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Protect Your Employees

I’m in and out of the Lehigh Valley Airport in Allentown, PA so frequently that it seems like my car could drive itself.  I’ve noticed that sometimes I don’t even remember anything from along the way.  This happens a lot with frequent or familiar routines – we tend to focus on the end result or destination, without really focusing on the details.   
 
Not only can this be dangerous in the car, it’s also dangerous in the healthcare setting.   As flu season approaches, everyone is looking for new ways to help combat the virus and keep the spread of the flu to a minimum.  We also need to mindful of dealing with the safety and health of our employees, customers, our customers’ employees and our customers' customers.  It’s important to always be looking for products and ideas to help with these issues.  However, along with looking for the next big thing, it’s also important to not forget the routine “details” – the familiar and the tried and true.  We all need to take into consideration how we process and deliver product in addition to what products we rent.  
 
A key part of infection control and limiting the spread of the flu virus is remembering to focus on who is delivering the product and what route drivers are encountering on a daily basis.  Good old-fashioned hand washing with hot soapy water is still one of the best ways to stop the spread of germs and cannot be discounted as an important part of a route driver’s routine. Adding hand sanitizer dispensers to all trucks is also a good idea and another layer of protection.  
 
In addition, introducing reusable protective apparel that is laundered and delivered daily, weekly or bi/weekly to customers should be a key part of our sales strategy.  And why not also provide aprons made of the same protective fabric to route drivers who deal with soiled linen from healthcare facilities?  The protective apron is also a fantastic protective item for employees who work in soil rooms separating the soiled linen.  
 
While we may be providing scrubs to our customers, are we all already providing scrubs to our plant employees?  Scrubs are a good choice for plant employees to wear to while at work so they do not cross-contaminate their street clothes in a soil room when in contact with dirty linen.  Employees can leave potentially contaminated scrubs at the workplace and go home without the fear of carrying any type of bacteria on their street clothes with them – or vice versa – bringing something from home to the clean environment.  This is a cost-effective way for you to help reduce lost work days due to a family illness, and keep your clean environment clean. 
 
Adding reusable shoe covers to your rental line is another way to add protection and value to our customers.  You can also provide them to plant employees to reduce cross-contamination.  Reusable shoe covers can be safely cleaned on a mat cycle, and both reusable garments and reusable shoe covers drastically reduce waste and inflated costs attributed to disposable items.  When looking to solve a problem, such as the spread of the flu virus, don’t overlook the daily details in addition to trying something new!  
 
--Scott Delin, Sr. National Healthcare Market Executive, Superior Uniform Group
[email protected]; 610-442-0880