Laundry standards advise that clean linen should be kept at a minimum of two metres from soiled linen, and ideally kept separate by a physical barrier.

That’s why the use of barrier technology is advisable – unique washing machines built into a wall in which dirty linens enter on one side and clean linen emerges on the other. Barrier laundry technology is a highly effective way of avoiding contact between linens and also with staff members, as it limits the movement of staff. The machines also make sure they’ve fully performed to the very end of their cycle before being unloaded – meaning you can be sure you’ve met your laundry temperature and cycle targets.

It’s also essential you perform preventative maintenance checks on your equipment – whether or not you launder in-house or out-source, keeping on top of your machinery’s functionality is essential to ensuring infection control. Preventative maintenance involves servicing your machinery on a schedule set by the manufacturer, and is essential in ensuring your laundry complies with Australian Laundry Standards AS/NZS 4146:2000 – particularly crucial for those working in health and aged care.

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Validation means knowing your machinery has performed to the levels required by Australian Laundry Standards AS/NZS 4146:2000 – giving you invaluable peace of mind.

Effective validation can help your facility fight superbugs such as C. diff, E. coli and MRSA, by confirming that disinfection is occuring in each cycle. With the ability to effectively and accurately track cycles, they can let you know that disinfection standards have been reached – keeping a log of the outcome for your future auditing.

Validation systems can also provide information including total cycle counts, volume, amount of water and chemicals consumed – making your laundry processing as efficient and reliable as possible.

Safe, accurately measured dispensing is an essential element of effective laundry infection control.

As a post-COVID world becomes increasingly aware of surface transmission of infections, touch-free dispensing has become an invaluable weapon in every laundry arsenal.

Making sure your laundry, or the laundry you outsource to, offers correctly measured chemical dispensing is a requirement of the Australian laundry standards. Helpfully, a number of innovative no-touch dispensing options are available, as well as advanced dispensing solutions and remote monitoring systems that ensure accuracy.

One way you can make sure your laundry is achieving total disinfection is with the use of an innovative ozone laundry system.

As a reactive natural gas, ozone works as an extremely effective biocide and fungicide. As well as guaranteeing each and every wash is disinfected and validated, the ozone laundry system uses limited water, power and chemicals, which in turn extends the life of your linens, saves you valuable time and dollars and offers a multitude of environmental benefits.

As if that wasn’t enough, ozone technology is also something of a superhero when it comes to superbugs, with the Renew V03 Ozone System being the only system in the world that’s been proven to kill superbugs including C.Diff, E.Coli and MRSA, 99.999% of the time.

Scientists now know that superbugs and COVID-19 can survive on door handles for days at a time – so it’s essential laundry facilities managers reduce the risk of infection via door use.

Anti-bacterial door handle solutions work by combining silver ion technology with highly effective hand sanitiser in order to kill 99.9% of bacteria, including major superbugs. Door handle solutions require no action by the user, and are therefore a great, low-effort way of ensuring effective infection control.

Whether or not your laundry is done in-house or outsourced, utlisting door-entry technology can be a simple way to ensure you’re meeting your infection control goals.

If you’re a facilities manager at a healthcare service, you’ll need to ensure your bed-to-bed processes are doing everything they can to ensure infection control.

The process should always involve the safe removal of soiled linens and personal items from the resident’s room, processing it via the laundry, and then carefully sending back clean linens and personal items. Whilst this may seem very simple, there’s actually a lot to consider.

Separation of clean and dirty linen is hugely important, and clear processes should guide the collection, sorting and storage of soiled linen, as well as taking it to the laundry. Once clean, it should be carefully prepared, transported back and stored, before being returned to the resident’s bed.