The Cleaning & Hygiene Suppliers Association (CHSA) will be spreading the word about its Accreditation Schemes at the Cleaning Show, joining the British Cleaning Council (BCC) on stand number B30.

Stephen Harrison, Chairman of the Cleaning & Hygiene Suppliers Association said: “We’re delighted to have this opportunity to join the BCC at the Cleaning Show and shout about the benefits of the Accreditation Schemes and the positive impact they are having on standards.”

“Our Accreditation Schemes for Soft Tissue, Plastic Refuse Sacks and Industrial Cotton Mops are recognized as driving up standards,” explained Mike Stubbs, Chairman of the CHSA Accreditation Schemes. “Supported by a rigorous auditing process, they make sure that what’s on the box is in the box.

“This year we launched an Accredited Distributors Scheme and invited all our distributor members to apply for membership. We’re delighted to be able to give them this opportunity to apply for a marque that will signal their commitment to supplying product that can be relied upon to meet the Scheme Standards and the CHSA Code of Practice.”

The Schemes have been incredibly effective at driving up standards in the industry. Although the Schemes improved standards significantly, four years ago the Scheme Management Panels decided to further enhance them. This has resulted in even greater compliance. The Soft Tissue manufacturers are now achieving near 100% compliance, with members of the Plastic Refuse Sack and Industrial Cotton Mop Schemes achieving similar conformance. As a result, the CHSA is being called in by procurers to check the product before they buy.

Gaining admittance to one of the CHSA’s Accreditation Schemes is challenging. Applicants must pass the initial audit of their product range and existing quality assurance processes conducted by the CHSA’s independent inspector, Martin Yates.  They are then audited frequently throughout the first year to ensure they maintain the standard that is required of them to maintain membership of one of the Schemes.

Thereafter members are visited by the Independent Inspector repeatedly through each year, product being selected from both the warehouse and production line for inspection.