★★★ SAFETY & HEALTH ★★★
Safety Focus conducted by managers during regular plant walkthroughs are equally important. These ongoing inspections help identify hazards in real time and reinforce a proactive safety culture.
Safety Focus
CERTIFIED by TRSA
Above: Mike Altendorf, VP of environmental health and safety for PureStar Group, Las Vegas.
Incident Prevention— What to Expect When You Inspect
Our topic for this month is plant safety inspections. Concerns range from how often managers should conduct inspections, the extent to which production employees are involved and how management should implement their suggestions for improving incident-prevention efforts. For reference, we’ ll cite a couple of items on this topic from TRSA’ s Safety & Health Certification Standards. On the question of safety inspections, section 4.1 of the Standards notes that“ A Safety Inspection Policy must be in place and followed, ensuring inspections are conducted monthly, and all identified action items are promptly corrected and maintained. As for addressing employees’ suggestions for safety improvements, section 3.4 of the Standards notes that,“ An employee safety suggestions program must be available for employees to submit safety concerns or recommendations.”
To look at how companies are managing these and related issues associated with plant safety inspections, we posed several questions to Mike Altendorf( pictured above). He is the VP of environmental health and safety at PuretStar Group, Las Vegas. Altendorf’ s responses follow.
How important are monthly( or more frequent) plant inspections for laundry operations?
While formal inspections are a critical component of our risk-control strategy, routine, day-to-day observations
It is also essential that findings from all inspections— both formal and informal— are documented, trended and analyzed to identify recurring risk areas. This allows us to implement targeted corrective actions and drive continuous improvement in our safety performance.
What are the key areas that laundry managers should consider during inspections? Machinery, electrical systems, building conditions, others?
Having inspection checklists is a valuable tool in commercial laundry operations, as they help ensure a broad range of areas are consistently reviewed— including machinery, electrical systems, building integrity, chemical handling and work practices. However, not all hazards carry the same level of risk. Managers should prioritize their inspection focus based on the potential severity and impact of each exposure, ensuring the most critical risks are identified and addressed first.
In commercial laundry environments, machine safety typically represents the highest-severity risk due to the presence of high-energy equipment, moving parts, pinch points, heat, steam and automated systems. As a result, machinery and equipment guarding, interlocks, emergency stops and safe access controls should consistently be treated as top inspection priorities.
How regularly should managers review employee suggestions for improving safety?
Managers should review employee safety suggestions on a routine basis, with a formal review at least monthly. Regular review helps identify trends, surface emerging risks and reinforce employee engagement in safety improvement.
How quickly should laundries implement employee safety suggestions?
Safety suggestions should be evaluated promptly and addressed based on risk. High severity hazards— such as machine, electrical or fall risks— should be corrected immediately, while lower risk improvements should be prioritized, tracked and communicated. Timely feedback is essential to maintaining trust and participation. TS
40 Textile Services • May 2026