A South West invention that protects fuel pump users during the Covid-19 pandemic has been rolled out across the United States.
Hatherleigh-based GripHero has seen its nozzle-mounted hand-protection dispenser in use at North America’s convenience store and fuel chain Thorntons.
Installed to reduce the risk of spreading germs, biohazards, chemical or biological contamination, GripHero has allowed Thornton’s forecourts to remain open during the Covid-19 crisis.
Based in Louisville, Kentucky, Thorntons operates over 200 convenience stores across six states including Kentucky, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Tennessee and Florida.
Since the global spread of Covid-19, GripHero has seen exceptionally high demand, resulting in the business doubling production and capacity, with new orders received on four continents.
In April alone, more than 2,000 forecourts worldwide have signed up to GripHero’s offer of free hand-protection dispensers at the fuel pump to protect against avoidable transmission of Covid-19.
SW Covid-19 business stories
Inventor and managing director of GripHero, Oli Yeo said : “We are thrilled that Thorntons is leading the way in North America with GripHero’s award-winning hand-protection solution. Now, more than ever, protecting customers’ health and wellbeing as well as the environment is a top priority, and GripHero uniquely delivers both through its single item hand-protection release solution.
“From the feedback we’re getting, it’s clear that both drivers and forecourts are benefiting as motorists return time and again to fill up and purchase items in-store, safe in the knowledge that their health and wellbeing is Thornton’s number one concern. We see Thorntons as a leader in the US, with many US networks already following in their footsteps.”
By ensuring that hand-protection is available at the point of fuel delivery - GripHero helps to ensure that motorists refuelling their vehicles do not come into contact with hard plastic and metal surfaces where Covid-19 can easily be passed from one driver to another.
GripHero’s patented product range offers the only dispenser in the world permitted to sit on fuel pump handles. GripHero’s award-winning ATEX-Certified anti-static hand-protection material removes all chance of ignition caused by static, enabling the dispensers to be fitted and used in the refuelling zone.
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Globally, GripHero is currently supplied to forecourts which serve over 400,000,000 drivers annually. Further significant domestic and international contracts are under discussion and a number of trials are at an advanced stage with large oil companies and supermarkets in mainland Europe. GripHero’s ‘hand-protection’ are protective covers for the hand.
GripHero has also been producing free protective face shields for frontline NHS staff during the coronavirus pandemic. These will be dispatched to a central collection centre in Sheffield before being distributed to hospitals across the UK.
The business has begun manufacturing and assembling protective face shields using in-house 3D printers, combined with PrusaPrinters’ downloadable face shield design, approved by the Czech Ministry of Health.
The company produced 200 face masks in just four weeks. The PRUSA RC3 face shields are made from Polylactic acid (PLA) material, which provides a strong protection barrier from infectious droplets entering the eyes, nose and mouth of staff.
