Protecting staff and customers as SA battles third wave

Amid the looting, unrest and extensive destruction of property in certain areas of SA recently, it’s easy to forget that SA remains in the grips of the third wave of Covid-19 infections with a high rate of hospital admissions, particularly in Gauteng.

While the rollout of the Covid-19 vaccination programme is encouraging, and vaccines help to prevent hospitalisations and severe disease in most people, they may not necessarily rid the world of the virus.

Health experts had predicted that herd immunity to Covid-19 would be reached once vaccination rates were more than 60%. However, there is a growing realisation that the virus may continue to be part of our lives for some time, even once 60% or more of the population are vaccinated.

That means whether we’ve been fully vaccinated or not we will need to keep adhering to the recommended safety protocols, including wearing face masks when in public, maintaining social distance from others, and regularly washing hands with soap or water, or sanitising hands and surfaces when soap and water are not available.

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The virus will continue to challenge businesses, and purchases of reputable and safe sanitisers for customers and employees will be a regular budgetary item. The challenge, however, is to avoid the many fly-by-nights, and sometimes even unsafe sanitising products, that have started to appear in the market in the past 18 months.

Infection Protection Products, an SA company that pioneered the first trolley wipes to the market in 2006, has long focused on health and safety. The development of trolley wipes was as a result of research showing that shopping trolleys are a breeding ground for bacteria, posing a particular risk for infants, children and the elderly.

Manufactured with a trusted disinfectant solution, Sani-touch trolley wipes offer an effective alternative to handwashing when soap and water is not available. Instantly recognisable by the patented red catch at the top of the bucket, Sani-touch wipes are easily distinguishable from other products creeping into the marketplace.

Sani-touch’s medical-grade sanitisers and wipes are trusted products used by healthcare services such as the SA National Blood Services, hospitals and clinics, and retail, hospitality and catering industries.

A high grade of ethanol, an organic and natural by-product of plant fermentation, is used in the Sani-touch range. All products are produced in an ISO-certified medical manufacturing facility with many products bearing SABS marks, meaning the products are independently audited and adhere to all the specifications.

Sani-touch’s range of medical-grade sanitisers and wipes, including the trolley wipes, passed the coronavirus EU 14476 test, a European Standard test proving their efficacy against the coronavirus. The tests were conducted by an internationally accredited UKAS testing laboratory.

Sani-touch has always met the alcohol requirements for hand sanitisers with products labelled according to SA labelling requirements, as well as making sure customers have clear and accurate information for peace of mind when they use its products.

Less scrupulous manufacturers, however, have not always followed the same stringent protocols of compliance and quality standards. The rush for hand sanitisers in the early days of the pandemic and countrywide shortages resulted in questionable sanitiser suppliers emerging, many of whom made included harmful ingredients and used inadequate quantities of alcohol. Many of the new pre-saturated wipe and sanitiser suppliers have even added fraudulent certification marks on their product packaging.

Business owners doing their best to protect their staff and customers will need to ensure they are not associated with substandard sanitisers. To avoid these potentially unsafe products, check the labelling requirements, alcohol content and certifications. Avoid unknown brand names and insist on trusted brands from reputable manufacturers. 

This article was paid for by Sani-touch.