COVER STORY
TEMPCHECK – A NEW WEAPON
AGAINST INFECTION With laundry processes vital to the fight against infection, Electrolux Professional has unveiled a new tool designed to help operators validate thermal disinfection.
journey – from the time it is collected when dirty, to how it is transported and stored once clean. Part of that is wearing the correct protective clothing, such as disposable gloves and aprons, when handling contaminated laundry in order to reduce the exposure to potentially harmful micro-organisms.
DEALING WITH SOILED LINEN In order to help operators with managing the full laundry process, Electrolux Professional has established its own system of ensuring linen is cleaned properly, and kept clean until it is ready to be used again. The eight-step process is based around the Risk Analysis Biocontamination Control (RABC) principle, which helps to identify the dangers within any given environment, and establish the correct target levels and tolerances for each potential hazard.
With that in mind, a laundry cycle management system gives operators detailed help with each stage of the journey, explaining how linen should be collected, transported, washed, dried, packed and ultimately stored once clean.
COLOUR-CODING The obvious benefit to using a colour- coded system is that it will allow the segregation of different types of laundry materials. Because items most at risk of causing infection can be separated
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from an early stage, it is much easier to ensure each one is accurately identified and dealt with accordingly – dramatically reducing the risk of infection to staff and vulnerable residents.
ENSURING LINEN IS DISINFECTED One of the easiest ways to ensure linen is disinfected is to make sure that items are washed at high temperatures for enough time that any potentially harmful microbes are killed. Specifically, a cycle must reach either 93°C for one minute, 71°C for three minutes, or 65°C for at least ten minutes in order for thermal disinfection to have fully taken place.
Because those temperature requirements are so precise, getting the right equipment can be vital. Many of the latest commercial washing machines come with dedicated thermal disinfection programmes, making the process much easier for busy care home staff. Better still are the various process validation tools on the market which are able to record and store important temperature data. Not only does this give peace of mind that every wash has been hygienically cleaned, but it also allows an establishment to rule out laundry as a cause of infection days, weeks or even months down the line.
As we’ve already discussed however, it’s also crucial that linen is not re-
Compatible with both new and pre- existing models of Electrolux’s full range of machines, TempCheck is a game-changing piece of equipment which allows operators to check that thermal disinfection has taken place, no matter which type of laundry they have.
The compact control helps care establishments of all sizes to deliver a safe and efficient laundry process. With the ability to store Validation Reports for up to 1,000 cycles, TempCheck is perfect for healthcare facilities requiring full transparency of HTM 01-04. What’s more, the device also records productivity data to help operators ensure machines are performing at their most efficient, both financially and hygienically.
infected once clean. One of the safest ways of doing so is to opt for a barrier washing system. Barrier washers are built so that items are loaded from one side of the machine when dirty and unloaded from a separate, clean side when the wash cycle is complete. This eliminates the need for operators to re-enter an unhygienic environment and, consequently, minimises the risk of linen being re-contaminated once it has been cleaned.
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