United States
Balfurd Linen Services, a family-owned laundry company serving the needs of the healthcare and food and beverage markets in Pennsylvania, Maryland and West Virginia, recently received Hygienically Clean Healthcare and Hygienically Clean Food Service certifications.
These certifications reflect Balfurd's consistent commitment to laundry best management practices (BMPs), verified through on-site inspection, and their ability to produce hygienically clean fabrics, as quantified by ongoing microbial testing. Earlier this year, the Tipton, Pennsylvania laundry also qualified for the renewal of TRSA's Clean Green certification to recognize its environmental practices.
The two Hygienically Clean certifications confirm the organization's continued commitment to infection prevention, adherence to recognized industry standards, and processing of health and F&B textiles using BMPs as described in the quality assurance documentation, a focus for assessment of the hygienically clean inspectors.
The Hygienically Clean Healthcare Certification validates the effectiveness of laundries in protecting healthcare by reviewing quality control procedures in linen, uniform and facility services related to the handling of textiles containing blood and other potentially infectious materials. Sanitary, healthcare-certified laundries use procedures, chemicals, and BMPs approved by the Federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, the Association for the Advancement of Medical Instruments, the American National Standards Institutes and others are recognized. Introduced in 2012, Hygienically Clean Healthcare brought to North America the international cleanliness standards for bedding and clothing for healthcare, used worldwide by the Certification Association for Professional Textile Services and the European Committee for Standardization.
Objective experts in epidemiology, infection control, nursing, and other health care professionals work with laundromats to ensure certification continues to enforce the highest standards of clean healthcare textiles.
Laundries that receive Hygienically Clean Food Service certification adhere to HACCP (Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points) practices, which are audited as part of the Hygienically Clean Food Safety inspection process.
On-site inspections also assess practices relevant to the handling and processing of textile products used in food manufacturing / processing operations to comply with guidelines from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to be observed. Hygienically clean food safety was introduced in 2014, bringing to North America the international cleanliness standards for washing clothes and other textile products for food manufacturing, used worldwide by the Certification Association for Professional Textile Services and the European Committee for Standardization.
"Congratulations to Balfurd Linen Services on their hygienic health care and hygienic food certifications," said Joseph Ricci, President and CEO of TRSA. "Your performance shows your commitment to infection prevention and that your laundry is taking all possible steps to prevent human disease."
For information on Hygienically Clean and other TRSA certification programs, please contact E: afreeman@trsa.org.
