Alsco Inc.’s San Jose, Calif. facility has earned Hygienically Clean Healthcare designation, reflecting their commitment to best management practices (BMPs) in laundering as verified by on-site inspection and their capability to produce hygienically clean textiles as quantified by ongoing microbial testing.

The certification confirms the laundry’s dedication to compliance and processing healthcare textiles (HCTs) using BMPs as described in its quality assurance documentation, the focal point for laundry plant inspectors’ evaluation of critical control points that minimize risk. The independent, third-party inspection must confirm essential evidence that:

• Employees are properly trained and protected

• Managers understand legal requirements

• OSHA-compliant

• Physical plant operates effectively

In addition, Alsco passed three rounds of outcome-based microbial testing, indicating that their processes are producing Hygienically Clean Healthcare linens and garments and zero presence of harmful bacteria. To maintain their certification, laundry plants must pass quarterly testing to ensure that as laundry conditions change, such as water quality, textile fabric composition and wash chemistry, laundered product quality is consistently maintained.

This process eliminates subjectivity by focusing on outcomes and results that verify textiles cleaned in these facilities meet appropriate hygienically clean standards and BMPs for hospitals, surgery centers, medical offices, nursing homes and other medical facilities.

Certified laundries use processes, chemicals and BMPs acknowledged by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), Association for the Advancement of Medical Instrumentation (AAMI), American National Standards Institute (ANSI) and others. Introduced in 2012, Hygienically Clean Healthcare incorporates the international cleanliness standards for healthcare linens and garments 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 healthcare professions work with TRSA launderers to ensure the certification continues to enforce the highest standards for producing clean healthcare textiles. With 100+ years as the textile services industry’s leading business association, TRSA’s expertise in laundry BMP development is unmatched.

“Congratulations to Alsco on their certification,” said Joseph Ricci, TRSA president and CEO. “This achievement proves their dedication to building their customers’ confidence that their laundry takes every step possible to prevent human illness.”