News & comment Do you give good shake?


One of the highlights of this year’s Loo of The Year Awards which took place on Friday the 2nd December (full story page 14) was a talk by TV presenter and body language expert Judi James called ‘Do you Give Good Shake?’ During her dissection of the etiquette and misadventures


surrounding hand shaking Judi challenged the cleaning market to consider their shaking skills and ran through a list of her pet hates which include: “The hand sandwich (where the shaker encloses your hand in between theirs)”, The bone cruncher (self explanatory!) “the shaking or mating shake?”(where the shaker holds on just a bit too long) and when people visibly wipe their hand before offering it (yuck)!


Judi also provided an entertaining insight into the hand shaking habits of world leaders from back patting power tactics to “cool hand shakes”, highlighting just how much meaning can be portrayed through the seemingly humble hand shake.


Asset skills secures £2m investment for skills to drive growth


More than £2 million will be spent on projects to drive employer investment in skills across the Asset Skills footprint. The funding,provided through the Employer Investment Fund and administered by the UK Commission for Employment and Skills,will help Asset Skills implement a range of employer-led programmes. The £2,026,000 will be used across


four projects over two years in facilities management,housing, property,planning,cleaning and parking.The projects include: • Establishing clear routes to employment across the UK with pilots;


• Developing strategies to help employers identify and develop talented people;


• Increasing investment in relevant higher level skills;


• Providing relevant labour market information and careers advice to support employers with their strategic planning. Chris Cracknell,chief executive of


OCS Group Limited and Chairman of Asset Skills,the Sector Skills Council for the above industries, said: “We hope this funding can help build further capacity for employers to take ownership of the skills agenda within each industry Asset Skills represents.This investment shows skills improvement will play a key part of the growth agenda and in helping lift industry out of recession.” Richard Beamish,chief executive


of Asset Skills said:“This is really welcome news for the sector and means we can continue to develop new apprenticeships and work- specific training that will strengthen the workforce and help employers through this difficult time.” The UK Commission received 109


proposals into the fund totalling over £119m.Following a rigorous assessment process,Commissioners chose 63 of the best solutions with the greatest potential to drive growth and employer investment in skills.


4 For those looking to shape up their shake, Judi offered some


pointers which included: always having your hand prepared to avoid awkwardness, look the shaker in the eye,and be aware of whose responsibility it is to initiate the hand shake - it is the responsibility of the premises host in a business scenario. A word of caution however before you limber up for the perfect hand shake.A survey conducted by a team of researchers at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine as part of Global Handwashing Day suggested that 16% of people's hands have E coli bacteria on them – so pick who you shake with carefully.


Georgina Bisby Group Editor,Cleaning Matters cm@progressive-media.co.uk


BTA Innovation Awards winners announced


The British Toilet Association (BTA) Innovation Awards which recognise innovation in three key areas of ‘away from home’ toilet provision: New Products,New Services and Efficiency Improvements were presented during the 2011 Loo of the Year Awards Event on Friday 2nd December at the Chesford Grange Hotel near Kenilworth. The Centrego Toucan Ego was


awarded the New Product Award. The Toucan Eco device converts tap water and a small quantity of salt into a combined disinfectant and cleaner using electrochemical activation (ECA).The science of ECA has been around for some time and there are larger units that produce chemical free alternatives to disinfectants and detergents.The Toucan Eco is said to be the first of its type and size making it an affordable entry point into this environmentally friendly cleaning regime.The fluids are cheap to produce and are made on the spot saving transportation costs as well as packaging and carbon footprint. The New Service Award was


presented to the City of London for its innovative Community Toilet Scheme (CTS).The CTS is


considered to be a great achievement.It has increased toilet provision across the City and built better relationships with local businesses by promoting trade and increasing footfall into their premises.


Healthmatic won the Efficiency


Improvements Award for its Moxie Remote management system for remote council assets.Maintaining, staffing and the open/close routines of Council assets can be highly wasteful of precious resources as well as very difficult to manage in an efficient manner. Moxie is a completely configurable tool, located with the service room of a building,which empowers the manager to monitor activity within the building as well as schedule routine events like the opening and closing of toilet building doors.


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