You Only Have One Chance to Make a First Impression

By: Briana Smith & Fred Capriotti  |  November 20, 2014

Here’s What You Can Do to Make the Right One

With the advent of social media and the evolution of online review forums & platforms like TripAdvisor, Yelp, Google+, etc. first impressions of hotel rooms are vital. Guests are often quick & very vocal about any problems that they experience during their stay.

Oftentimes staff in housekeeping, at the front desk or a manager isn’t even aware that there was an issue until after the fact when negative reviews are posted. Managers are often willing to address any guest concerns that may arise, but it’s difficult to do if they are not made aware of the problem in the first place.

So what can you do?

Always put your best foot forward.

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Topics: Green Cleaning, Education, Hospitality

Hand Washing Helps Prevent the Spread of Infectious Diseases

So Why Aren't People Doing It?

By: Briana Smith  |  October 30, 2014

Infection prevention is of great importance right now, especially with Ebola and Enterovirus D68 (EV-D68) featuring prominently in the news headlines. It’s even more important than ever to educate and promote proper hand hygiene not only at hospitals and healthcare facilities, but for everyone in the community, including children. Hand washing is one of the most effective ways to prevent the spread of infection transmission from one person to another, and it the easiest to do.

Bacteria & viruses can spread easily from one person to another whether through direct contact or when someone touches a surface contaminated by someone else who is infectious. Hand washing is considered ubiquitous when discussing infection prevention, but the problem is not everyone is actually doing it.

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Topics: Hand Hygiene, workplace wellness, Education

Summer Break Doesn’t Apply to School Maintenance Staffs

By: Briana Smith  |  June 26, 2014

Summertime Deep Cleaning & Maintenance Procedures

Mark your calendars - it’s time to tackle those yearly restorative cleaning projects! Many school maintenance staffs are gearing up to tackle some time consuming cleaning tasks including gum & graffiti removal, as well as deep cleaning various hard flooring surfaces. Here are some ideas for making these tasks easier.

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Topics: flooring, Education, cleaning tips, deep cleaning

The Healthy Schools Project* in Action at CA School for the Deaf

By: Briana Smith  |  May 8, 2014

On Friday, April 18, 2014 WAXIE Sanitary Maintenance Consultant, Remy Meehan, accompanied a couple of Kimberly-Clark Professional* trainers, Elisa Huang & Brian Boll, to the California School for the Deaf in Fremont, CA to educate the students & staff on the importance of handwashing. Kimberly-Clark Professional* developed The Healthy Schools Project* in order to help students understand germ transmission & how they can stay healthier in school and at home. Its key components focus around reminding students (as well as teachers, administrators & staff) to wash, wipe & sanitize.

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Topics: Hand Hygiene, Education, Infection Prevention

Keeping Up with the Year-Around Cold & Flu Season

By: Briana Smith  |  May 1, 2014

Spring Fever, Summer Colds, Autumn Sniffles & Winter Chill

It always seems as if there’s something going around…colds, flu, allergies…regardless of the time of year. So shouldn’t everyone practice good hand hygiene year-around, and not just during the winter? After all, norovirus doesn’t go on a summer holiday.

The spread of germs happens daily as people consistently touch one surface or another. The rate at which germs are transmitted from one person to another may depend (airborne vs. direct contact) it’s important to protect yourself and others by doing the simplest of tasks: washing your hands.

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Topics: Hand Hygiene, workplace wellness, healthcare, Education

12th Annual National Healthy Schools Day: April 8th

Compiled By: Keith Schneringer  |  April 3, 2014
Posted with permission from Healthy Schools Network, Inc.

Celebrate the 12th annual National Healthy Schools Day on Tuesday, April 8th during National Public Health Week! Since 2002 parents, teachers, school nurses, custodians, advocates, and agencies have promoted National Healthy Schools Day activities and events nationwide.

There are many ways to be involved in Healthy Schools Day, everything from distributing Indoor Air Quality information to hosting a green cleaning workshop at your local school. This grassroots day of awareness encourages everyone to get involved to make sure our nation's schools are healthy and productive environments for children.  

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Topics: Indoor Air Quality, Education, Healthy Schools

Practicing Home Chemical/Hazardous Materials Safety

By: WAXIE Editorial Staff  |  September 20, 2012

“Practicing home hazardous materials safety is important in preventing home fires. Many people use chemicals in their homes safely every day, but as the number of chemical products increases, the risk for improper use and injury also increases.”
–Source: US Fire Administration¹

There are many things that are important in keeping yourself and your family safe, the proper use and storage of everyday household cleaning chemicals is one of them. The Mesa Fire & Medical Department in Arizona has produced numerous videos on Fire Prevention in their wonderful What’s on Fire series, which everyone should see. WAXIE has been featured in their September episode #3 on proper chemical usage and storage procedures.

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Topics: Safety, Education, cleaning tips