Business View Magazine | April 2020

135 BUSINESS VIEW MAGAZINE APRIL 2020 TRSA than waiting for such sentiment to lead the U.S. government to regulate the industry, in 2007, TRSA invested in the development, launch and promotion of the Healthcare Laundry Accreditation Council (HLAC), a voluntary standard-setting organization of TRSA members and healthcare professionals. Adhering to best practices consistent with guidelines for laundry from agencies such as the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), healthcare laundries built the industry’s reputation for self-regulation. In the years immediately following, TRSA leaders recognized that more effective risk minimization was possible by focusing on outcomes including validation and testing. Collaborating with industry operators in the European Union, TRSA members witnessed the development of an EU voluntary standard for national laundry hygiene certification programs (EN 14065). It called for such programs to require laundries provided to their customers, which include private- and public-sector organizations of all kinds. Most Americans benefit at least once per week from the hygiene and safety of laundered, reusable linens, uniforms, towels, mats and other products that business customers procure from the industry to enhance their image and provide clean, safe environments for their employees and customers. Providing businesses with clean textiles has long been the industry’s fundamental purpose. Especially in the last 20 years, assuring customers that textile hygiene is maximized has become a higher priority, despite the dearth of evidence that laundry or linen practices have compromised cleanliness. But more businesses are seeking proof that the already infinitesimally small risk of such difficulty is being reduced as much as possible. This is understandably a greater concern in healthcare, especially among infection- prevention professionals in hospitals. Rather Healthcare laundries add a level of self-regulation via voluntary Hygienically Clean certification to their adherence to guidelines for laundry from agencies such as the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS).