Cover story
presented at Cambridge University. The system was recognised and acknowledged by individual NHS trusts, and, in 2009, by the NHS Rapid Review Panel set up by the Department of Health to fast track new technology to address hospital acquired infections, achieving the highest recommendation (Level 1). More recently, OTEX successfully passed assessment of compliance with Public Health England’s Health Technical Memorandum 01-04 guidelines for the decontamination of linen in health and social care (HTM01-04). The system is also being fully supported in line with the EU Biocidal Products Regulation (BPR). Furthermore, JLA - the UK’s leading partner for all critical equipment and servicing needs - also played an integral role during this period in establishing a dedicated trade body, the European Ozone Trade Association, wherein leading ozone equipment manufacturers and suppliers work in partnership to address BPR compliance.
Crucially, earlier this year OTEX was scientifically proven to remove all traces of coronavirus from infected laundry loads. Even at ambient temperatures, this allows heat-sensitive items such as personal clothing, hospital mattress covers, emergency rescue wear and microfibre items to be cleaned effectively. These findings were revealed through an in-depth study carried out at De Montfort University in Leicester. The study, believed to be among the first of its kind, found that cleaning with OTEX completely removed the coronavirus, even in large washing loads, reducing the number of infectious particles by at least 4.3 log10 – meaning it was beyond the limit of detection – within six minutes of washing in the presence of ozone. Additional testing also proved that the virus was not transferred to other textiles in the wash, highlighting OTEX as an invaluable tool in the fight to stop the spread of coronavirus in care homes.
The safety of ozone laundry systems
The term ‘ozone’, being a chemical in itself, may cause concerns around its safety when being introduced into the care home environment. The Health & Safety Executive’s Workplace Exposure Limit (WEL) for ozone is 0.2ppm in air averaged over a 15-minute reference period. Under the Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations, exposure of employees to substances hazardous to health should be prevented, or, where this is not reasonably practicable, adequately controlled.
and keep residents safe.
A printed receipt and the storage of historical disinfection data for every wash cycle provides evidence that the correct conditions for ozone disinfection have been met during the cycle. These receipts can be retained and presented during inspections to demonstrate HTM01-04 compliance to the required audit standards.
OTEX is for professional use only and, together with our comprehensive Total Care service package that accompanies the system at all times, has integral safety controls to ensure that it is operational at reduced risk to the operator. For example, a room monitor sensor provides an alert when ozone levels are above 0.10ppm and will shut down the generation of ozone if the ozone levels in the room have been detected at 0.18ppm, below the WEL. Ozone will not be enabled until this level has dropped below 0.15ppm.
We must of course also remember the safety of the residents themselves, and how OTEX contributes to this. As a trusted partner to many customers in the care home and wider healthcare industry, JLA understands that to ensure the safety of patients and residents it is crucial to ensure that linen meets industry regulations, such as the aforementioned HTM01-04. To assist with compliance, OTEX provides real time monitoring of the disinfection process on every cycle and delivers a full audit trail for each wash. Ensuring caregivers are always able to prove the correct precautions have been taken to disinfect all linen
November 2020 •
www.thecarehomeenvironment.com
Scientifically stopping the spread Overall, it appears that Covid-19 will remain a major challenge for the foreseeable future, and vigilance is key if we are to keep the spread of infection to a minimum across the care home sector. A recurrent theme throughout the pandemic has been the need to follow the science and prioritise the solutions that are proven to have a demonstratable effect on Covid infection. OTEX has definitively proven to accomplish this, enabling best-in-class infection control and ensuring the safety of caregivers and residents alike.
Simply enough, investing in the right, scientifically-proven measures at this stage, ahead of a full second wave, will pay dividends over the coming months and help the sector to continue the already-sterling work it has done this year, relieving cost pressures, stopping the spread and, most importantly, keeping staff and residents safe.
Contact details
JLA Group, Meadowcroft Lane, Ripponden, Sowerby Bridge, HX6 4AJ Telephone: 0800 591903 Email:
enquiries@jla.com
www.jla.com/otex
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