Green Cleaning in Today's Healthcare Facility

Green cleaning in health care is about maintaining and improving cleanliness and supporting infection control while protecting workers and the environment from the risks posed by cleaning materials and processes. The ready availability of verified/certified cleaning products and innovative equipment that can reduce staff and patient exposures to toxic materials, combined with the successful implementation of green cleaning approaches in major medical institutions provides strong support for facilities wishing to implement green cleaning programs.

However green cleaning implementation in health care must be approached carefully and systematically. This teleconference will review health and environmental issues related to conventional cleaning products and processes, and discuss a methodical approach to implementation of comprehensive green cleaning in health care facilities.

Learning Outcomes:

- Define Sustainability, Green and Green Cleaning. These lay the foundation for understanding what Green Cleaning is, why it's important and why it's here to stay.
- Describe the health, environmental and financial implications of cleaning in a healthcare setting. While sustainability may be the driver, this section will address the specific impacts of cleaning and how it affects the triple-bottom line.
- Strategies for developing a health based Green Cleaning program.
- Healthcare facilities are unique due to the vulnerability of the buildings occupants and its mission to heal. This section will get into some of the basic strategies that the listener can implement in their own facility.
- Issues specific to disinfectants. Disinfectants are perhaps the most controversial and misunderstood issue relating to Green Cleaning in healthcare. We will present an overall approach to selecting all cleaning products and get into some detail about the selection of disinfectants in a Green Cleaning program specific to healthcare.
- Brief discussion of available resources.

Presenters:

Sarah O'Brien
Environmental Purchasing Specialist
Hospitals for a Healthy Environment (H2E)

Sarah O'Brien is the Environmental Purchasing Specialist for Hospitals for a Healthy Environment (H2E), a nonprofit organization that works with health care facilities across the nation to assist them with improving environmental performance. Prior to her arrival at H2E, Ms O'Brien was a Senior Outreach Associate with the Chemical Hazards Prevention Program at INFORM, a national nonprofit, where she worked with government agencies, institutions and businesses to reduce their purchase of products containing mercury, lead and other persistent toxic chemicals.

As an environmental advocate for the National Wildlife Federation and the Vermont Public Interest Research Group, Ms. O'Brien worked throughout New England developing, analyzing, promoting and negotiating public policies on environmental health issues at the state, regional and national level.

Ms. O'Brien is a former board member of the National Pollution Prevention Roundtable, and currently serves on the Board of Advisors of the new EPEAT procurement system for environmentally preferable electronics.

H2E (Hospitals for a Healthy Environment) is the premier program for environmental assistance to hospitals, based on the vision of a health care system that embraces safer building products, clean air, energy and water efficiency, safe working practices, and a commitment to public health demonstrated through the reduction of waste volume and toxicity.

Stephen Ashkin
President, The Ashkin Group, LLC
Executive Director, The Green Cleaning Network

25 year veteran of the cleaning industry who has served in a variety of capacities including director of product development, and vice president of sales and marketing for leading consumer goods companies and commercial manufacturers.

Continuing Education:

- This program meets the requirements for CHFM and CHSP Continuing Education Credits.
- This is a CEU presentation. Earn 0.15 CEU credits for attending. For a list of organizations accepting this CEU, please visit http://www.iacet.org /resources/accept_ ceu.htm.