Education, education, education

Excitement is building for ISSA/INTERCLEAN Amsterdam which takes place from 8-11 May 2012 in the Amsterdam RAI Convention Centre. The event's comprehensive educational programme is one of the event's highlights. Cleaning Matters takes a closer look at what visitors can expect from this year's seminars

'Facility Management and the Cleaning Industry' - How Facility Managers and the Cleaning Industry Can Adapt to a Changing World

ISSA, the Worldwide Cleaning Industry Association, and Facility Management Nederland (FMN) will be jointly hosting a seminar for facility managers and the cleaning industry on three stimulating topics: Sustainability in Cleaning and Facility Management New Ways of Working and the Effect on the Cleaning Industry, The Challenges of the Ageing Population.

Three experts will be speaking at this enlightening seminar, a 'must attend' event for today's facility managers. Annette van Waning is the Corporate Social Responsibility Manager at Vebego, an international business of 46,000 employees involved in facility services, human resources and healthcare services. She was a nominee for the 2011 LOF CSR Woman of the Year Award in the Netherlands, and is also Manager of the Vebego Foundation. The Foundation was established in 2004 with the aim of setting up longterm contributions to social charity projects throughout the world, and in both 2011 and 2012, a group of Vebego employees, including Annette, were involved in construction missions for projects in Sri Lanka, South Africa and Ghana. Her passion for social responsibility will be reflected in her presentation on sustainability with an emphasis on the need to improve employee satisfaction through training.

Dirk W. Bijl calls himself Ambassador of The New Way of Working (NWoW), and has been a pioneer in this new professional arena since 2006. He has written two books on the topic, and an international version, entitled Journey towards the New Way of Working. After graduating as an Industrial and Organisational Psychologist from the Free University in Amsterdam (1987), Dirk which he spent over 20 years in IT working for global companies like Cap Gemini, Oracle, HP and Microsoft. He will be sharing how the NWoW, which allows people to work how, where, when and with whom they prefer, enables organisations to be more productive and attract and retain new talent.

Finally, Prof. Dr. Hans Marcel Becker, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Humanitas Foundation, will address the challenge of an increasingly ageing population, and look at ways that that facilities managers and the professional cleaning industry can adjust their service offerings and methods in order to meet senior citizen's needs. In 1992, he became Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Humanitas Foundation, which deals with building for the elderly, elderly care, home care and social work. The Humanitas Foundation has 3500 employees, 1800 volunteers and a turnover of €133 million per year. Hans is a recipient of Dutch Royal Honours and awards, and holds the title of 'Health Care Manager of the Year'.

ISSA has been collaborating for many years with the International Facility Management Association (IFMA), and IFMA members of the Netherlands chapter now partner with the FMN. This is the first of many cooperative efforts between ISSA and both international and local facility management organisations. ISSA is aiming to continue to work closely with facility managers, in order to better understand their needs, and to emphasise the importance of professional cleaning in facility management service offerings.

The seminar will take place on 10 May, from 11.00 - 14.00, at the Amsterdam RAI Elicium, in Rooms D201 - D202. To register for the event, visit: europe.issa.com/?id=seminar_programme. FMN members receive the ISSA membership reduced fee of €75 by filling in, under 'ISSA Member Number', the code FMN2012. Seminar participation includes lunch, as well as entry to ISSA/INTERCLEAN Amsterdam 2012. Any questions should be direc ted to Mark Armitage, contactable at mark@issa.com.

'Certification, Training and Labeling in the Cleaning Industry' - How Effective Accreditation can Yield a High Return on Investment The ISSA, the Worldwide Cleaning Industry Association, and the British Institute of Cleaning Sciences (BICSc) will be hosting a seminar programme on 'Certification, Training and Labelling in the Cleaning Industry'.

There will be presentations from three exper t professionals, Stan Atkins, Marcello Manca and Dan Wagner. These speakers will make the link between the training and certification of 'entry level to supervisory employees', company accreditation and the continuing emphasis on robust eco-labelling in the sector, with a high ROI value.

Stan Atkins is the chief executive officer of BICSc, and he has been in the cleaning industry since 1974, working as a contractor, a client and a consultant. His appointment as CEO has been characterised by a vision of continuous improvement, bringing his keen interest in training and education, cleaning operatives working conditions and quality monitoring to the role. He is also a member of a number of professional bodies connected with the cleaning industry, and was appointed as an advisor to Asset Skills Board 2008.

Marcello Manca is the vice president and general manager of UL Environment, , a wholly owned subsidiar y of Under writers Laboratories. UL Environment works to advance global sustainability, environmental health, and safety by supporting the growth and development of environmentally-preferable products, services, and organisations. Having worked with UL Environment for the past 27 years, in his current role, Marcello analyses new prospects, secures new business and guides clients through the complicated environmental claims verification process.

Dan Wagner is ISSA's director of facility service programmes, and has been with ISSA since 1999. He is responsible for leading the association's Cleaning Industry Management Standard and CIMS Green Building Certification Programme, and was one of the primary authors of the CIMS Certification Guide. Dan has also published numerous articles and spoken at various conferences, workshops and seminars on best practices, standardisation, management principles and green cleaning.

Targeted at senior company managers in facility management and the contractor market, retail management, as well as all other sectors where there is a requirement for employee training; this seminar will feature relevant and insightful analysis of the paramount importance of certification and education to companies within the cleaning industry.

The seminar will take place on 11 May, from 11.00 - 12.30, at the Amsterdam RAI Elicium, in Rooms D201 - D202. To register for the event, click here: europe.issa.com/?id=seminar_programme. Any questions should be directed to Keith Baker, contactable at keith@issa.com.

'Cleaning in the 21st Century': The Vital Importance of Cleaning on Healthcare The ISSA, the Worldwide Cleaning Industry Association, and the World Federation of Building Service Contractors (WFBSC) will be hosting a seminar programme on 'Cleaning in the 21st Century'.

Keynote speaker, Professor Didier Pittet, the director of the Infection Control Programme and the World Health Organisation (WHO) Collaborating Centre on Patient Safety at the University of Geneva, will lead the session. As well as holding Honourary Professorships at Universities in the UK, Hong Kong and China, and having co-authored over 400 publications in peer-reviewed journals; Professor Pittet is the recipient of several national and international honours, including a Commander of the British Empire (CBE) awarded by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II for services in the prevention of healthcare-associated infection in the UK.

The seminar will focus on the positive impact that cleaning can have on reducing the risk and spread of infection. There will be particular emphasis on global hand hygiene initiatives, the WHO's Global Patient Safety Challenge 'Clean Care is Safe Care', and WHO's engagement with the business community.

ISSA and the WFBSC have been working closely with the WHO in Geneva, Switzerland. Healthcare-associated infections affect hundreds of millions of patients worldwide each year. The WHO is committed to tackling this problem, and has launched a series of initiatives aimed at ensuring preventive measures are in place at healthcare facilities across the globe. Effective cleaning is central to this, and the professional cleaning industry must continue to support the WHO in its endeavours.

There will also be a roundtable discussion, addressing issues such as 'Life After Chlorine', 'The Impact of Hygiene in the Prevention of Disease' and 'the Importance of Hand and Surface Hygiene'.

Discussion panellists include Andrew Large, chief executive of the Cleaning & Support Services Association (CSSA) and manager of the Secretariat of the World Federation of Building Service Contractors, (WFBSC), Keith Baker, ISSA director of services for Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA), Thea Daha, Infection Control Professional, Dutch Working Party for Infection Prevention at Leiden University Medical Centre, the Netherlands and Vera Ushakova, chairman of the board of the Russian Cleaning Companies Association (RCCA)-St. Petersburg and general manager of Chemitech Co.Ltd.

The seminar will take place on 9 May, from 13.00 - 15.00, at the Amsterdam RAI Elicium, in Rooms D201 - D202. To register for the event, visit: europe.issa.com/?id=seminar_programme. Any questions should be directed to Mark Armitage, contactable at mark@issa.com.