Miller’s Earns Hygienically Clean Trifecta

Posted March 24, 2017 at 1:42 pm

Miller’s Textile Services, Wapakoneta, OH, recently added Hygienically Clean Food Safety and Hygienically Clean Food Service certifications to its credentials. The plant has also renewed its Hygienically Clean Healthcare designation. These actions reflect the company’s commitment to best management practices (BMPs) in laundering as verified by on-site inspection and their ability to produce hygienically clean textiles as quantified by ongoing microbial testing.

The certifications confirm the laundry’s dedication to compliance and processing linens and garments 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, Miller’s Textile Services passed three rounds of outcome-based microbial testing. These tests indicate that their processes are producing hygienically clean linens and garments and zero presence of harmful bacteria. To maintain certification, laundry plants must pass quarterly testing, including yeast and mold detection, to ensure that as laundry conditions change, such as water quality, textile fabric composition and wash chemistry, laundered product quality is maintained on an ongoing basis.

This process eliminates subjectivity by focusing on outcomes and results that verify that the textiles cleaned in these facilities meet appropriate hygienically clean standards and BMPs for markets served. Hygienically Clean Healthcare requirements address the laundry needs of hospitals, surgery centers, medical offices, nursing homes and other medical facilities. Hygienically Clean Food Safety covers animal processing, dairies, fruit/vegetable, bakeries, grain and other food and beverage industry segments. Hygienically Clean Food Service certification is appropriate for laundry service to any location where food is served, including full- and limited-service restaurants, hotels, hospitals and educational institutions.

Miller’s Textile Services is the second facility in the Hygienically Clean program’s history (dates to 2012) to earn all three certifications. The other, Crown Linen Service, Brockton, MA, completed the trifecta in November.

The Hygienically Clean standard provides for two inspections every three years. The certifications incorporate the international cleanliness standards for linens and garments used worldwide by the Certification Association for Professional Textile Services and the European Committee for Standardization.

“Congratulations to Miller’s on their certifications,” 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.”

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