In coming months, the Hospital Cooperative Laundry (HCL) in Denver, is expected to certify to TRSA’s new Safety & Health Certification standard, according to Samlane Ketevong, TRSA’s senior director of certification and accreditation. Ketevong expects the HCL-Denver plant to be the first plant to qualify for the certification program that launched this month.

“We’re now reviewing the audit materials from Brian Varner, a consultant and director of the program,” she said. “We anticipate that in the very near term, Hospital Cooperative Laundry-Denver will certify to TRSA’s new Safety Certification program standard.”

TRSA’s S&H Certification verifies that your facility meets standards that consistently exceed OSHA requirements. The S&H certification is based on a portion of the OSHA VPP certification guidelines. The TRSA program focuses on five major elements that auditors will review at individual locations on a three-year basis for certified plants. They include:

Training
Employee safety orientation – 100% compliant

Awareness
Safety topics covered on a routine basis
Safety Board in place and current

Compliance
Safety and Health Manual reviewed by management
Safety inspections completed monthly

Claims Management
All claims reported on time
Injuries thoroughly investigated and recorded

Measurement
Must have a dashboard to measure performance
Review monthly with management

To qualify for certification, operators must also demonstrate progress in key safety metrics, including no citations from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) in the past 12 months and a drop in the past year in its earned modification rate (EMR). The latter metric is used to calculate rates for workers’ compensation insurance. While preventing incidents is reason enough to pursue TRSA’s plant-based S&H certification, there’s ample research that shows how a safer environment can have a range of positive effects on a commercial laundry. For example, consider staff morale. An emphasis on safety and health shows employees that management cares about them. That, in turn, drives employee engagement. Motivated employees help generate improved business results. Varner and TRSA will also assist companies committed to certifying their plant to improve their safety programs.

Varner outlined the origins of the program during an interview with Textile Services Weekly at the Denver plant, along with several members of the plant’s management team at the facility that’s operated by HHS-FMA, Dripping Springs, TX. TRSA’s safety certification initiative grew out of an incident-reduction effort that Varner developed for Compass Group, which at the time was serving some 2,000 employees at Texas A&M University, College Station, TX. “I went to work and broke it down into five categories,” Varner said. These included training, awareness, compliance, claims management and measurement.” He reviewed “loss-run” reports going back three years to develop an audit program for the university based on lowering the number of safety-related incidents. These mishaps generally affected members of the groundskeeping crews and food service employees, as well as employees in a small laundry.

The program generated such positive results for Texas A&M that Varner later adapted the program to a commercial laundry setting for Tulsa, OK-based Linen King, then led by Chris Corcoran. “It was successful,” Varner said, noting that the number of incidents declined along with the group’s EMR. “We turned everything around.” This success fueled discussions with TRSA that led to the new S&H certification program. Linen King is now operated by Healthcare Linen Services Group (HLSG), St. Charles, IL.

Corcoran, who currently serves as executive vice president for HHS-FMA, said he expects the TRSA Safety & Health Certification to produce similar results for HCL-Denver. “The corporation, the HHS-FMA people are supportive of what you guys are doing,” said Scott Sadlier, general manager for the Denver plant and a sister facility located about two hours south in Pueblo, CO. “Corporate has challenged us to be the first to get the certification.”

Jerry Magallanes, director of safety and training for HHS-FMA, said he and the leadership team are pleased with the Denver plant’s progress in this new incident-prevention effort. Safety is the company’s top priority, Magallanes said, noting that, “We have our leadership meetings, and I’m the one that goes first because it’s ‘safety first.’” Speaking to the Denver plant leadership team, he added, “I’m very happy that you guys are very proactive in getting on board with this.” An added advantage of the program is that that safety certification will give HCL-Denver access to an array of resources. “We need to understand that with the certification and the partnership with TRSA comes a whole package,” he said. “They’ve got some great information and support.” Magallanes added that the Pueblo plant is also pursuing certification.

Marcela Vecchio, HR manager for the Denver plant, added that part of the value of the certification is that it’s tailor-made for laundries. “It’s very important because it’s specific to this industry,” she said. Varner added that having a focus on keeping laundry staff members safe differentiates TRSA’s S&H certification from other initiatives, such as OSHA’s Voluntary Protection Program (VPP). Varner added that TRSA’s program reflects input from an array of laundry experts, including those on the TRSA Safety Committee who shared their insights to the make the program both effective and flexible amid changing conditions. “I think what you’re going to see is that this certification will continue to evolve,” he said, adding that he’ll gather insights on all plants undergoing the certification to ensure continuous improvements to the program.

Other advantages of TRSA’s S&H Certification include the fact that the audit process is more streamlined than similar programs, with roughly 60 questions vs. rival programs that can run to 200 questions. It should take no more than 4-6 hours to complete the audit, he said. Another plus is the fact that certified plants will receive immediate advisories when OSHA implements regulatory changes that affect laundry operations. This will help ensure continuing OSHA compliance, while maximizing efficiency.

To learn more, click here or contact Varner at bvarner@trsa.org or Ketevong at sketevong@trsa.org. Click here to see a PDF version of a January article in Textile Services magazine with additional background on the program.

Pictured above: (l/r) Jerry Magallanes, director of safety & training, HHS-FMA; Tom Nichols, director of operations, HLC-Denver; Marcela Vecchio, HR manager, HLC-Denver; Scott Sadlier, GM for HLC-Denver and Pueblo; Alvaro Hernandez, production manager, HLC-Denver, Toney Valdez, chief engineer, HLC-Denver.

 

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