2022 January
The form of buildings as places of shelter or gathering has remained largely unchanged over the course of human history. While we may point to advances in plumbing, heating/cooling, or, more recently, communications, the notion of an “intelligent building” is still a futuristic concept compared to the transformations and breakthroughs we have seen in other asset and object categories.
2021 December
With the growing popularity of outsourcing in facilities management and building maintenance, it’s expected that more and more facility managers will collaborate with vendors to maximize the physical assets under their care. However, such collaborations can only happen with different contracts in place, all managed by an efficient vendor contract management process.
2021 December
Plants and facilities have a duty to protect employees by providing a safe work environment and Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) required for the job. However, despite various PPE options, many companies fail to supply or specify important lighting tools – namely headlamps. Unfortunately, the lack of suitable headlamps can lead to serious, even deadly, accidents in hazardous locations.
2021 December
Pests can enter a facility in one of three ways: openings in the structure from the property exterior or sewer systems, by employees bringing in pests like cockroaches and bed bugs on personal belongings, and via incoming shipments. Stopping pests must be the focus of any food facilities prevention plan. In the fight against food facility pests, prevention is the best tool.
2021 November
Many businesses are recovering from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. Supply chain disruptions have made us more aware of our dependencies and the things that we don’t even think about because everything is operating so efficiently. Businesses are looking at their processes and what can be done so that they are more prepared for any disaster or disruption that could have an impact on their business operations.
2021 November
Several manufacturers now make disinfectants. Many of them use the active ingredient benzalkonium chloride, a group of disinfecting chemicals known as quats. Some of these quat-based disinfectants are being used to kill the pathogens that cause coronavirus. This tells us that these products are valuable when it comes to protecting human health. However, as valuable as they are, the use of traditional disinfectants do have drawbacks.
2021 November
Different environmental monitoring technologies can help to detect and diffuse specific emergency situations, allowing buildings to communicate with their operators early to stop a minor issue from turning into a major disaster that closes the facility or halts operations. This approach can save time, money, and ensure peace of mind for facility management.
2021 October
What if there was an effective way for companies to reopen their offices now, not later, and continuously protect their most valuable resources – their staff? Something new and adaptive, a sterilizing method that goes well beyond extra scrubbing from the nightly cleanup crew? Today, corporate leadership and boardrooms are in dire search of the answers to that very question as their employees’ comfort level and their company’s fluctuating productivity hang in the balance.
2021 October
As the size of your company grows, adding additional employees and the expense of investing in assets and equipment to keep your company operating is now more challenging. Along with the growth of your company and organization come additional responsibilities of managing all of your assets, resources and keeping everything running at peak performance.
2021 October
According to the National Floor Safety Institute, “slips and falls . . . represent the primary cause of lost days from work.” And the Bureau of Labor Statistics notes that in 2019, there were 6,640 workplace injuries from falls due to tripping on uneven surfaces. The quality of what’s under workers’ feet has a direct impact on safety. With that in mind, here’s what I learned about undertaking a flooring project with my previous employer during holiday downtime.