In September 2014, EPA and the San Francisco Department of the Environment honored five companies who have successfully completed the city’s new “Custodial Green Cleaning” pilot program, the first green business program in the nation with training focused on custodial worker health. The program aims to reduce workers’ exposure to harmful chemicals typically used in cleaning operations by switching to greener cleaning products and methods. The pilot program’s multi-lingual training videos and educational materials are now available free online to other cleaning companies and communities.

“Using toxic cleaners can make custodial workers much more likely to suffer from asthma and other respiratory illnesses,” said Jared Blumenfeld, EPA’s Regional Administrator for the Pacific Southwest. “Green Cleaning companies protect their employees from harmful chemicals and make our work environments safer, while growing their businesses in a competitive marketplace.”

The Green Cleaning program works to prevent health problems associated with the use of harmful cleaning products, which include occupational asthma and other respiratory illnesses, eye and skin irritations and burns, and toxic exposure through inhalation of chemical fumes.

During the pilot program, SF Environment found that nearly half of the chemicals the companies were using were harmful. By the end of the program, all of these chemicals were replaced with safer alternatives. To date, 300 custodians have been trained under the Green Cleaning pilot program, eliminating the use of over 12,000 gallons of harmful cleaning chemicals each year.

“These five companies collectively represent more than 4.5 million square feet of property in San Francisco that is now being cleaned using safer and more environmentally friendly cleaning methods,” said Debbie Raphael, director of SF Environment. “With over two million people working with cleaning products across the nation, there is great opportunity for us to protect the health of vulnerable populations by helping other cities replicate this model.”

The innovative program is based on the understanding that while there are many benefits to using greener cleaning products, these benefits are often lost without proper instruction on how to mix and use them. Through its pilot program, SF Environment developed certification criteria and multi-lingual training materials including videos, fact sheets, booklets and other educational materials. The department also provided consultation to custodial companies on Green Cleaning practices and safer products through multi-lingual staff training and training tools to implement the program. The training tools are now available free online for use by other cleaning companies and communities nationwide.

The following companies participating in the Green Cleaning program have gone above and beyond by completing other measures for zero waste, green building, energy efficiency, water conservation and pollution prevention and are now recognized as San Francisco Green Businesses

• Metro Maintenance
• CMSC Janitorial / Maintenance Services
• Aim to Please Janitorial Service Inc.
• Japan Janitorial Service
• Signature Home Cleaning LLC

The Custodial Green Cleaning program was developed by SF Environment under a $74,500 EPA pollution prevention grant. Last year, EPA’s Pacific Southwest office provided more than $380,000 in pollution prevention grants in California, Hawaii and Nevada.  Pollution prevention grants fund environmental projects that reduce or eliminate pollution at the source, encouraging toxic and hazardous materials reduction, efficient business practices and pollution prevention integration activities. Eligible applicants include states, governments, tribes, and nonprofit organizations.

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