Christeyns participates in Bradford Manufacturing Weeks

26 October 2021

Bradford based chemicals manufacturer Christeyns joined local and regional manufacturers for the fourth Bradford Manufacturing Weeks event aimed at introducing students to the world of manufacturing.

Launched by Bradford Chamber of Commerce and backed by the Bradford Economic Partnership, Bradford Manufacturing Weeks brings manufacturers, schools and young people together to showcase the different opportunities that a career in manufacturing can bring.

The 2021 programme ran from 4th to 15th October and during this time Christeyns was involved in a range of activities including the Apprentice Driver Awareness event at Bradford City and a Women in Manufacturing event at Bradford Grammar School.   

There were various virtual webinar sessions, with Lucy Duckworth taking part in a recruitment advice panel and Liam Humphreys one of a ’task-force’ of apprentices from across Bradford taking part in the event to give students an insight into their personal experiences of the apprentice journey.

Since 2018 over 12,000 students, aged 14-18, from schools and colleges across the district have experienced the world of manufacturing.  This year 32 companies were involved, offering various activities and students from 45 schools and colleges took part.

For further information visit:

www.christeyns.com/hydro

TSA publishes guidance for care homes about laundry hygiene

Keeping care homes hygienic

Textile Services Association provides support for care homes looking to improve laundry hygiene

The Textile Services Association (TSA) has released guidance aimed at the care home sector to help explain how laundry helps control infections and how commercial laundries can help to raise hygiene standards.

This is part of the ongoing effort the TSA has made during the pandemic to help encourage high standards for hygiene in a number of sectors, including healthcare and hospitality.  The advice is based on research carried out by De Montfort University, in association with the TSA, which was aimed at determining the survivability of coronaviruses on various fabric types and laundry processes.

This research demonstrated that while model coronaviruses can survive in water at 60°C for ten minutes, when combined with the agitation washing machines impart and detergent, no trace of the virus was found at 40°C and above. However, other pathogens like C.difficile, B.cereus, E.faecium and so on will require further thermal disinfection.

For care homes looking to maximise their hygiene, the knowledge that professional wash processes effectively eliminate the infection risk from pathogens and coronaviruses is good news. However, it was also determined that the tested strain of coronavirus can remain infectious on polyester fabric for up to 72 hours, and 100% cotton for 24 hours. It’s also possible for polyester fabric to transfer the virus to other surfaces for up to 72 hours.

With this in mind, the TSA recommends that care homes review procedures for laundry, including the

loading and unloading of washing machines and the handling and storing of soiled and clean textiles, focusing on the need to reduce the chances of cross contamination. While each care home will have its own processes, common areas to focus on include bagging soiled items, separate storage areas for soiled and clean textiles, ensuring that collection and delivery times for laundry are different, and putting in rigorous procedures for sanitising all at risk areas.

The pandemic has hugely increased the importance of maintaining the strictest hygienic standards in care homes. While some care homes may be able to implement the kind of systems required to guarantee the safety of their laundry needs, from resident’s bedsheets, clothes etc. to staff uniforms, the services offered by commercial laundries provide a simple solution to these logistical issues.

The TSA has created a technical bulletin outlining the government’s advice, as well as breaking down the kind of steps care homes should consider as part of any risk assessment they take to improve the hygiene of their laundry procedures.

As well as this, the TSA will be running an interactive webinar later in the year allowing operators to ask a panel of industry experts questions related to laundry hygiene.

The bulletin can be downloaded here.

If you have any queries, please do not hesitate to get in touch with us either via email or phone: 

E tsa@tsa-uk.org

T +44 (0) 20 3151 5600

Update from the TSA

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Help Champion the Future Of The Industry

We need you!

Independent End-point Assessor: Textile Care Operative

The Textile Care Operative Apprenticeship, which is our industry specific standard, is facing a lack of independent end point assessors (IEPA) so we are reaching out to the wider laundry community to ask for your help and commitment to supporting those starting out in their careers.

Skills and Education Group are looking to recruit at least one additional IEPA as soon as possible. Please get in touch with us if you have:

• relevant experience of working in the textile
care sector, in a managerial or consultative
capacity

• maintained active involvement in the industry
within the last five years.

Can you help?

Skills & Education Group are currently recruiting independent end-point assessors (IEPAs) on a flexible, self-employed basis. As an IEPA you would be responsible for carrying out end-point assessment activities under the conditions, timescales and arrangements set in accordance with the assessment plan for the apprenticeship standard.

This role provides an excellent opportunity for you to develop your skills as an end-point assessor and to provide an important contribution to the delivery of quality apprenticeship standards for our sector.

Find Out More

If you have any queries, please do not hesitate to get in touch with us either via email or phone: 

E tsa@tsa-uk.org

T +44 (0) 20 3151 5600

TSA launches #LaundryWithValues diversity survey

Survey will take snapshot of the industry’s attitude to itself and matters of diversity

The Textile Services Association (TSA) has teamed up with Brands with Values, an organisational culture experience company, to launch the Laundry with Values survey. This is aimed at discovering how the commercial laundry industry perceives itself and what values it holds, with a particular focus on inclusion.

Brands with Values has developed a survey methodology that can help organisations to understand the attitudes and values of their employees, called the Culture Decoder. It is a simple three question, values-based assessment, tried and tested by FTSE 500 companies, which asks respondents to pick their answer from a specially chosen list of words.

The study will analyse how employees perceive the culture of their current organisation, which values are most important to them and their overall perceptions of the culture of the laundry industry.

The TSA hopes to get responses from hundreds of laundry employees at all levels to ensure everyone, from owners to factory staff, is represented in the survey results. This can be achieved by promoting it within companies and by building awareness by discussing it online with the hashtag #LaundryWithValues.

“The importance of these issues to the laundry industry has been increasing, as it has within society as a whole,” says David Stevens, Chief Executive of the TSA. “This survey will help the industry to lead the way and continue with the work it’s already doing by setting a benchmark that it can measure itself against in the future.”

The survey will run until for several weeks. The results will then be analysed, and preliminary findings will be presented at the National Congress of the TSA on the 10th November, to be held at the Marriott Forest of Arden Hotel & Country Club. The survey is completely anonymous and will only be analysed on an industry basis. The information will remain private and no other companies or organisations will be given access to it.

The survey can be found here and further information can be found on the TSA’s website.

If you have any queries, please do not hesitate to get in touch with us either via email or phone: 

E tsa@tsa-uk.org

T +44 (0) 20 3151 5600

Christeyns launches sustainable water technology in partnership with Veride

6 October 2021

In a joint venure with engineering company Veride, hygiene chemical specialist Christeyns launches HydRO, a new technology to help professional laundries reduce fresh water consumption.

With growing awareness and responsibility around water use and water quality and stricter effluent regulations coming into force in several European countries, water and wastewater management practices are of the upmost importance in the commerical laundry sector.  HydRO technology is expected to play a vital role in decreasing the environmental impact of industrial washing and contribute in lower water-related costs for customers.

Typically four to ten litres of water are used per kg linen in an industrial laundry setting, HydRO can reduce fresh water consumption by at least 80%. In combination with effective rainwater collection, the technology enables the reduction of fresh water consumption to only 0.5 litre per kg of linen.

“Empowering our customers to massively reduce their water consumption and effluent bills, to save energy and reduce their CO2 impact significantly, that’s what this partnership with Veride is all about,” comments Alain Bostoen, CEO Christeyns.

The joint venture offers a modular system for water recovery, treatment and recycling, collecting polluted streams of wastewater from the washhouse to purify and reuse it. In short, a closed-loop water supply reclaiming at least 80% of the process water and transforming it into fresh water with all substances such as micro-plastics, heavy metals and bacteria filtered out.

“As water recycling presents a huge opportunity for the laundry industry, we need to redefine water management for sustainable growth.  We look forward to offering our customers this new technology which will have a positive impact across all aspects of their business,” adds Christeyns UK Engineering Manager Peter Jackson.

This water-saving system is a plug-and-play solution delivered in container units customised to target wastewater quantity. The HydRO technology makes all additional treatment such as iron removal, softening, reverse osmosis and wastewater treatment obsolete. In addition, a heat-exchanger is no longer required as the reclaimed water has a temperature of 40°C.

HydRO will be the latest addition to Christeyns’ Engineering portfolio, driving innovation in the laundry arena across the UK and Ireland. Veride and Christeyns co-own the brand, each having a 50% stake. The HydRO technology has already been implemented in over 10 industrial laundries in the BeNeLux with great success and will now be available in the UK.

For further information visit:

www.christeyns.com/hydro