How to prevent contamination with an industrial laundry service

There are a number of industries where employees handle contaminants and hazardous materials on a daily basis. These sectors often have a range of safety precautions and protective equipment to carry out daily duties and prevent contamination to individuals and the wider community. Contaminants come in many forms including chemicals such as bleach, nitrogen and pesticides to biological factors such as harmful toxins and microbes.

Getting the balance right when handling contaminants is critical for protecting employees, workplaces and the environment, and ensuring no contact is made with these materials outside of a controlled setting is crucial to prevent contamination on a broader scale.

The hazards of working with contaminants

In a job that handles any contaminant, there is an element of risk to an individual, the environment and potentially others around you. Without adequate precautions in the workplace, the hazards that individuals face could affect both short-term and long-term health. The type of issues that occur depend on the substances or toxins handled but specific materials can cause anything from skin complaints including burns, rashes and infections to more severe cases of long-term exposure such as cancer.

Without careful consideration about contamination, other people and surrounding environments can also be affected by your actions. For example, something as simple as taking home dirty laundry that has come into contact with hazardous substances can quickly spread to other members of your family, and repeated contamination could affect the health of the people closest to you.

How to prevent contamination

If your business handles contaminants in any form, ensuring employees safely handle and safeguard themselves from exposure is an essential business process. There are many resources such as this blog on Silica exposure, that highlight different types of contaminants and how to prevent issues while working in commercial environments.

There are several common ways to minimise the risk of contamination to individuals and work environments including:

• Wearing protective gloves and washing hands thoroughly after handling hazardous materials
• Ensuring adequate safety equipment and clothing is worn at all times
• Using a commercial laundry service to wash contaminated clothing
• Destroy any clothing or equipment that cannot be decontaminated

The benefits of using a professional commercial laundry service

An effective way to prevent contamination is to use a commercial laundry service to clean employees clothing. At phs Besafe, our laundry service uses a unique washing process to ensure your employees are safeguarded at work plus it reduces the risk of spreading any harmful substances by preventing employees taking uniform or protective clothing home to wash themselves. Alongside a hygienic clean, garments are gently laundered to ensure the longevity of the material, which also helps to maintain the quality of high visibility clothing. If your business requires careful destruction of contaminated clothing, we can also collect garments from your premises to discard of it safely.



If you’re looking to prevent the risk of contamination in your work environment, contact us on 0121 521 1400 to find out about our professional nationwide laundry service.