Textile Services Association
provides support for care homes looking to improve laundry hygiene
The Textile Services
Association (TSA) has released guidance aimed at the care home sector to help
explain how laundry helps control infections and how commercial laundries can
help to raise hygiene standards.
This is part of the ongoing
effort the TSA has made during the pandemic to help encourage high standards
for hygiene in a number of sectors, including healthcare and hospitality. The advice is based on research carried out by
De Montfort University, in association with the TSA, which was aimed at determining
the survivability of coronaviruses on various fabric types and laundry
processes.
This research demonstrated
that while model coronaviruses can survive in water at 60°C for ten minutes,
when combined with the agitation washing machines impart and detergent, no
trace of the virus was found at 40°C and above. However, other pathogens like C.difficile,
B.cereus, E.faecium and so on will require further thermal disinfection.
For care homes looking to
maximise their hygiene, the knowledge that professional wash processes
effectively eliminate the infection risk from pathogens and coronaviruses is
good news. However, it was also determined that the tested strain of coronavirus
can remain infectious on polyester fabric for up to 72 hours, and 100% cotton
for 24 hours. It’s also possible for polyester fabric to transfer the virus to
other surfaces for up to 72 hours.
With this in mind, the TSA
recommends that care homes review procedures for laundry, including the
loading and unloading of
washing machines and the handling and storing of soiled and clean textiles, focusing
on the need to reduce the chances of cross contamination. While each care home
will have its own processes, common areas to focus on include bagging soiled
items, separate storage areas for soiled and clean textiles, ensuring that
collection and delivery times for laundry are different, and putting in
rigorous procedures for sanitising all at risk areas.
The pandemic has hugely
increased the importance of maintaining the strictest hygienic standards in
care homes. While some care homes may be able to implement the kind of systems
required to guarantee the safety of their laundry needs, from resident’s
bedsheets, clothes etc. to staff uniforms, the services offered by commercial
laundries provide a simple solution to these logistical issues.
The TSA has created a
technical bulletin outlining the government’s advice, as well as breaking down
the kind of steps care homes should consider as part of any risk assessment they
take to improve the hygiene of their laundry procedures.
As well as this, the TSA will
be running an interactive webinar later in the year allowing operators to ask a
panel of industry experts questions related to laundry hygiene.
The bulletin can be downloaded
on the TSA’s website, from the healthcare section of the documents library, and
further details about the webinar can also be found there.
The TSA is the trade association for the textile care
services industry. The TSA represent commercial laundry and textile rental
businesses. Membership ranges from family-run operations through to large,
multi-national companies. Visit www.tsa-uk.org
for more information.
Press Enquiries:
The
Publicity Works: 01263 761000; tim@publicityworks.biz
David Stevens, CEO, Textile Services Association,
T: +44 (0)20 3151 5600 M:
+44 (0)7966 531954 E:
david.stevens@tsa-uk.org