Tarkett said it will share its longstanding expertise on flooring with Clean Hospitals’ working groups and will contribute to advance research on cleaning and infection control protocols on flooring within hospitals. Tarkett has developed more than 70 years of experience in health care: today, one hospital out of two in Europe is equipped with Tarkett flooring, according to the company.
Clean Hospitals aims to increase patient safety and raise awareness on the importance of hospital environmental hygiene. Led by professor Didier Pittet, World Health Organization expert from the faculty of medicine of Geneva University Hospitals (Switzerland), Clean Hospitals is a not-for profit association that brings together the industry, members of academia, hospitals, governmental bodies and key stakeholders from various countries.
“Healthcare-associated infections and antimicrobial resistance are two key issues in health care facilities, which have been exacerbated by the Covid-19 crisis,” said Fabrice Barthélemy, Tarkett’s CEO. “Joining the Clean Hospitals network is an important step to support the health care community. We will contribute to accelerate the adoption of the best hospital floor cleaning protocols that respect people’s health and the environment. The collaborative and scientific approach of Clean Hospitals with a strong focus on patients’ lives and health care workers’ safety fully meets Tarkett human-conscious design commitment.
Supporting the health care community through “Tarkett Human-Conscious Design” approach
For decades, Tarkett has been committed to developing innovative flooring solutions with people in mind: patients, medical staff and cleaners. In 2013, Tarkett made the decision to move away from using antimicrobials on its floors and instead to promote high standards of cleaning and infection control procedures with an appropriate use of disinfectants. This pioneering move was based on the risk inherent with the overuse of antimicrobials, potentially leading to antimicrobial resistance. Through the partnership, Tarkett’s goal is to develop and deploy the best cleaning and disinfection protocols with the minimum impact on human health, the environment and biodiversity by limiting the overuse of biocides and disinfectants.
Clean Hospitals and Tarkett: a collaborative approach to raise standards
The Covid-19 crisis has provided strong evidence of the important role of cleaners in health care facilities to stringently follow cleaning protocols. Clean Hospitals’ goal is to raise industry standards and increase the visibility of environmental hygiene in patient care through an evidence-based approach. Ultimately, these improvements in environmental hygiene are expected to benefit public health by lowering rates of health care-associated infections and reducing antimicrobial resistance.
“The great achievement of Clean Hospitals is to be able to make people work together to make the best and most appropriate decisions,” Pittet said. “This sharing of experience and knowledge is unique and is key. Working together with our stakeholders allows us to react as a network when there is an identified need to create awareness, look at research, new innovations, methods and support training and education. This initiative commits to make health care facilities safer through strengthening and streamlining health care environmental hygiene. Clean Hospitals is happy to welcome Tarkett. This collaboration will bring a different expertise area within the group and we know that the difference is a wealth.”