Sectors

Manufacturing

There are two types of industrial facility one which handles organic and one that handles inorganic goods and they both possess vastly different hazards. Facilities that handle organic goods are much more prone to microbial hazards whereas facilities that handle inorganic products are more likely to encounter pollutants which could lead to respiratory problems such as asthma. UV systems have no real effect on nonmicrobial causes of these respiratory problems however if the problems are caused by any microbe or allergen then the UV system will be able to remove them from the air.

Dust particles in the air can contain chemicals and microbes which can cause the lungs to inflame this is because they have Immunotoxic properties. Many more diseases are spread through the air in all types of industrial facility. This is usually due to lack of poor air filtration and sterilisation methods employed in the facility.

Some measures that could be put in place are improved air filtration systems which will help remove dust particles etc from the air, there will have to be an increase in the air distribution as higher MERV value filters reduce the total efficiency and air distribution of the HVAC system. The use of UVGI Systems within the HVAC system and on key components within the HVAC systems will ensure that airflow is kept at a maximum and the microbes are removed from circulation. The use of more localised air recirculation systems may also pay dividend as biocontamination will be removed swiftly without the contaminated air coming into contact with workers.

Food

In the food industry, there are many serious types of human health hazard that can arise in food processing: food borne pathogens, spoilage microbes, microbial allergens, food allergens, added to which, we now have the health threat of Covid -19…

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Agriculture

Agricultural facilities pose a wide variety of microbial hazards some of which include, infectious diseases from animals, allergies to animal dander, food stuffs and from mould spores in the air.

Any indoor animal facility potentially possesses higher levels of airborne microbes than any other indoors environment. Many animal pathogens are able to be transferred to humans through air. These pathogens can often cause respiratory problems for people who become infected. Some farmers may inhale up to 75,000 spores per minute when working around hay stores.

Natural ventilation is often abundant, but to help agricultural facilities, mechanical ventilation combined with our UVGI systems will drastically reduce the risk of microbes being transmitted to workers. Upper room systems and after-hours agricultural sterilisation of food stores and storage facilities will benefit greatly as microbes that live on the food will be removed, which in turn reduces risk to workers.

Transport

All modes of transport can be a platform for some sort of microbial hazard from people being crammed into a train, to the microbes that someone on an aeroplane will come into contact with. Transport is a key place where transmission of microbes can take place. The risk of transmission is not only high due to many people being in such close contact it is the length of time that they are so close.

Aircraft are one of the most likely places for microbes and pathogens to be transmitted this is due to the crowded nature of the aircraft and the normally lengthy duration of the time that they are on the craft. It is also one of the main ways that diseases are transported across borders. In a typical aeroplane they use air filters which have a similar capability to MERV-13 filter. These filters on their own will reduced the number of microbes in the air but viruses and smaller microbes can fit through still. If these filters were to be coupled with our UV-C technology, this would allow people on the plane to breath cleaner air which will help to reduce the risk of transmission.

Trains and buses especially crowded ones are also a focal point for the transmission of illness as there is little ventilation already in place meaning microbes and fungal spores can remain in the air for up to 3 hours. Our technology when installed in the current inefficient air redistribution system will massively increase the purity of the air which helps to further reduce the risk of transmission

Utilities

Most microbes associated with sewage and waste are water borne or food borne pathogens and workers in these facilities are subject to many health hazards due to these microbes. Air borne hazards only exist due to the aerosolisation of these microbial pathogens which is an unavoidable consequence of handling waste. Many of these pathogens can create respiratory problems and illnesses for the workers at these facilities.

The most effective way to reduce transmission is to reduce the number of microbes that are in the waste, our technology could be used to sterilise the waste as it enters the facility before it comes into contact with any workers creating a safer working environment from the start of the process.

The use of our systems within the HVAC system and on key components within the HVAC systems will ensure that all microbes are removed from the air flow before the air is recirculated which will help to promote a healthier working environment.
Out of hours systems would also prove extremely useful as they can be left on overnight when nobody is working to disinfect the whole facility ready for the next working day.

Education

Education facilities are the focal point of disease transmission, this is due to the repeated close encounters between students and teachers. This interaction can cause a rapid rate of the infection spreading as students visit home and potentially give the disease to parents…

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Hospitals, Dentists, GP surgeries

Hospitals are one the most likely places that someone will contract an illness this is due to an extremely high concentration of harmful microbes in the air and on the surfaces as a result of lots of people with poor health being in the same area. There are many different types of applications for our technology dependant on where it is needed withing the hospital.

First there are the general areas of the hospital where there are many people with illnesses, these patients can release microbes into the air via the human aerosol, as a result of installing our air sterilisation technology, our system would be extremely useful in keeping the ventilation systems and the air itself free from nearly all pathogens. Lower and Upper room systems would also be very effective when it comes to sterilising the floor and any other places that can harbour microbes but suitable clothing must be worn as the UV-C light can affect skin if not properly covered. Surface sterilisation methods would only be able to be used in certain instances for example, a patient leaves the area where they were staying, this would have to sterilised in order to prevent any unnecessary illness.

Another area in hospitals that would benefit from our technology is operating theatres, as these are the places in hospitals that need to be as sterile as possible, as open wounds can become easily infected, meaning if there are any harmful microbes in the air in the operating room it could cause death. Our air sterilisation system is extremely efficient at disinfecting the air while also keeping air flow at a maximum in order to disinfect the air more times per hour. We can also offer technology which will sterilise the surrounding hall ways in order to make the environment as sterile as possible.

Covid-Secure Dental Practices

Dental practices have a number of infection hazards that can manifest themselves, these are associated with their professional activities. These hazards are all well-known and all of which are perfectly manageable, safely. That was the case until this year when the Coronavirus struck. Covid-19 is behaving almost identically to its coronavirus fore-runner, SARS, which broke out 20 years ago, except it is much more contagious.

Dental studios carry both types of risk: a) surface contamination and b) airborne contamination. Patients who may be carrying the virus wait in a reception area, but even with management processes in terms of separation, infected people (unknown to them) will touch surfaces and inhale/exhale the air in the waiting room. Several people in that typical space, often unventilated, will produce higher volumes of aerosol which can potentially be carrying deadly pathogens such as covid-19. These risks only compound throughout the day due to microbes still being airborne 3 hours after they were first ejected into the air.

The Practice Room, will have a very high aerosol load by the very nature of the work undertaken by the dentist. Patients will undertake a variety of actions that will add to aerosol, from rinsing, spitting, and coughing to those more anxious patients that add more through heavy breathing, creating more viral risk from the human aerosol which can be airborne in the room for 3 hours. This is a contamination hazard to the staff and subsequent patients. Risk can be reduced though.

Dental Practices need to remain open, but they can’t do this by seeing only one patient potentially every 3 hours, its just not economically viable. Dentists need to be much more rigorous in reducing the risk of transmission to themselves, their employees and their patients. In order to do this a dentist can employ a few different strategies, each with varying levels of success.

They could perform a simple wipe down of surfaces after each client, but this has a minor effect on the risk of transmission because the WHO has confirmed in July 2020, that Covid-19 is still transmitted via the air. Wiping will mitigate surface contamination though, to a degree.

The next mitigate that some are undertaking, is to wipe and install a so-called,”air purifier”. The use of air purifiers will help to mitigate only a small amount of the risk of transmission, being able to remove larger dust particles and larger microbes. However, this will not remove the smaller dehydrated microbes from the air and these are the ones which can cause serious illness. Even the best medical grade Hepa Filters only filter down to 3 microns, many viruses, including coronavirus can be as small at 1 micron. This is why Germicidal UV-C was used to beat MRSA in hospitals almost 20 years ago.

The final and most effective method is indeed, to use germicidal UV-C light for surface and air sterilisation. PP-L is on the Government’s Covid Response Key Supplier List, Classified under Medical, and their world class surface sterilisation solution is able to sterilise a 25sqm room in 15-20 mins (between patients) making it completely safe to use for the next client and staff members when deployed in conjunction with their UV-C air sterilisation systems. These systems can run constantly and safely with staff and patients in the room. These are low-cost solutions, literally only costing pennies per hour of use. This most potent non-chemical solution is the safest methodology available for patients to undertake treatment and staff to work in a dental practice.

Hotels

Hotels and dormitories are often different from home and apartments as they are usually smaller and most of the time do not have a direct air supply. They usually have individual air condition units in each room. This lack of air flow can allow microbes to stay airborne for up to three hours which can cause occupants in their room to contact an illness.

Hotel and Dormitory rooms can all be retrofitted with our technology which help to increase the air flow in the room but also removed any microbes that are found within the air itself. In unoccupied room our technology will be able to kill any microbes that are within its rage as unoccupied rooms tend to have high levels of fungi growing on surfaces such as carpets chairs and bed sheets, this technology will kill nearly all microbes in a matter of minutes. This coupled with our air sterilisation technology will ensure that rooms are kept as clean and microbe free as possible.

Restaurants and Pubs

Both restaurants and pubs face remarkably similar problems by the fact that nearly all the microbes that are brought inside by customers wanting to get something to drink or eat. This can cause a major problem as these places constantly have people coming in and out. This means that the risk of infection is high as each space my not be able to get sanitised in between new customers coming in and potentially contracting any illness.

Our technology when installed in HVAC systems will be able to keep key components of the HVAC clean and microbe free and deliver efficient air cleaning solutions. This will greatly reduce the risk of transmission within restaurants and pubs. The other way that people could contract an illness is due to surface contamination as fungi and microbes are prone to festering on surfaces especially fabric. Our surface decontamination technology will be able to sterilise all surfaces in sight within a matter of minutes, meaning if there was a few minutes in between each sitting or a new group of customers coming in all the surfaces will be sterile, allowing customers to feel safe and confident in the fact that the area has been sterilised.

Museums and Libraries

Museums and Libraries both contain vast quantities of books and materials where microbes can live and grow due to the minerals found in the paper and other materials. Over 234 species of microbes have been found on the books in libraries and museums. Any fabrics such as the carpet in a library have the ability to store microbes and they especially promote the growth of fungi. This is a major issue for the area as foot traffic will release the microbes from the carpet and make them airborne.

The technology put in place will be able to sterilise the air as it gets recirculated. Our system will also be able to keep key components of the cooling system sterile and functioning at maximum efficiency. Keeping these key components free from microbes will also stop the further redistribution of the microbes.

Upper Room Systems would also be key for places such as entrances and hall ways where microbes from the outside are brought into the building are removed from circulation as soon as they come into the building.

Shopping Centres and Exhibition Centres

These places are characterised by large indoor spaces with large amounts of people who gather within them. In these buildings’ diseases are transmitted by direct and indirect contact, or by airborne microbes.

In facilities that recirculate air, our technology when installed within the HVAC system and on key components within the HVAC systems will ensure that airflow is kept at a maximum and the microbes are removed from circulation with maximum efficiency.

As these spaces usually have high ceilings they would be ideal spaces for upper room systems to be installed to sterilise air, this would be particularly beneficial in facilities where natural ventilation is used as there is no other productive way for the air to be disinfected. High powered UV systems can also be used for areas that are not in use.

Residential

Residential homes:

People spend most of their lives at home. For families, the home can be the source of most illness due to the lack of effective air sterilisation and redistribution in their homes. When microbes are brought into the home they are allowed to settle on clothing and other fabrics in the house. Some microbes when airborne are able to stay in the air for up to 3 hours if there is no effective air redistribution and sterilisation system in place.

Older homes struggle with the concentration of microbes especially as they only have natural ventilation systems which are wholly ineffective at disrupting the airflow in buildings. Old homes also have separate heating and cooling systems in place which are only used intermittently. This leads to a greater concentration of microbes within the home. Our Technology when installed in older homes will disrupt the stagnant air and will start to sterilise then redistribute the air in the home.

Newer homes often have air distribution systems built into them when they were built but these systems have limited air filtration installed in the system. This leads to a large number of microbes being able to enter the house. Our technologies when applied with a filtering system will be able to remove nearly all microbes from the air as it comes through the air distribution system. Our technology can also sterilise key components of the air distribution systems meaning that they do not harbour any harmful microbes.

In homes there are many places that microbes are able to settle, one key place that microbes settle are fabrics around the house from bed sheets to carpets our surface sterilisation systems will be able to kill pathogens on any surface in sight within a matter of minutes meaning that the homes surfaces can be sterilised reducing the risk of them contracting an illness.

Apartments:

Apartment buildings vary can vary massively in terms of their size and occupancy and many other factors such as their ventilation systems. Many apartments have their own individual air distribution systems. Apartments have the highest concentration of microbes due to more people coming through hallways and bringing potentially harmful microbes into the apartment.

Each apartment needs to have its own air sterilisation technology in place in order to stop the transmission of harmful microbes around the building as this could happen very quickly as lots of people use the same doors in the building to get around. Also, by keeping apartments sterile it further reduces the risk of transmitting thd virus at the persons place of work.

The communal areas in apartment complexes need to be sterilised completely in order to reduce the risk of microbes being transmitted. Our surface sterilisation technology will kill nearly all microbes on all surfaces including fungi in fabrics which can cause many respiratory problems when they release their spores. Our air sterilisation systems will also be able clear the air in these communal areas ensuring that risk of transmission by airborne microbes is massively reduced.