Paris, July 10, 2020 - Tarkett, a worldwide leader in innovative flooring and sports surface solutions, announces joining the Clean Hospitals network to contribute to improve hospital hygiene and to promote effective, sustainable and evidence-based cleaning guidelines.
With millions of patients1 affected by nosocomial2 infections worldwide each year, many of which are avoidable, 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 which brings together the industry, members of academia, hospitals, governmental bodies, and key stakeholders from various countries.
Tarkett has developed more than 70 years of experience in healthcare: today, one hospital out of two in Europe is equipped with Tarkett flooring. Tarkett 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.
Fabrice Barthélemy, Tarkett’s CEO, said: “Healthcare-associated infections and antimicrobial resistance are two key issues in healthcare facilities, which have been exacerbated by the Covid-19 crisis. Joining the Clean Hospitals network is an important step to support the healthcare 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 healthcare workers’ safety fully meets Tarkett human-conscious design commitment.”
Pr Pittet: “The great achievement of Clean Hospitals is to be able to make people work together to make the best and most appropriate decisions. 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 healthcare facilities safer through strengthening and streamlining healthcare 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.”
Supporting the healthcare 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 took 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 healthcare 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 healthcare-associated infections and reducing antimicrobial resistance.
About Tarkett
With a history of 140 years, Tarkett is a worldwide leader in innovative flooring and sports surface solutions, with net sales of €3 billion in 2019. Offering a wide range of products including vinyl, linoleum, rubber, carpet, wood, laminate, artificial turf and athletics tracks, the Group serves customers in over 100 countries across the globe. Tarkett has 12,500 employees and 33 industrial sites, and sells 1.3 million square meters of flooring every day, for hospitals, schools, housing, hotels, offices, stores and sports fields. Committed to change the game with circular economy, the Group has implemented an eco-innovation strategy based on Cradle to Cradle® principles, with the ultimate goal of contributing to people’s health and wellbeing, and preserving natural capital. Tarkett is listed on Euronext Paris (compartment B, ISIN: FR0004188670, ticker: TKTT) and is included in the following indices: SBF 120 and CAC Mid 60. www.tarkett.com.
About Clean Hospitals
Clean Hospitals is a coalition of international stakeholders who work explicitly to promote Healthcare Hygiene. This initiative was born from a lack of strong guidance for environmental hygiene, missing awareness and the need for a whole sector to improve healthcare environmental hygiene. Clean Hospitals seeks to harness the collective strengths of industry, academia, hospitals, governmental bodies and key stakeholders in order to collaborate across disciplines and interest groups. We aim to use the knowledge and momentum generated by our research and working groups to raise industry standards and increase the visibility of the hospital environment in patient care. Although the hospital environment tends to be one of the most understudied and underfunded areas in healthcare, there is enough literature in the field to prove that a well-maintained patient environment is crucial for preventing the spread of healthcare-associated infections and antimicrobial resistance. Beyond patients, hospital environment hygiene also has a direct impact on the lives of the people working in the hospitals, as well as a broader impact on communities and the environment. The improvements in hospital environmental hygiene will benefit public health by lowering rates of healthcare-associated infections, reducing antimicrobial resistance, and protecting hospital staff as well as the larger environment. https://cleanhospitals.com/
Press contacts
Tarkett - Véronique Bouchard Bienaymé - communication@tarkett.com
Brunswick - tarkett@brunswickgroup.com - Tel.: +33 (0) 1 53 96 83 83
Clean Hospitals - Florence Kuijl - florence.kuijl@cleanhospitals.com – Tel: +33.767.84.83.07.
Investor Relations contact
Tarkett – Emilie Megel – emilie.megel@tarkett.com
1 Source : https://www.who.int/gpsc/country_work/gpsc_ccisc_fact_sheet_en.pdf
2 Nosocomial diseases, or healthcare associated infection, refer to diseases contracted by patients at the hospital
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