USA
Textile Rental Services Association of America (TRSA), the linen, uniform and facility services association, appeared at the recent Ambulatory Surgery Centre Association (ASCA) annual meeting in Washington to promote the value of doing business with a Hygienically Clean Healthcare certified launderer. More than 120 attendees learned how the certification verifies laundries’ best management practices (BMPs) and quantifies laundered product cleanliness.
The display marked the first such promotion of Hygienically Clean Healthcare to an outpatient medical market. Previous exhibits touted the certification to hospital audiences: the Association for the Healthcare Environment (AHE) and Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology (APIC).
Roughly 10% of the visitors to the Hygienically Clean exhibit on May 3-5 expressed concern about the product and service quality of their linen, uniform and facility services providers. Using a Hygienically Clean certified launderer addresses quality concerns, they were told, as inspectors focus on a facility’s quality assurance manual as the hub of control measures (BMPs) that minimise potential for error. Hygienically Clean microbial testing measures finished product quality, enforcing a total microbial content ceiling, including yeasts, moulds and bacteria.
The Hygienically Clean standard provides for two inspections every three years. OSHA compliance is closely examined, particularly toxic and hazardous substance handling rules governing textiles containing blood and other potentially infectious materials. Microbial testing ensures that as laundry conditions change, such as water quality, textile fabric composition and wash chemistry, laundered product quality is consistently maintained.
