Representatives from nearly 50 Hygienically Clean Healthcare Certified plants participate in collaborative effort to continually improve patient safety
ALEXANDRIA, Va.,–TRSA, the leading global textile services trade association, facilitated its quarterly Hygienically Clean Users Group with representatives from nearly 50 certified plants on Tuesday, May 24th to answer questions and ensure compliance with its recently enhanced exchange cart best practices for its Hygienically Clean Healthcare Certification standard. The revised guidance addresses the care and use of exchange carts, a long-time industry practice for the safe delivery and storage of clean linen between commercial laundries and healthcare facilities.
In addition to answering questions about the implementation of the enhanced exchange cart best practices, the Hygienically Clean Users Group also discussed the results of ongoing research into potential new surface testing protocols and used the opportunity to share information regarding other issues impacting the healthcare market.
“TRSA conducts quarterly certification user group teleconferences open to representatives from any certified plants,” said TRSA President & CEO Joseph Ricci, CAE, “These open discussions ensure that our certification programs are developed collaboratively with direct communication and feedback from operators which can be shared with the Hygienically Clean Advisory Council and Healthcare Committee for consideration and action.”
This Council and Committee include representatives from dozens of healthcare laundries and suppliers, as well as representatives from the healthcare community such as professionals in nursing, clinical management, epidemiology and process analysis.
The expanded exchange cart certification language, which was introduced on May 4, 2016, covers requirements for housekeeping and cleaning; transporting and delivering clean, unused linens retrieved from customer locations; inspecting, counting, rotating and restocking linen; and more. TRSA recommends all commercial laundries adopt these practices. Hygienically Clean Healthcare certified laundries will be inspected to ensure these and other practices added to the standard are implemented.
TRSA Hygienically Clean certifications recognize textile services companies’ commitment to cleanliness through laundry plant inspection and third-party, quantified biological testing. Inspection and re-inspection verify that items are washed, dried, ironed, packed, transported and delivered using best management practices (BMPs) to meet key disinfection criteria. Between inspections, ongoing microbial testing quantifies cleanliness and indicates laundry process adjustments. This combination of process and outcome measures ensures textiles cleaned in certified facilities meet standards appropriate for businesses that use them, with specialty certifications (Hygienically Clean Healthcare, Hygienically Clean Food Safety, Hygienically Clean Food Service) and a universal designation (Hygienically Clean) for other laundry market segments.
TRSA (www.trsa.org) represents the $17-billion textile services industry which employs 200,000+ people at 1,500+ facilities nationwide by advocating for fair regulatory and legislative policy affecting the textile services industry and promoting the environmental benefits of reusable textiles. TRSA increases productivity, sustainability, safety and professionalism through education, certification, research, benchmarking and information-sharing. Most Americans benefit at least once per week from the cleanliness and safety of laundered, reusable linens, uniforms, towels, mats and other products provided to the service, industrial/manufacturing, hospitality, restaurant and healthcare sectors. TRSA quantifies our industry’s commitment to cleanliness and sustainability through our Clean Green and Hygienically Clean Certification programs.
