Upcoming H2E Teleconferences

All H2E teleconferences take place on Fridays at 1 PM EST

June 1: Green Building Series: “ How To” Achieve Energy & Atmosphere Credits

June 8: H2E Partner in Action: Metro Health Care, Grand Rapids, MI

June 15: Introduction to H2E and Data Collection (sponsored by Bio Systems, Inc.)

Did You Know...

...that conventional cleaning products we use every day in our facilities can be damaging to our health and the health of our environment?

Worker health and safety

An estimated 35 percent of conventional cleaning products can cause acute injuries including blindness, severe skin damage or damage to organs through the skin.

There are also long-term health issues associated with chemicals in conventional cleaning products such as cancer, asthma, reproductive problems, birth defects, kidney damage, neurological impacts and other serious health effects.

Janitorial workers experience very high rates of occupational asthma – 625 cases per million workers in one study, more than twice the rate for any other occupation.

Environmental damage

The chemicals we choose to use matter to the environment. For example, some chemicals in cleaning products— such as phosphates found in detergents— cause excessive algal growth that can kill aquatic organisms.

Other chemicals, persist in the environment, causing health problems for a variety of organisms— including humans.

The good news!

You have a lot of good choices in cleaning products for your facility. More than 80 companies have hundreds of products certified under Green Seal’s Industrial and Institutional Cleaners (GS37) standard, and some 40 companies have products certified under the Green Seal Institutional and Industrial Floor Care Products (GS40) standard.

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Driving Change

Q&A With Green Cleaning Experts Steve Ashkin and Tom Seitz

H2E: How would you define green cleaning?

Ashkin: In short, green cleaning is cleaning to protect health and the environment.

While the focus of cleaning should absolutely be to clean for occupant health, it can be done in a way that reduces impact on environment.

Seitz: Yes, and green cleaning is also incorporating best practices, best technology and best innovation available in chemicals, tools equipment and strategy. It’s thinking more deeply and taking into account the health and safety of workers performing the job as well as occupants.

H2E: So, why should health care facilities go green?

Ashkin: The basic tenet of health care is to do no harm. We can provide a clean, safe and healthy environment for patients while simultaneously reducing our impact on the environment. It’s not an either/or. We can have both, and should demand both.

Seitz: Steve’s right. It’s not an all-or-nothing proposition. While critical care areas are under the realm of rigorous infection control policies, hospitals have many common areas such as hallways, offices and waiting rooms that have the potential to improve in terms of going green.

H2E: What challenges are posed by going green?

Ashkin: The barrier is no longer that green products don’t work as well as traditional products or that they are more expensive. This might have been true five or ten years ago, but today green products work as well and are cost-competitive. The big barrier is the difficulty of change. We need to start small and not let the bigger challenges prevent us from making a difference.

Seitz: I think the first and foremost challenge is with administrators. They need to be brought in the loop from the start. Also, you need buy-in from the cleaning staff. Tell them about innovation and technology changing the business of cleaning, and that your organization is going to embrace this because it has a positive impact on those who do the cleaning as well as on the occupants of the building. When the staff understands that their role in green cleaning can make an important contribution to the health and safety of the facility, their jobs are elevated. They are able to take pride in the changes they are helping to implement, because they know they are an integral part of the process.

H2E: Do you have tips for engaging staff to making the switch?

Ashkin: The first is to get lots of people involved, and the second is to let them know what’s in it for them: that green cleaning is not only to protect patients, but for the health of the staff as well. Start by doing an audit that looks at all the chemicals, cleaning products and equipment your facility uses. Identify easy, no- or low-cost things you can do, and separate them out from the harder and more expensive changes. This strategy overcomes the barriers to change, reduces risk and allows you to begin the journey to more sustainable operation.

Seitz: And you need to take the time to illustrate where staff fits into the initiative. Show that the initiative is driven from leadership, and explain what is going to change. Also, managers should take the opportunity to promote the good things the staff is doing on behalf of the green cleaning effort. Use your facilities’ Intranet, bulletin boards and staff meetings to build a sense of momentum and commitment to change.

H2E: How do I know if a product is environmentally friendly?

Ashkin: Because of difficulty in determining what really is green, I recommend purchasers use products certified by third parties such as Green Seal and GREENGUARD. These third parties are chemists and toxicologists who audit manufacturers.

Seitz: Green Seal’s criteria have been adopted by the federal government as well as multiple state and local governments. GREENGUARD measures the impact of cleaning processes on indoor air quality, which is critical for patients with suppressed immune systems.

Steve Ashkin, president of The Ashkin Group, LLC., has spent more than 25 years in the cleaning industry, and is considered the “father of green cleaning.” A prolific writer, speaker and tireless advocate for safer and healthier cleaning methods, Steve is the author of Green Cleaning for Dummies. He also contributed to H2E’s “10-Step Guide to Green Cleaning Implementation.”

Tom Seitz has been with JohnsonDiversey, a global company delivering cleaning and hygiene products and systems, for the past twelve years, serving as environmental program director since 2003. Tom manages green programs with a focus on healthy, high-performance cleaning, developing market strategies and working to bring greater value to customers.

Want to know more? Download H2E’s 10-Step Guide to Green Cleaning Implementation now!

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Pest Poll Results

One hundred and one of your fellow health care professionals responded to our first survey, on integrated pest management (IPM). What did you have to say? The complete results are available here, but highlights include the news that nearly nine out of 10 hospitals (88 percent) use some form of IPM, up from 73 percent in a 2001 survey. Sixty percent use IPM throughout the entire hospital, but less than half (42 percent) follow specific, written protocols for when and where chemical pest control products should be used.

Which pest was the peskiest? Forty-six percent of respondents selected ants as their facilities’ biggest challenge. Rodents and flies followed, at 34 and 26 percent of respondents, respectively.

H2E published the “H2E 10-Step Guide to Implementing an Integrated Pest Management Program” in the fall of 2006. Co-authored by board-certified Orkin entomologists and H2E experts, the guide gives hospital staff a foundation in the basic concepts of IPM. The guide is available for free download from H2E here.

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Take Poll, Win iPod!

Take the survey!

Congratulations to Preston Hall of Clarion Hospital in Clarion, PA., winner of the random drawing from among last issue’s poll respondents!

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Real-World Perspective

Growing Green: How One Hospital Made the Switch to Green Cleaning

As mid-Michigan’s premier health care organization, Sparrow Health System leads the way toward greener operations while providing quality care to tens of thousands of people each year. The flagship of the Sparrow Health System, Sparrow Hospital, switched to a green cleaning program in 2001. Since then, the regional medical center has been awarded two consecutive H2E Sustained Environmental Leadership Awards, recognizing the facility’s commitment to environmentally responsible health care. We spoke by phone with Reza Tavakoli, Sparrow’s director of environmental sciences, about the hospital’s switch to green cleaning. Here is an edited transcription of the interview.

H2E: Why did Sparrow switch to a green cleaning program?

Tavakoli: As members of H2E, we often heard other hospitals talk about how they had successfully switched to green cleaning. We fancied the idea of becoming a 100 percent green facility, so Sparrow’s corporate safety officer, engineering manager and I decided to set the plan into motion. We presented the program to the executive level and received their support from day one.

H2E: What were the initial goals of the green cleaning program? How have the objectives evolved?

Tavakoli: Our overall goal of being 100 percent green really hasn’t changed. It’s an ongoing process that just takes time, so we try to incorporate a new facet every year. When we implemented the program, we targeted products first because that was the easiest switch to make. For example, we started using Scout Systems green carpet care products. Then Orkin, our pest control provider, introduced us to OE-30, which is an organic drain cleaner. Now, more than 50 percent of the products the hospital uses are green.

H2E: How does Sparrow decide which green cleaning products to use?

Tavakoli: The hospital’s vendors inform us when there is a new green cleaning product on the market. We read the literature that the vendors provide, and then we do some additional research of our own, such as making sure that the product is Green Seal certified. After we order the products through our vendors, we sometimes pilot them in certain areas of the hospital. For example, when we switched to trashcan liners made of recycled material, we tested them to see how they held up before introducing them throughout the entire health system.

H2E: Can you give me some examples of other green cleaning products that Sparrow utilizes?

Tavakoli: Sparrow has made the switch to green for the following cleaning products: bathroom cleaner, general purpose cleaner, 3-in1 floor cleaner, neutral cleaner and glass cleaner. All of those are Green Seal certified. We also switched to upright vacuums that offer hepa-filtration for improved air quality.

H2E: What would it take for a health system to be 100 percent green?

Tavakoli: Switching to a green cleaning program doesn’t just mean using all green products. It also includes the construction of new buildings with green materials. We just finished building the hospital’s first green tower, which was constructed mostly from brick and block, so it is very energy-efficient. We also used Benjamin Moore Eco paint and recycled concrete and steel. The flooring in the new addition is di(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP)-free.

H2E: In your opinion, what prevents more hospitals from switching to green cleaning programs?

Tavakoli: I think a lot of hospitals have the preconceived notion that green cleaning programs are expensive, but Sparrow’s program has actually benefited the hospital financially. We switched to microfiber mops, which have flat, heads that only require you to draw water once. After you clean a section of the floor, you simply remove the mop head and replace it with a new one, instead of continuously dipping the same head into a bucket of water. This conserves thousands of gallons of water each year. Between the switch to microfiber mopping and the use of Green Seal certified cleaning products, Sparrow has eliminated more than $10,000 worth of chemicals per year. In addition, the mop heads are machine-washable, so you can reuse them up to 400 times.

Sparrow also saves money by reusing extremely expensive surgical instruments instead of just throwing them away after each use. We go through an outside company, Ascent Healthcare, which reprocesses and recycles surgical instruments by sharpening and cleaning them. This helps the environment by reducing the amount of natural resources used and the number of instruments thrown into landfills.

H2E: What advice would you give to other hospitals looking to switch to greener practices?

Tavakoli: First, I would say that educating your hospital staff is very important. Make sure infection control nurses understand that just because a product is green, it’s not any less effective. You may have find that some front line staff members may be resistant to change when approached with new cleaning solutions, but if you educate them on the benefits of green cleaning, they will be much more willing to participate.

For more information, contact Reza Tavakoli, Head of Environmental Sciences, Sparrow Hospital, Lansing, MI.

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