Clean and hygienic are not the same thing
Clean is often also considered hygienic but this is a misconception. Cleaning is the removal of visible dirt, while hygienic cleaning also eliminates invisible dirt, bacteria and other pathogens. Clean workwear is therefore not necessarily hygienic. A sufficiently high washing temperature and appropriate washing chemicals can disinfect a garment but dangers still lurk along the path from the washing machine to the production facilities. Clothes that are washed at home and worn on the journey to work do not fulfil the hygiene requirements for the healthcare, food or pharmaceutical sectors.
The behaviour of employees can be the key to maintaining good hygiene. Ensuring good hand hygiene, replacing clothes with clean ones in accordance with an agreed timetable and keeping dirty clothes separate from clean ones is the responsibility of every employee. Lindström’s workwear locker helps clothes to be handled hygienically: clean clothes are delivered to employees’ own lockers and used clothes are thrown into a separate bin. The workwear locker is only for deliveries of workwear. It is not for storing outdoor shoes or handbags, which bring in dirt and pathogens from outside. People spend time together in the workplace and use shared spaces, enabling pathogens to spread easily if not everybody practices good hygiene. A hygiene partnership comprises training and communications related to these matters in the workplace. When employees have more information, they begin to take their hygiene habits home with them.
How to maintain good hygiene in the workplace
- Wash your hands with soap after you use the toilet,blow your nose or sneeze.
- Dry your hands using clean hand towels or paper towels.
- Change your workwear as agreed.
- Do not touch your workwear if your hands are dirty.
- Be careful not to make your clothes dirty during breaks.
- Lindström’s workwear service
- EN ISO 9001 Quality management system
- EN ISO 14001 Environmental management system
- EN 14065 Management of microbiological cleanliness
- Regular RABC testing and monitoring
In several sectors, such as the food and pharmaceutical industries, workwear protects products from risks caused by employees. In these sectors, good hygiene is an absolute requirement.