N.J. Admin. Code § 8:43G-13.13

Current through Register Vol. 56, No. 21, November 4, 2024

Section 8:43G-13.13 - Laundry supplies and equipment

(a) The hospital shall have on-site an adequate supply, in good repair, of sheets, pillowcases, drawsheets, blankets, towels, washcloths, and scrub suits.

1. All hospitals shall provide laundered scrub suits in the following areas: surgical suites, obstetrical surgical suites, postanesthesia care unit, central services, and those areas as determined by hospital policy.

(b) If the hospital has an in-house laundry, an established protocol shall be followed to reduce the number of bacteria in the fabrics. Equipment and surfaces that come into contact with soiled laundry and clean linen shall be sanitized.

(c) The laundry service shall monitor, and retain documentation for one year, at least the following:

1. Unsafe objects found;

2. Linen supply;

3. Stained linens; and

4. pH. A random sample of all laundry batches from all sources shall be sour tested to ensure neutralization of alkaline residues from built detergents. Sour testing is a test performed to indicate the degree of acidity or alkalinity of linens. Built detergents are a mixture of one or more alkaline detergents that contains not less than 50 percent anhydrous soap (pure soap, free from water). Fabric pH shall be maintained at 7.0 or below after souring when built detergents are used.

N.J. Admin. Code § 8:43G-13.13

Amended by R.1992 d.72, effective 2/18/1992.
See: 23 New Jersey Register 2590(a), 24 New Jersey Register 590(a).
Bacterial monitoring deleted at (c)1.
Amended by R.2004 d.302, effective 8/2/2004.
See: 35 New Jersey Register 2847(a), 35 New Jersey Register 3782(a), 36 New Jersey Register 3538(a).
Rewrote (a) and (c), and recodified former (d) as (c)4.