Evaluation of dishwashing machines in four hospitals.
Fifteen dishwashing machines tested in four different hospitals failed to satisfy the minimum heat treatment requirement of 82 degrees C for 2 min for satisfactory thermal disinfection. The causes of failure included design faults in the machines with lack of time temperature controls, hard water supply, inadequately treated water, improper softening and inadequate preventative maintenance.
D013293:Enterococcus faecalis / Q000254:growth & development; D004866:Equipment Contamination / Q000517:prevention & control; D004865:Equipment and Supplies, Hospital / Q000592:standards*; D005521:Food Service, Hospital / Q000592:standards*