Consortium of energy companies manufactures 20,000 reusable visors for NHS Scotland

A consortium made up of Total, Shell, Baker Hughes and The Net Zero Technology Centre (NZTC) has delivered the first batch of 20,000 reusable face shield visors for NHS Greater Glasgow & Clyde and NHS Grampian to help protect its front-line workers during the COVID-19 crisis.

The face shield visors are the result of a collaboration between these energy companies and the NHS to quickly develop and deploy a reusable face shield to help provide front-line NHS staff essential personal protective equipment. The project is co-funded by Total, Shell, Baker Hughes and the NZTC.

Total, Shell, Baker Hughes and the NZTC worked with NHS Greater Glasgow & Clyde and NHS Grampian to ensure that the face shield visors are safe and comfortable for NHS staff, easy to disassemble for disinfection purposes and cost effective.

The reusable visors developed by the consortium can be sterilised and reused by NHS staff. Not only does this reduce waste, but it also enables the NHS more consistent availability of this essential PPE.

Through some great teamwork, the consortium were able to develop this reusable face shield visor concept, with the injection mould for this design being available for other companies to utilise immediately to manufacture this essential PPE.

The consortium worked to improve original designs for a face visor. Design improvements include:

• Modification of the transparent sheet to improve splash protection;
• Simplifying the mechanism to attach the laminate sheet to the headband in order to ease disassembly for disinfection purposes;
• Testing and approving more cost-effective materials, which maintain safety standards but improve comfort for the wearer.

Margaret Connolly, Assistant Chief Nurse, Governance & Regulation, NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde said:

“We’ve been looking for a more sustainable solution to single-use visors for staff to use that’s safe and reduces plastic waste. The design of the reusable visor used by single members of staff allows easy cleaning of the visors per NHSGGC infection control guidance.  Staff can write their names on the front of the visors which is a helpful communicate aid to both staff and patients alike.”

Vince Shields, who works at NHS Grampian in their COVID-19 response team, said:

“We enormously appreciate the support from Total, Shell, Baker Hughes and the NZTC at this time. They worked hard to provide visors which meet our needs and their donation is a welcome addition to our core stock of PPE.”