Winnie Richards, a member of the Sodexo Environmental Services (ES) team working at the University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB Health) in Galveston, Texas, has been named the 2013 recipient of the Hygiene Specialist® Excellence award sponsored by UMF Corporation.

The award, in collaboration with IEHA and in its third year, was established to acknowledge the invaluable contribution of ES – the first line of defence – in providing a safe patient environment and reducing healthcare-associated infections (HAIs). ES managers nominate the housekeeper of their choice to receive the award.

Well done to Winnie.

Her role is an important, and often under-recognised one and this UMF award scheme is a worthy initiative that can be used to drive quality management.

Congratulations also to UMF Corporation and Sodexo Environmental Services.

Perhaps a similar scheme might operate in the UK, to reward best performance among cleaners, ancillary staff and waste handlers, either across the increasingly fragmented UK, in the similarly fragmented NHS, or maybe for the larger contracting service and waste sector companies?

Employee reward schemes can be used to drive good performance, to improve attendance records and limit absenteeism, and to encourage the high safety standards that are essential, though perhaps not always seen, in the waste and resource sector.