Hygiene expertise made by Miele

Hygiene in the medical device reprocessing room

As well as providing patients with advice and treatment, those working in the medical and dental sectors also have to ensure a high level of practice hygiene as part of their day-to-day tasks. The medical devices used by the doctors and nurses get contaminated in the course of treatment. When it comes to the reprocessing room, there are therefore two important aspects that must be considered from an infection prevention perspective: protecting staff against infectious agents and making disinfected or sterilised medical devices available for the treatment of patients. To ensure success in this regard, reprocessing must be viewed in terms of the entire instrument cycle. The appropriate combination of a washer-disinfector, the associated components and the right process chemicals will help you to achieve the high level of hygiene that is required when reprocessing instruments – and also to maintain it on a long-term basis.

Hygiene in laundry care

In order to protect oneself and others, it is particularly important to subscribe to hygiene rules. Within this context, the proper use of protective clothing is vital. Naturally, it is equally important that protective clothing that has been worn and any potentially contaminated workwear gets disinfected during washing. The proper reprocessing of textiles and personal protective equipment helps in deactivating viruses and in slowing down their spread. By using thermal and thermochemical disinfection programmes, you can always be sure that potentially contaminated textiles are safe to reuse. Employees must not take potentially contaminated workwear and protective apparel home with them for the purpose of washing it there. This is the only way to prevent cross-contamination through contact with private laundry. Proper reprocessing always has to be ensured. Miele Professional washing machines comply with the strict stipulations of national infection control authorities and hygiene associations. When loading and unloading laundry, staff should take precautions – particularly during a pandemic – by wearing protective gloves and a plastic apron over their own workwear, for example.

Hygiene in the kitchen

High standards of hygiene do not just apply when dealing with patients. Even behind the scenes, all involved demand immaculate cleanliness. In this regard, a few simple steps can be taken to help people make more hygienic use of the dishwasher in the break room. For instance, staff should always pay attention to good basic hygiene when unloading clean crockery to avoid the risk of recontamination. In other words, they should wash their hands regularly and always before unloading the dishwasher. National infection control authorities and hygiene associations also recommend only using programmes above 60 °C to ensure a hygienic and disinfecting cleaning effect. In addition, users should always ensure the use of sufficient detergent. As an additional safety measure, we recommend using a cleaning agent that contains bleach.

Miele Professional solutions for doctors' surgeries

Miele Professional solutions for dental practices

Hygiene during central reprocessing

Safe processes and hygiene have a particularly important role to play in instrument reprocessing. It was precisely with this in mind that Miele Professional and Steelco joined forces back in 2017. Since then, customers specialising in the areas of medicine, laboratory work, research and pharmaceuticals have been benefiting from cleaning and hygiene solutions that offer even better quality and higher performance than before. For more information about Steelco solutions for your Central Sterile Supply Department, click here:

Hygiene during decentralised reprocessing

When you have a diverse array of items for reprocessing – primarily in the form of ward utensils such as theatre shoes and baby bottles, but also bedpans – they each impose their own set of reprocessing requirements due to the different ways in which they have been used and the different types of soiling they have accumulated. In order for reprocessing to be hygienic, it is absolutely essential that these individual requirements are met. Miele Professional offers exactly the right solutions for this: from washer-disinfectors and small sterilisers through to specialised modules and programmes intended for this very purpose.

Hygiene when handling hospital laundry

Protecting patients is the top priority at hospitals. And adopting appropriate hygiene precautions can definitely help with this. Laundry that comes into contact with patients is subject to various guidelines and policies set by the relevant health authorities. Potentially contaminated laundry may pose risks. Depending on the risk classification, either a thermochemical or thermal disinfecting washing process must be used as a minimum. To avoid carry-over, barrier machines with a clean and an unclean side are recommended – in fact, in some countries, they are obligatory. A hygienic working process is one that moves from unclean to clean. Ensuring the laundry is stored dry is another factor that helps ensure good hygiene. This calls for well-coordinated drying processes

In the interests of increased hygiene, personnel should – under current circumstances – wear protective equipment such as gloves, an apron over their workwear and a suitable face mask. Potentially contaminated workwear and protective apparel must remain within the laundry area at all times and should never be taken home to be washed there.

Hygiene in the hospital kitchen

Hospital patients are usually frail and in particular need of protection – which is also an important factor when washing items at the hospital. This makes it all the more important that patients only come into contact with hygienically clean crockery or other utensils, such as medication cups. In this way, they can be kept safe from food-related infections. National infection control authorities and hygiene associations also recommend only using programmes above 60 °C to ensure a hygienic and disinfecting cleaning effect. In addition, users should always ensure the use of sufficient detergent. As an additional safety measure, we recommend using a cleaning agent that contains bleach.

Hygiene through air purification

Clean air has always played an important role and not just because of the coronavirus pandemic. Indoor air can not only get contaminated by airborne infectious agents but also by pollen, fine dust or unpleasant odours, for example. On the basis of special filtration techniques (e.g. Hepa), air purifiers reduce the risk of infections being transmitted by airborne infectious agents while also continuously filtering out other contaminants from the indoor air. This improves the well-being of patients in waiting areas, and provides them with additional protection.

Miele Professional solutions for doctors' surgeries and clinics

Hygiene in the kitchenette

Crockery, cups, glasses and carafes can easily pile up in your office or agency kitchenette. In any place where lots of people congregate, it is very important to ensure that the items they use get washed hygienically – for the benefit of your customers and your own employees alike. Why? The answer is easy: for the sake of protecting people and keeping them safe. In this regard, a few simple steps can be taken to help people make more hygienic use of the dishwasher in the break room. For instance, staff should always pay attention to good basic hygiene when unloading clean crockery to avoid the risk of recontamination. In other words, they should wash their hands regularly and always before unloading the dishwasher. In addition, users should always ensure the use of sufficient detergent. As an additional safety measure, we recommend using a cleaning agent that contains bleach.

Miele Professional solutions for offices and agencies

Hygiene in laundry care

Cleanliness is the watchword in the hotel and restaurant trade. Ensuring the hygienic cleanliness of laundry – such as towels, bed linen, tablecloths, and serviettes – is absolutely essential. Particularly in light of how the laundry is constantly changing hands from one guest to another, establishments need washing processes that not only remove heavy soiling but also kill pathogenic viruses. This is important for many reasons – not least because of the need to comply with the instructions that the health authorities issue in particular cases.

Hygiene in the kitchen

Whether it be in a restaurant, a school canteen or a nursery, you always have to be able to count on hygiene! These are places where lots of different adults and children congregate. Care must be taken to ensure that all items are hygienically clean so that everyone can enjoy their food without any problems. In this regard, a few simple steps can be taken to help people make more hygienic use of the dishwasher in the break room. For instance, staff should always pay attention to good basic hygiene when unloading clean crockery to avoid the risk of recontamination. In other words, they should wash their hands regularly and always before unloading the dishwasher. National infection control authorities and hygiene associations also recommend only using programmes above 60 °C to ensure a hygienic and disinfecting cleaning effect. In addition, users should always ensure the use of sufficient detergent. As an additional safety measure, we recommend using a cleaning agent that contains bleach.

Miele Professional solutions for hotels and guesthouses

Miele Professional solutions for restaurants and catering

Miele Professional solutions for schools and nurseries

Hygiene when washing cleaning textiles

Through their cleaning and disinfection work, contract cleaners play a huge part in helping to prevent infection – particularly in areas where hygiene is crucial, such as hospitals, grocery shops or community facilities. This is because surfaces that are touched frequently carry an increased risk of transmitting infectious agents, which can enter the mucous membranes and cause infection. Door and window handles, light switches, banister rails and lift buttons are all typical examples of such contact surfaces. In such cases, wipe disinfection ensures a higher level of protection. However, this depends on the cleaning textiles having been professionally disinfected in the washing machine in the first place. This prevents clinically relevant microorganisms from multiplying. And special wash programmes can certainly help in this regard.
All Miele Professional MopStar machines feature numerous disinfection programmes in accordance with the stipulations of European infection control authorities and hygiene associations. In addition, these programmes incorporate further safety standards, such as a function for monitoring temperature control, thereby ensuring the safety of your cleaning textiles when they come out of the machine. We will be happy to provide evidence of this in the form of a hygiene certificate.

Miele Professional solutions for facility management

Hygiene when washing protective clothing

The protection of fire and rescue personal is one of the key aims when washing their protective clothing to make it hygienically clean. Whenever they go out on an operation, there is a risk of their protective clothing getting contaminated by pathogens (germs that cause illness). Consequently, the priorities when washing the clothing are to remove the dirt that has got trapped in the fibres and to avoid contamination. For this reason, fire and rescue clothing should be disinfected and, where applicable, treated with a proofing agent when it is washed. Treatment with a proofing agent stops contaminants from adhering to the fabric as much. Using special thermochemical wash programmes for this ensures clean results. The final stage of any hygienic wash cycle is the drying process. Within this context, it is important to ensure that the clothing is not stored while still damp.

Hygiene when reprocessing reusable breathing masks and air regulators

Hygiene can sometimes be a matter of life and death, and so can selecting a reprocessing method that is appropriate for the type of material concerned – e.g. for the essential equipment that fire and rescue personnel use to protect themselves. Personal protective equipment, such as breathing masks and air regulators, comes into direct contact with bodily fluids but is not allocated to a particular individual. This means it is shared by different people and must be hygienically reprocessed before it can be reused. What's more, the breathing apparatus comes into contact with soot and other harmful substances (e.g. polycyclical aromatic hydrocarbons) during operations. It is absolutely essential to remove all traces of this soiling. To achieve the required level of cleanliness, you can use dishwashers that have been specially kitted out to handle these applications in conjunction with thermochemical wash programmes and tumble dryers with special holders for breathing masks.

Miele Professional solutions for fire brigades and emergency services