the hospitals that comprise the Carilion Clinic. The ability to start such a program was rewarding after having failed to gain approval over the previous seven years.

My first experience with reusable barrier gowns, at Aurora Healthcare in Milwaukee, was the result of the then-new OSHA bloodborne pathogens guidelines. The program was extremely successful, and we were able to develop a special wash formula with the use of a Sutter Hydrostatic tester.

We knew that the wash formula would need to be different than for any other product washed because the barrier gowns didn’t sequester any chemicals placed in the washer. They all stayed in solution and were available to react with any soil present.

We also knew that residual surfactant on the gown would reduce its barrier properties. The Sutter Hydrostatic tester gave us immediate feedback on how the wash formula was working and provided easily repeatable results. We had tried sending samples of linen to an outside laboratory for testing, but it often took 7-10 days to get results. If there was a problem, we wanted to know about it now, not several weeks down the road.

When I became the director of linen services at Carilion, I wanted to introduce reusable barrier isolation gowns to help save the hospitals money and to increase the laundry’s value. I approached the infection control department at our largest facility and was told it could not support such a program for several reasons:

• Staff would try to wear a reusable isolation gown multiple times during a day
• Staff would wear the reusable isolation gowns outside to smoke (thus presenting a poor appearance)
• The laundry would not be able to keep up with the volume
• The laundry staff would have greater exposure to infectious diseases
• The distribution system would be difficult to manage
• There were quality-control concerns

I laid out my best counter arguments but simply could not make any headway. I knew that, eventually, outside events would provide me with an opportunity to provide this type of product.

Opportunity for Introduction

The use of disposable isolation gowns worldwide went through the roof due to the H1N1 virus and most users were put on a quota system based on previous orders. This supply-chain problem, combined with nurses’ disgust in the amount of trash they were generating every day, created the opportunity to make another pitch for reusable gowns.

A supply chain consultant had proposed the reusable barrier isolation gown project the previous year but it had not been given serious consideration.

My goal, and that of nursing, was to establish a pilot study for the gowns on a few select high-use areas to see if the product and the proposed packaging system were workable. We wanted to test end-users’ reaction to the product in comparison to disposables.

Monday: Product packaging and distribution design...

Learn how to cost-effectively enhance wash aisle safety for automated industrial laundry facilities, including policies and procedures, employee engagement and ownership of the safety process, training, and equipment manufacturer partnerships. Participate in a hands-on tour of a recently upgraded facility and speak with managers, engineers and safety staff responsible for ensuring occupational safety and health at the plant level.

Cintas, the TRSA member hosting this event, recently earned “Star” certification in OSHA’s Voluntary Protection Program, the first industrial launderer in the United States to receive this recognition, OSHA’s highest for workplace safety and health.

For more information: http://www.trsa.org/calendarevent/trsa-wash-aisle-seminar-and-facility-tour

ASHTABULA, Ohio — When laundry managers review their injury logs with inspectors from OSHA or from their workers’ compensation insurance carriers, back injuries frequently rank among the most commonly reported. On average, each back-injury claim represents a week of lost productivity, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, plus associated healthcare costs. The culprits triggering many of these back injuries are not difficult to fix.

By paying attention to ergonomics, work positioning and the elimination or minimization of repetitive bending, reaching and lifting, laundry managers may save their workers from needless pain and injury and save their companies from needless, burdensome costs.

Spring-Loaded Carts Prevent Back Strain

Spring loading refers to setting a platform of vinyl-covered wire frame, plastic or plywood atop or under a series of metal springs, all set within a laundry truck or cart.

When linens are placed on top, the platform gradually sinks into the bottom as the weight of the linens increases. As linens are removed during cart makeup or when fed into a flatwork ironer, for two examples, the platform gradually and automatically rises.

It is this rising action that directly reduces the lower back strain by maintaining the height of the work at or near the waist level of most workers. Reaching into the bottom of carts is eliminated.

Two Types of Spring Loading

From a review of utility trucks being used to hold clean linens for feeding a variety of machinery at the Clean Show, the majority of them were fitted with the hanging style of spring loading. In this style, one end of each spring is attached to the platform through grommets set within the perimeter of the platform while the other end of the spring is hooked over the rim of the laundry cart or truck, always at the corner and sometimes in the middle depending on the load.

The platform hangs within the container, and the load is borne from above. The springs are typically encased in a flexible sleeve to safeguard workers from contact with the springs and to prevent linens from getting caught or snagged.

The second style of spring loading hides the springs underneath the platform. This coiled style virtually eliminates the potential for the springs to come into contact with workers or linens. Either style may be sized to fit nearly any type of utility cart or truck commonly found in a laundry.

Which Is Better?

Both styles offer comparable performance and longevity with almost no maintenance requirements. Both styles may be removed to clean the inside of the cart without any tools. Their zinc-plated, rust-resistant springs rarely wear out from too many cycles and have been known to last for decades, as long as the weight of laundry placed on the platform is within the specified range.

The coiled style handles heavier loads than the hanging style, with load ratings of approximately 38 pounds per spring at full spring extension versus approximately 31 pounds per spring when hanging from the rim. Therefore, to handle 300 pounds of laundry, for example, the coiled style would require eight springs underneath while the hanging style would require 10 springs around the perimeter of the utility truck. The difference of only two springs may affect the price by as little as $20, but when applied over a fleet of 100 utility trucks the savings become substantial.

From a safety perspective, though both styles meet ergonomic needs, the coiled style earns points for hiding the spring mechanism under the platform. However, the hidden coil style requires space within the interior of the cart or truck. This means a 14-bushel laundry truck, for example, with the spring-loaded mechanism hidden inside, actually functions more as a 12-bushel laundry truck. To move 14-bushel loads, a larger laundry truck needs to be used at a slightly higher price. Again, when applied over a fleet of 100 utility trucks, the difference becomes substantial.

Monday: Specifying the right spring-loaded mechanism…

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.

ALEXANDRIA, Va. — Recordable injuries and illnesses in Textile Rental Service Association of America (TRSA) member workplaces dropped 17% from 2008 to 2009, according to the annual TRSA Textile Services Industry Safety Report just released.

WASHINGTON — The Occupational Safety & Health Administration (OSHA) has recently taken more action to impose fines and enforce regulations concerning combustible dust and lint in laundry facilities.

This extra attention has translated into a regulatory push for higher standards and the potential for significant fines for lack of compliance.