Category: News

Source: CENTER FOR HOSPITALITY RESEARCH, Cornell University

Hospitality managers have long suspected that there’s a connection between the industry’s high turnover and employee attitudes. A new report from the Cornell Center for Hospitality Research focuses on how that connection works. The report has found that co-workers’ attitudes over time play a large role in whether a person leaves or not. The study, “The Contagion Effect: Understanding the Impact of Changes in Individual and Work Unit Satisfaction on Hospitality Industry Turnover,” by Timothy Hinkin, Brooks Holtom, and Dong Liu, explains the results of a two-year longitudinal study examining the effects on employee turnover resulting from the change in individual and unit levels of satisfaction. The report is available at no charge from the CHR…see more / download report.

Source: Practice Greenhealth

Track and Benchmark Your Most Important Sustainability Metrics in One Place

As the health care sector’s commitment to environmental responsibility grows, there is an increasing need to accurately measure and track the benefits of sustainability initiatives. The numbers speak. Standardized metrics for environmental performance are critical, and benchmarking performance against similar facilities can be eye-opening and drive sustainability.

The Greenhealth Sustainability Dashboard allows health care organizations to enter and track sustainability data and metrics with Practice Greenhealth’s secure, internet-based tool. Designed with the health care sector in mind, the easy-to-use interface gives you the tools to monitor, report and benchmark your organization’s sustainability performance.

Improve your environmental and financial performance while tracking progress toward your goals

• Track detailed environmental performance data in priority areas such as waste, water, energy, transportation, purchasing, and food.
• Understand resource usage and costs against different key normalization factors such as adjusted patient day, staffed bed, number of full-time equivalents or gross square footage.
• Gauge your organization’s carbon footprint through tracking of greenhouse gas emissions across multiple categories.
• View and compare data at the facility or system-level.
• Use real-time data and metrics to drive organizational goals and to report progress to the C-Suite

 Evaluate your environmental performance compared to the sector

Benchmarking your organizational performance against like-sized and similar type health care organizations can identify gaps and drive goal development. The Greenhealth Sustainability Dashboard will be the first tool to allow hospitals to compare their sustainability progress to other committed hospitals across the country. And as more hospitals use the tool, the data set will continue to grow and benchmarks will become even more refined—resulting in better sustainability analytics to help you drive performance. The Greenhealth Sustainability Dashboard is an affordable solution at a low monthly cost with no hardware to install, and no long-term contract—customized by the leading voice for sustainability in the health care sector.

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Frequently Asked Questions

1. What does the Dashboard look like?

Sneak a peek at the Greenhealth Sustainability Dashboard by clicking here.

2. What sustainability categories does the Dashboard currently cover?

The Dashboard currently addresses Waste, Water, Energy, Transportation, Food, Greenhouse Gases and Purchasing. Chemicals are addressed through the Purchasing category.

3. How do I request a demonstration of the Dashboard?

To schedule a demonstration of the Greenhealth Sustainability Dashboard, simply fill out this inquiry email and a Practice Greenhealth staff member will contact you to set up a time for the demonstration. We look forward to introducing you to this dynamic new tool.

4. How much does the Dashboard cost?

The Dashboard has a simple pricing structure that can fit into the budget of almost any cost-conscious organization. Practice Greenhealth members receive discounted pricing. Discounts are also available for system-level packages. Click here to inquire about pricing.

Source:  Joel Makower, Chairman & Executive Editor

A new ruling by the U.S. and other national governments is roiling the arcane world of “Material Safety Data Sheets,” mandatory documents designed to provide workers and emergency personnel with procedures for handling or working with that substance in a safe manner.

A United Nations protocol, the Globally Harmonized System of Classification and Labeling of Chemicals has been created to replace the various classification and labeling standards used in different countries by using consistent criteria for classification and labeling on a global level.

That means chemical manufacturers around the world are being asked to overhaul tens of thousands of safety data sheets, or SDSs (the word “material” was dropped), to conform. This is no small thing: The global chemical business is more than a $1.7 trillion per year enterprise.

In March, the U.S published its final rule for complying with the global guidelines. It requires product manufacturers to adopt the standard by June 1, 2015, and product distributors to adopt the standard by December 1 of that year. Workers must be trained by December 1, 2013.

Next week, on September 5, we’ll be hosting a webcast. that shows how two manufacturers, Dow Corning and Champion Technologies, are responding. Join my colleague John Davies, as he explores the challenges, and solutions, that are being faced by thousands of companies. It’s free; registration required.

Source: VisitRenoTahoe.com

Read the AAA Diamond Rating Guidelines

Reprint from ScienceDaily (Aug. 22, 2012)

Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) are some of the strongest materials on Earth and are used to strengthen composite materials, such as those used in high-performance tennis rackets. CNTs have potential uses in everything from medicine to electronics to construction. However, CNTs are not without risks. A joint study by the University of Missouri and United States Geological Survey found that they can be toxic to aquatic animals. The researchers urge that care be taken to prevent the release of CNTs into the environment as the materials enter mass production.

“The great promise of carbon nanotubes must be balanced with caution and preparation,” said Baolin Deng, professor and chair of chemical engineering at the University of Missouri. “We don’t know enough about their effects on the environment and human health. The EPA and other regulatory groups need more studies like ours to provide information on the safety of CNTs.”

CNTs are microscopically thin cylinders of carbon atoms that can be hundreds of millions of times longer than they are wide, but they are not pure carbon. Nickel, chromium and other metals used in the manufacturing process can remain as impurities. Deng and his colleagues found that these metals and the CNTs themselves can reduce the growth rates or even kill some species of aquatic organisms. The four species used in the experiment were mussels (Villosa iris), small flies’ larvae (Chironomus dilutus), worms (Lumbriculus variegatus) and crustaceans (Hyalella azteca).

“One of the greatest possibilities of contamination of the environment by CNTs comes during the manufacture of composite materials,” said Hao Li, associate professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering at MU. “Good waste management and handling procedures can minimize this risk. Also, to control long-term risks, we need to understand what happens when these composite materials break down.”

The study on CNTs toxicity to aquatic animals was a collaboration between engineering faculty and students at MU and U.S. Geological Survey researchers led by Christopher Ingersoll. The first author of the study, Joseph Mwangi, came to the project via a minority student fellowship. The EPA funded the research with a $400,000 grant. The results were published in the journal Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry. Baolin Deng is C.W. LaPierre Professor of Civil Engineering in the College of Engineering at the University of Missouri.

Story Source:

The above story is reprinted from materials provided by University of Missouri-Columbia.

Source: Fuel Fix.com

Federal regulators on Wednesday voted to require U.S. companies to disclose what they pay to harvest crude, natural gas and minerals from other countries, delivering a big blow to oil companies that say the mandate will force them to shut down drilling in some areas.

The rule adopted 2-1 by the Securities and Exchange Commission, drew applause from human rights activists and social justice groups that insist the added transparency could discourage corruption in resource-rich countries.

Mandated by the 2010 Dodd-Frank financial law, the new rule requires 1,100 publicly traded oil, gas and mining companies to report payments exceeding $100,000 made to other countries “to further the commercial development” of the countries’ resources.
Continue reading SEC rejects industry’s bid for exemptions in foreign payments rule

Source: Fierce Healthcare.com

Wellness programs lead to employee engagement and cost savings, prompting more hospitals to incorporate employee wellness into their strategy to control future healthcare costs. And with research showing hospital employees have higher healthcare costs than the general population and are less healthy, hospitals are looking beyond simple “no smoking” policies to create healthier campuses for their employees, as well as patients and visitors.

Here are four real-world examples of how healthcare organizations are looking inward to improve employee health:

1. Sound the alarm on smokers
For years, U.S. hospitals have been enforcing stricter hiring practices, with hospitals in Florida, Georgia, Massachusetts, Missouri, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Tennessee turning away job applicants who smoke. But Forth Valley Royal Hospital in Scotland has taken it a step further by installing a voice alarm that goes off when anyone lights up outside, the hospital announced earlier this year.

The hospital was looking for a more effective way to extinguish tobacco use. So it put the alarm at its main entrance, where even the lighting of a match triggers a bilingual message telling smokers to stop. If it successfully deters those who had been ignoring no-smoking signs, more alarms will be placed throughout the hospital campus.

Such tobacco-free strategies already are showing real results. For instance, Cleveland Clinic’s strict wellness mandates that include a ban on hiring smokers have led to the number of self-reported smokers dropping from 15.4 percent to 6.8 percent over five years, the Clinic’s Chief Wellness Officer Michael Roizen told FierceHealthcare in a recent interview.

2. Spotlight healthy food

Putting healthier food in the hospital cafeteria is a great start to promoting healthy behavior among employees. But employees and patients need help identifying those healthier options. So Massachusetts General Hospital color-coded food products with red, yellow and green labels to encourage cafeteria customers to choose more nutritional items. After only six months, sales of the red (least healthy) items dropped 14.1 percent, while sales of the green (healthiest) items increased 5.3 percent.

With similar goals in mind, New Jersey’s Hackensack University Medical Center and Overlook Medical Center instituted a rating system that gives food items zero to three stars for nutritional value, the hospitals announced earlier this month. The star ratings aim to make it easier for employees and visitors to make healthier food choices. For added incentive, Overlook is awarding its employees fit points for every star-rated item they purchase, which they can then redeem for gift certificates to use in the hospital cafe.

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