COVID-19: Hand Sanitiser – Restricting Restrictions
As soon as the government announced that good hand hygiene helps in the fight against coronavirus, sales of hand sanitiser hit the roof and the country has been out of stock ever since. So much so, that there were reports of visitors stealing this precious commodity from hospitals across the country.
To help tackle this demand, stockists have been limiting and monitoring supply to try and prevent bulk buyers, and online retailers – such as Amazon – have taken extreme action to penalise re-sellers trying to profiteer on the situation.
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) – the UK’s independent regulator of health and safety at work – has also taken steps to support the production of hand sanitiser in the UK by providing derogations to assist the UK manufacture of biocidal hand-sanitiser products that use propanol as their active ingredient.
Granting a temporary exemption, manufacturers producing biocidal hand sanitiser products containing Propan-2-ol will no longer be required to obtain product authorisation, if adhering to the relevant World Health Organisation (WHO) specified formulas.
This temporary exemption has allowed established manufacturers in similar fields to produce and distribute hand sanitiser to a proven global standard, without a lengthy administrative process delaying production.
Our locally produced Harrington hand sanitiser is one such example.
Packaged in easy-to-use 500ml bottles, our hand sanitiser adheres to the international World Health Organization approved formula with 80% ABV in accordance with the latest government regulations – offering a safe and clean sanitary solution to hand hygiene with every squirt.
Speaking on the issue, Dr Richard Daniels, Chemicals Regulation Director of the HSE, said: “It is vital that workers and members of the public are able to protect themselves and others from the spread of Coronavirus. The correct use of safe and effective biocidal hand sanitisers are part of the range of government measures to protect the NHS and UK citizens.
“Amid this national effort, we are working closely with other government agencies, manufacturers and their trade associations to help remove obstacles to the manufacture and supply of safe and effective biocidal hand sanitiser products and reduce supply chain issues.”
For more information, please visit the HSE’s website.