The NHS executive released HSG (95) 18 a guideline on Hospital laundry arrangements for used and infected linen which states that the NHS has an obligation under the health and saefty at work act to take steps to prevent the risk of infection.

Soiled and foul linen should be sent through washing cycles in which the temperature in the load is maintained at 65°C for not less than 10 minutes or preferably at 71 Deg°C for no less than 3 minutes

 

 

Washing clothes and disinfecting utensils in hospitals to prevent cross contamination is covered in the HTM2030, released by the NHS Estates. This document details testing/validation procedures for sterilisation cycles to ensure:

  • The correct temperature has been reached
  • The correct time has elapsed at the target temperature
  • The calculation is F0 ( lethality) has to be calculated and is described as..…

"In the area of thermal sterilization, the concept of accumulated lethality (FO) —the time of exposure to a lethal agent required to cause a selected reduction in the survivorship of a biological indicator (BI) population—has proven very useful. The availability of models describing survivorship when moist heat is the lethal agent has enabled researchers to compare the effects of dissimilar processes quantitatively. The FO formula is accepted by FDA as an alternative method for measuring the effectiveness of a thermal sterilization process".
Please contact Wessex Power for all your washer and disinfector validation requirements

 

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