NEWS ROUND-UP
Safety Chair diversifies to offer top-flight PPE
An international risk business specialising in safe evacuation from tall buildings as a result of fire or terrorist incidents has been assisting the NHS in procuring vital personal protection equipment (PPE) from around the world through its own extensive supply chain.
While London-based Safety Chair has not witnessed a reduction in demand for its core evacuation chairs and sleighs, its accompanying training offering has taken a drop in demand as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“The training aspect requires immersive training which can’t really be carried out properly at a social distance when you’re showing people how to safely get someone out of a building using our equipment – it certainly can’t be done through online training,” said Nick Cox, National Account Manager for Safety Chair.
“This is the reason why we made the decision to help the NHS during this pandemic by opening up our supply chains in order to source the right PPE.
“We have strong supplier relationships in China where we source many of our chair components, so we have been able to leverage those trusted contacts by reaching out to procure everything from masks, goggles, face shields, overalls and thermometers.
“This worked well because they depend upon us for their business and wanted to build stronger partnerships for the future based upon the collaboration.
“So far we have provided tens of thousands of items at a cost of around £3 million.”
The company, whose core business is to provide manual and motorised chairs to different specifications and sectors, including retail, has provided the essential PPE into the NHS supply chain, but also to specific NHS and Ambulance Trusts in Grimsby, Humberside and Hull.
“It’s been a lot of work – there was up to a three-week lead time for many products - but we have been able to secure the correct specifications for equipment.
“At the height of the crisis there were a lot of other suppliers bringing in equipment that was not fit for purpose which was frustrating and dangerous for those front line workers who were not properly protected,” said Nick.
“A lot of people were being let down as there was a lot of mis-information at the time which made getting the right products into the country problematic.
“However, as the situation has improved, we have been able to re-build confidence and we are now also providing equipment into schools and some private businesses – it is something that we will continue doing for the foreseeable future.”
The business, which has seen an uptake in its ‘training the trainer’ modules to reduce social contact, has also invested in different weighted dummies so that it is able to safely demonstrate its products and reduce risk of infection.
“The dummies will help get the message across to customers that training can be done safely and we have a complete regime for sanitising equipment before and after the sessions."
