TSA Joins Forces with FTA to Address PPE Repair & Maintenance

The Textile Service Association (TSA) has warned employers that thousands of UK workers are at risk from inadequately maintained and cared for PPE (Personal Protective Equipment).

The Covid-19 pandemic has seen a huge increase in the amount of PPE required across several industry sectors. However, many employees are responsible for washing and maintaining the PPE provided to them and the TSA states that care of textile-based PPE and workwear needs to be better understood.  While some employers provide laundry rooms for employees to maintain PPE many of these lack the right processes and materials to effectively care for the items. Many employees are taking their PPE home and washing them in domestic washing machines, which again, the TSA says is inadequate in terms of the controls needed to keep to the manufacturer’s requirements for maintaining the PPE.

This coupled with the rise of disposable PPE, predominantly used in the healthcare sector, does not provide a sustainable answer to the issue.  Shyju Skariah, Technical Services Manager at the TSA said: “What’s important is that the PPE is cared for properly and that this care is logged for traceability and to manage its quality throughout its life.”

Keen to address the issue the TSA has joined forces with the FTA to provide a TSA PPE Workwear Repair Training course. This 1 to 2 day training offering will inform employers on; the maintenance of PPE, supplier responsibilities of a laundry to maintain compliance, PPE regulations, sustainability and recycling.

FTA tutor Ana will be heading up the training she said: “I am so pleased to be involved in this innovative new training with the TSA. Anything that helps sustainability and best practices has to be good for us all. I look forward to starting the courses in January 2022.”

Fashion-Enter Ltd (FTA) CEO Jenny Holloway added: “Since the beginning of the pandemic (March 2020) we have been heavily involved with the production of PPE for the NHS as well as working with the Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust to create sustainable isolation gowns that can be recycled. Working on this new training programme with the TSA feels like a natural progression and it is incredibly important that the garments are maintained and cared for to ensure that they retain their protective properties. The FTA team and I are pleased to deliver this training course to employers in the coming months.”