ST. GEORGE, Utah — Alsco St. George, a branch of Alsco Inc., the premier worldwide linen and uniform rental services company, recently achieved the Textile Rental Services Association (TRSA) Hygienically Clean Healthcare Certification, which ensures that laundering processes effectively remove pathogens from healthcare linens and garments.
“This certification further confirms our commitment to follow government guidelines and provide hygienically clean products to our customers,” said Todd Watts, Alsco St. George general manager. “Our best practices for processes and procedures in place in the St. George branch positively affect all of our market segments.”
TRSA certification is a confirmation of a laundry’s dedication both to compliance with government guidelines and to rigorous processing of healthcare linens and garments using best management practices (BMPs). As described in TRSA’s quality assurance documentation, BMPs are the focal point for TRSA inspectors’ evaluation of critical control points that minimize risk within a laundry facility. For a facility to earn TRSA certification, the independent third-party inspection must find and confirm essential evidence of the following:
Employees are properly trained and protected.
Managers understand legal requirements.
The facility is OSHA compliant.
The physical plant operates effectively.
Facilities with TRSA Hygienically Clean Healthcare Certification must pass three rounds of outcome-based microbial testing indicating that their processes are producing hygienically clean healthcare linens and garments with zero presence of harmful bacteria. To maintain their certification, laundry plants must pass quarterly tests to ensure that laundered product quality is consistently maintained even when laundry conditions such as water quality, textile fabric composition and wash chemistry change.
“Each member of the St. George Team played a role. It was a great effort by all and is exciting to come together to successfully achieve this certification,” Watts said.
TRSA’s stringent processes eliminate subjectivity by focusing on outcomes, verifying that linens and garments cleaned in certified facilities meet appropriate hygienically clean standards and BMPs for hospitals, surgery centers, medical offices, nursing homes and other medical facilities.
About TRSA
Millions of people rely every day on the clean uniforms, garments, linens, towels, walk-off mats and other products that TRSA-member commercial laundries provide. TRSA serves its members by promoting and protecting its companies and educating owners/operators, executives and management through professional development independent certifications that conform to internationally recognized standards, advocacy and research. For more information about TRSA and its certifications, visit http://www.trsa.org.