ECJ EUROPEAN Cleaning Journal

Italian correspondent Anna Garbagna brings news of the partnership between ISSA and AfidampFAB.

ISSA, the international association for the professional cleaning sector and AfidampFAB, the Italian national cleaning association representing manufacturers of cleaning products and equipment, have announced a new partnership intended to jointly develop a number of marketing opportunities at global level for their associates and for the sector in general.

With a view to expansion both associations will become co-owners of the Pulire family of events, which includes exhibitions as well as training platforms, and they will develop new options to facilitate relations between members and to share knowledge in the sector across the world.

In addition all ISSA members will receive a discount to exhibit at the Pulire exhibition in  Verona in 2019 and all AfidampFAB’s members will become ISSA’s members, gaining access to a range of benefits.

Another objective is the development of the existing Forum Pulire congress concept - which has until now taken place only in Milan - in a number of continents. The first, Forum Pulire America, will take place in Brazil from August 9-10, in cooperation with the local partner FACOP (Fundação de Asseio e Conservação do Estado do Paraná).

Among the many initiatives, a new offer of training and certification for the sector is also under development. This is aimed at the Italian market.

“Over the last 15 years Afidamp has created an international platform, Pulire, to respond to the interest of the professional cleaning sector towards many developing countries,” declared Afidamp Servizi’s Toni d’Andrea. “Our purpose is to open a dialogue among those countries in order to coordinate actions, qualify contacts, share experiences and reinforce the importance of cleaning as an absolute social value. Afidamp and ISSA will continue with this mission with new global and more ambitious projects.”

This partnership will enhance ISSA’s presence in Europe, the Middle East, Latin America and Asia, enriching it with events and activities resulting from agreements recently made in Australia, Canada, Europe, Latin America and South Africa.

There is much more news - at the recent Interclean Amsterdam exhibition the new manual published by Afidamp: ‘Self-Propelled Ride-On Machines for Professional Cleaning, Scrubber Dryers and Sweepers: all the Relevant Information for the Best and Correct Use’ was presented for the first time.

Afidamp, in accordance with its main mission (spreading the knowledge of methods and techniques to give appropriate solution to cleaning issues, hygiene and environmental sanitisation), has produced the handbook thanks to contributions from the sector’s global leading manufacturers and distributors.

The main aim is to give operatives the relevant information required to better use machines. The manual analyses the characteristics of ride-on machines, how they operate and their maintenance, with specific reference to current legislation and operator safety. It represents a valuable tool in achieving certification to use machines in compliance with the requirements of the ‘consolidated text’ on safety at work.