David Stevens, CEO of the Textile Services Association (TSA), reports.
The Covid 19 pandemic was a wakeup call to the UK about the importance of ensuring standards of hygiene, not only in healthcare but also in many other sectors. The TSA fully supports the British Cleaning Council’s efforts to lobby the Government to make cleaning and hygiene a national priority. Indeed, we’ve been working on a number of our own campaigns in this area. And our experience of the pandemic shows the need to make sure the country learns the right lessons.
The recent publication of the TSA’s witness statement to the Government’s Covid enquiry demonstrated the potential of the commercial laundry industry for ensuring future public health crises are handled more effectively. In particular, this focused on the benefits of reusable PPE in high risk healthcare environments, how commercial laundries are capable of maintaining the standards of hygiene required in healthcare – and more importantly, how the opportunities to benefit from using reusable PPE were missed.
Following the end of phase one of the enquiry, the Government has begun reviewing the status of the UK’s systems for ensuring resilience during national emergencies. The TSA recognises the vital work the BCC is doing to assist the Government in developing and implementing best practice in a range of hygiene related matters. The TSA’s own work in this area reflects many of the same concerns, and the breadth of knowledge of both organisations means that their advice should be taken seriously.
The TSA has been working with Professor Katie Laird and her team at De Montfort University for over ten years on a series of research projects. These have the aim of developing a body of data and building methodologies to ensure that the required hygiene standards are maintained in a variety of critical sectors.
The latest result of this ongoing relationship was Prof Laird’s confirmation that most domestic washing machines are unable to reach the temperatures required to properly disinfect and remove harmful bacteria and pathogens. This could be a potential vector for infection control risks in hospitals and care homes. The findings also underline the importance of commercial laundry to healthcare, as they have both the equipment that is capable of safely disinfecting textiles, and procedures for ensuring that textile products are handled safely.
To help build up the knowledge base in the industry the TSA launched a training course which provides managers working in the healthcare, food care and pharmaceutical laundry sectors a deeper understanding of microorganisms and harmful pathogens. The first course was held in April 2025, and gave attendees a grounding in the science of microbiology as well as an understanding of the decontamination processes used in laundries.
These and other initiatives support the aims of the BCC, and the TSA recognises the importance of aligning our lobbying messages and encouraging a deeper collaboration between the two organisations. While the initial signs from the Government are positive, there is still much work to be done. For the TSA this includes continuing to support the research of Prof Laird, who is currently working to confirm the effectiveness of commercial laundry in delivering the highest standards of hygiene and disinfection, and developing methodologies that will allow the laundry industry to demonstrate that they are reaching these standards.
Ensuring that the country is in the best possible position to cope with whatever the future might throw at us is hugely important, and it’s vital that we learn the right lessons from the Covid-19 pandemic. The BCC’s and TSA’s closer relationship can help ensure the UK gets where it needs to be.
https://tsa-uk.org/
About the contributor
David Stevens
CEO
Textile Services Association