Worksafe Air-hood awarded Innovate UK Grant
The Worksafe Air-Hood has been backed by the UK government to provide a viable solution for the protection of the UK workforce through its Innovate UK award scheme. Through this scheme Worksafe Design will take the final steps to hone the manufacture, gain the appropriate accreditations and make the Air-Hood available to all those in need of protection.
The Innovate UK project is designed to last six months with the main outcome or goal of the project is to develop, certify, mass manufacture, and begin market the WorkSafe Design Air-Hood.
Due to the ongoing global spread of the COVID-19 pandemic, there has been an enormous increase in the need for personal protective equipment against this respiratory virus. Healthcare in its broadest sense is the most obvious first route to concentrate on. In addition to the demand created by COVID-19 in health-protection, stringent government norms regarding operational health and safety, coupled with growing concerns over respiratory illness cases are expected to drive the market globally.
As part of the Innovate application process Worksafe design successfully demonstrated that they can provide effective, low-cost protection through the use of use of the Air-Hood on a large scale, thereby enabling people to work safely and in close proximity to one another. The Air-Hood as well as being much more comfortable and user-friendly than those already on the market it also solves many of the previous barriers preventing widespread adoption and use. The Air-Hood is suitable for applications, including primary healthcare, hospitals, paramedics, ambulance crews, GPs and many other applications including dentist practices, hair salons to name a few.
Worksafe have already built fully functional demonstration units and have made multiple visits to potential Air-Hood users. The demonstrations have received feedback from clinicians, care workers and maintenance sectors which has been extremely positive and Worksafe have letters of support from several organisations. Surgeons and senior infection control officers were really impressed with the Air-Hood’s lightness, quietness, the field of vision and overall virus protection. The Innovate UK grant has given Worksafe the opportunity to bring the Air-Hood to the market quickly so that more people can be protected. For more information on the worksafe Air-Hood just visit the website at https://worksafedesign.com
