United States
Crown Linen Services, Brockton, Massachusetts, a family-owned uniform rental and laundry service that has provided commercial laundry services to New England nonprofits and businesses for more than 100 years, recently qualified for the renewal of Hygienically Clean Healthcare certification. Recertification reflects continued commitment to laundry best management practices (BMPs) as verified by on-site inspection and the ability to produce hygienically clean fabrics as quantified by ongoing microbial testing.
The Hygienically Clean Healthcare certification confirms the company's continued commitment to infection prevention, adherence to recognized industry standards, and processing of health textiles using BMPs as described in the quality assurance documentation. This is a focus for the evaluation of the hygienically clean inspectors. The independent third party inspection must also confirm material evidence that:
To get certification first, laundries pass three rounds of result-based microbial tests that indicate their processes are producing hygienically clean health textiles and reducing the presence of yeast, mold, and harmful bacteria. You must also pass a facility inspection. To maintain their certification, they have to pass quarterly tests to ensure that as laundry conditions change, such as water quality, fabric composition and wash chemistry, the quality of the products being washed remains constant. The review takes place every two to three years.
This process eliminates subjectivity by focusing on results and outcomes that verify that the textiles cleaned in these facilities meet appropriate sanitary clean standards and BMPs for hospitals, surgery centers, doctor's offices, nursing homes and other medical facilities.
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.
"Congratulations to Crown Linen Services on their recertification," said Joseph Ricci, President and CEO of TRSA. "This achievement shows their commitment to infection prevention and that their laundry is taking all possible steps to prevent human diseases."
For information on Hygienically Clean and other TRSA certification programs, please contact E: afreeman@trsa.org.
