 IndustryNews


Autumn events usher in busy time forWorshipfulCompany


TheWorshipful Company of Environmental Cleaners (WCEC) will be hosting and taking part in a number of events this autumn and win- ter. Activities ‘tee off’ with the


WCEC golf day, which takes place at SandMartins Golf Club inWokinghamon 9 September. Following this, on 18 September, theWCEC will take part in the inter liv- ery halls walk. This sees masters, courtmembers and clerks froma wide range of livery companies join to- gether for a sponsored walk. The route takes themto many of the city’s livery halls,


and raisesmoney for various charity trusts, as well as the LordMayor’s Appeal. Moving towards the end of


themonth, the annual gen- eralmeeting takes place on 24 September, followed by themilitary awards lunch - seen bymany as the high- light of theWCEC year. It takes place in the spectacu- lar surroundings of Fish- mongers Hall, which occupies an enviable position on the River Thames. This celebratory and often


emotional event recognises the achievements of person- nel fromthe Royal Army Medical Corps, the RAF En-


vironmental Health Cadre, andmembers of theWCEC’s affiliated cadet units. The work of cadets train-


ing to become environmen- tal health technicians within their respective military units is a crucial role. The job involves advising on all aspects of environmental health, occupational hy- giene and environmental protection, both in barracks and under field conditions. Qualified technicians serve throughout the United King- dom and overseas, helping to protect our freedom and safety. The WCEC is proud to honour them at this an-


Renewed three year IOWcontract Dinosaur Isle’s spectacular building is


just one of the facilities Nviro cleans as part of the contract.


nual event as part of its mission to maintain high standards of practice and integrity within the cleaning industry. As the yearmoves towards


its end, Clothworkers’ Hall in the City of London will be the venue for theWCEC Ladies Banquet on 28 November, with a carol service at St Olave’s Church on 3 Decem- ber. If you would like to find out


more about theWorshipful Company of Environmental Cleaners, or any of its initia- tives or events, please email clerk@wc-ec.com. www.wc-ec.com


Nviro has been retained by Isle ofWight Council to clean a wide range of its fa- cilities in a deal worth in ex- cess of £200,000 per annum. Nviro has provided cleaning andmaintenance services for a large number


of the council’s buildings for the last five years. The contract - which will


run for three years with an option to continue for a fur- ther two - sees Nviro provid- ing daily cleaning services at a variety of locations includ-


ingmuseums, a cremato- rium, offices, youth centres, libraries, fire stations and tourist attractions. This in- cludes Dinosaur Isle, Britain’s first purpose-built dinosaur attraction. Louise Richards, business


developmentmanager for Nviro, said: “Nviro is de- lighted to have been re- tained by Isle ofWight Council to clean somany of its facilities.We worked closely with the council during the previous five- year contract, holding joint monthly audits at each site and preparing quarterly KPI reports, where scores con- sistently exceeded client targets. This performance, plus the fact that we have a highlymobile teamof oper- atives ready to respond to emergencies or cover unex- plained absences, helped us to retain the business. This is also backed by a strongmanagement pres- ence on the island, and ex- tensive experience in delivering these types of contracts, where flexibility and cost efficiency are key issues.” www.nviro.co.uk


Research finds sweat can reduce bacteria defences


Sweaty hands can reduce the effectiveness of bacteria-fighting brass objects in hospitals and schools after just an hour of coming into contact with them, according to scientists at the University of Leicester.While copper found in everyday brass items such as door handles and water taps has an antimicro- bial effect on bacteria and is widely used to prevent the spread of disease, Dr John Bond OBE fromthe University of Leices- ter’s Department of Chemistry has discovered that peoples’ sweat can, within an hour of contact with the brass, produce sufficient corrosion to adversely affect its use to kill a range of microorganisms, such as those whichmight be encountered in a hospital and which can be easily transferred by touch or by a lack of hand hygiene. Dr Bond said: “The antimicrobial effect of copper has been


known for hundreds of years. It is thought to occur as a result of a charge exchange between copper and bacteria, which leads to a degradation of the bacteria DNA.We have discov- ered that the salt in sweat corrodes themetal, forming an oxide layer on its surface, which is the process of corrosion - and this corrosive layer is known to inhibit the effect of the copper.We have shown that it is possible for sweat to produce an oxide layer on themetal within an hour of contact.While it is well known that sweat corrodes brass, this is the first study


10 l C&M l SEPTEMBER 2014 l www.cleaninghub.net


to quantitatively analyse the temporal corrosion of copper al- loys such as brass in the first few hours after contact between fingerprint sweat concentrations of salt and themetal.” The research paper, entitled ‘Electrochemical behaviour of


brass in chloride solution concentrations found in eccrine fin- gerprint sweat’, published in the journal ‘Applied Surface Sci- ence’ was co-authored by Elaine Lieu as part of a third year Interdisciplinary Science project investigating how easily and quickly sweat can corrode brass at the University of Leicester. Dr Bond added: “Opportunities to improve hospital hygiene are


being investigated by theUniversity of Leicester fromseemingly unconnected areas of research. This research is a different appli- cation of the study of fingerprint sweat corrosion of brass, ap- plied to hygiene rather than to crime investigation.My short term advice is to keep the brass in public environments free fromcor- rosion through regular and thorough cleaning. In the longer term, using copper alloyswith corrosion inhibitors included in the alloywould be a good choice.Whilemore research is needed in the study of sweat and brass corrosion, anywhere that needs to prevent the spread of bacteria, such as public buildings, schools and hospitals should be looking at using copper alloy on everyday items to help in avoiding the spread of disease.” www.leicester.ac.uk


Morclean wins national ‘green’ award


Morclean Ltd, based in Staveley, Chesterfield, has won a Green Apple Environ- ment Award in the national campaign to find Britain’s greenest companies, coun- cils and communities. The company competed


againstmore than 500 other nominations in the Green Apple Awards for Environ- mental Best Practice, and it will be presented with its tro- phy and certificate at a pres- entation in the Houses of Parliament on 10 November 2014. The trophy and certifi- cate will be presented by Miss UK Green Queen. As a result of this Green


Apple Award success, the company has been invited to have its winning paper pub- lished in the Green Book, a leading international work of reference on environ- mental best practice, so that others around the world can follow the exam- ple and learn from the achievement. The company could also


progress to represent the country in the European Business Awards for the En- vironment. The Green Apple Awards


are organised by The Green Organisation, an independ- ent, non-political, non-ac- tivist, non-profit environment group. The Green Apple Awards


are supported by the Envi- ronment Agency, the Char- tered Institute of Environmental Health, the Chartered Institution for WasteManagement and other independent bodies. www.morclean.co.uk


Newbranches for Ecocleen


Ecocleen has announced that five franchisees have recently joined the Ecocleen family. All franchisees re- ceive a training programme and best practice in launch- ing their business, as well as ongoingmarketing, sales and finance support. Sean Taylor,managing di-


rector of Ecocleen, said: “We are delighted to wel- come five new franchisees into the Ecocleen family. It’s an exciting time for Eco- cleen as we are quickly growing our network of franchisees throughout the UK and by the end of the year will have taken on a further five.” www.ecocleen.com


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