Many states are beginning to relax their COVID-19 stay-at-home orders and people are making summer vacation plans including staying at hotels and dining at restaurants. As hotels, motels, vacation rentals and commercial lodging establishments begin reopening and welcoming guests, there is a legitimate concern about the cleanliness.
TRSA is launching a plant-based Safety & Health Certification (S&H). The S&H was created by the TRSA Safety Committee to help laundry facilities create a culture of safety that provides a return on investment by increasing productivity and engagement while reducing injuries, absenteeism and workers’ compensation costs.
TRSA recently hosted its inaugural virtual Human Resources & Safety Summit for human resources and safety professionals in the linen, uniform and facility services industry. The event was held online as a result of in-person events being barred due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Some 30 individuals representing their TRSA member companies engaged in teleconferences May 5-8 to identify threats and opportunities facing the linen, uniform and facility services industry as a result of COVID-19 and propose industrywide solutions to address these. The discussions were initial gatherings of the four new TRSA Market Resilience Task Forces dedicated to assessing changes in F&B/restaurant, healthcare, hospitality/hotel and industrial/uniform business conditions.
TRSA will host its 107th Annual Conference Oct. 20-22 at The Westin Alexandria in historic Old Town Alexandria, VA. Old Town Alexandria is the perfect backdrop for conference attendees and guests to share experiences of recovery and renewal in this unprecedented, post-COVID-19 world: this historic 18th century port city, located less than 10 miles from Washington, DC, has had a front row seat to every challenge overcome by man in modern times.
A recent “Facility Services” e-news report published by Robert W. Baird & Co. cited results of a recent “Flash Survey” of uniform rental companies last month that registered a sales falloff of nearly 20%.
TRSA Hospitality Committee members have begun sharing information about the possibility that workers’ compensation claims from employees contracting COVID-19 will grow. Chairman Harry Kertenian, Magic Laundry Services, Montebello, CA, has prompted the committee’s attention to the matter in his state, where Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) signed an executive order making it easier for essential workers to obtain such benefits.
From reporting furloughed employees who refuse to return to work to accommodating limits on mask use by asthmatic employees, five veteran human resources (HR) professionals from a wide range of companies recently outlined challenges they’ve faced during the COVID-19 pandemic. They spoke as part of a panel discussion that was part of a “Facilitated Virtual Chat/Q&A” during TRSA’s first-ever virtual Human Resources Summit on May 12-13.
The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted the linen, uniform and facility services industry in new and unexpected ways. Last year’s, or last quarter’s, business assumptions are no longer valid. We need to think differently about the industry and TRSA’s role in building and promoting a stronger community through advocacy, education, certification, research, benchmarking and networking.
In the kickoff of TRSA’s Virtual HR Summit on May 12, keynote speaker Chip Madera advised nearly 60 online attendees that while the COVID-19 crisis poses huge challenges for companies, it ultimately could strengthen them if managers can embrace key leadership principles to help guide their teams forward.
