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2021.
Liquid glass anti-bug coating ready to protect post-COVID workplace

MEDIA RELEASE

19 May 2021

Image attached: Touchpoint Shield coating magnified 1,1000 times. When applied, the coating is just 5 microns thick, half the width of a human hair.

 

Antimicrobial coating ready to help end workplace lockdown and usher in hybrid future

Property managers can now use an innovative super-tough antimicrobial coating to support the safe reopening of thousands of workplaces shut down during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Laboratory studies and live environment trials have proved Touchpoint Shield to be highly effective against bacteria and viruses, including SARS-CoV-2 which causes COVID-19.

The near-invisible coating, just a few microns thick, has also been shown to reduce key cleaning costs by up to 80% while helping to create the high quality hygienically clean spaces needed to reassure workers and customers.

Thousands of workplaces, including offices, hospitality and leisure venues, and shops, are due to reopen over the summer as the UK's vaccination programme allows the lifting of the pandemic lockdown.

Touchpoint Shield, launched by emergency soft FM cleaning specialist SafeGroup, is designed to provide property management specialists with vital assistance and advantages as they lead this process.

It can also help provide the enhanced hygiene standards expected by employees and customers in the wake of the pandemic, futureproofing new hybrid working arrangements against further hygiene shocks.

Chris Macdonald, SafeGroup's Strategic Business Director, says: "Touchpoint Shield is an exciting new antimicrobial product that provides property managers with major advantages as the pandemic ends.

"COVID-19 has dramatically changed the workplace and customer space hygiene landscape, both in terms of technical performance and client expectations. Touchpoint Shield is a solution to this challenge.

"Incorporating Touchpoint Shield with conventional measures, such as cleaning and hand hygiene, delivers far better hygiene results. This, in turn, encourages the greater confidence in workplace safety needed to support wellbeing, mental health and a smooth return-to-work."

Unlike other products, based on the fitting of anti-microbial covers of plastic films, Touchpoint Shield does not alter the aesthetic look of a space, seen by many property managers and end-use clients as a key advantage.

Touchpoint Shield is an advanced ceramic coating. It is impregnated with silver ions which destroy microorganisms, including bacteria, viruses, fungi, and mould, rendering them harmless to humans.

When applied to a surface it forms a powerful co-valent bond that can only be broken with the application of a specialist gel. This is why SafeGroup can state with confidence it will remain in place for at least three years.

Touchpoint Shield can be applied to many types of surfaces to provide protection against microorganisms, including door handles, door push plates, stair handrails, chairs, equipment controls, vehicle door handles, toilet lids and sink taps.

Independent laboratory test results show Touchpoint Shield reduces SARS-CoV-2 on non-porous surfaces by 99.6% and on sofa textile by 99.99%. It reduces E coli and Staph bacteria on non-porous surfaces by 99.95% and 99.94% respectively.

SafeGroup has also carried out live-environment trials that consistently demonstrate Touchpoint Shield delivers similar advantages, significantly outperforming standard high frequency touchpoint cleaning methodologies.

Chris Macdonald says: "Our trials have shown that colonies of potentially harmful bacteria multiply rapidly just minutes after a touchpoint has been cleaned. With Touchpoint Shield in place, regrowth is stopped in its tracks.

"This proves that intensive touchpoint cleaning, for example once an hour, may be well meant, but is likely to be largely ineffective.

"We were able to show a major international bank that installing Touchpoint Shield allowed them to reduce a near seven-figure annual touchpoint cleaning budget by 80% and achieve far better hygiene standards."

Touchpoint Shield also stands ready to help property managers and employers introduce new post-pandemic hybrid working arrangements that look set to become popular, with working time shared between the office and home.

Chris Macdonald explained: "In the longer term, a hybrid workspace is likely to be much more collaborative and dynamic, with more intensive and flexible use of smaller spaces, certainly involving more hotdesking.

"In such environments, having in place highly-effective, yet unobtrusive and cost-effective, hygiene measures that allow these spaces to work as required, will be vital. Touchpoint Shield looks like it's the ideal solution."

Ends

 

For more information, contact Andy Comber

07889 630440

ac@matm.co.uk

 

About SafeGroup

SafeGroup provides integrated emergency soft FM and specialist waste management services. It previously operated under three brands, CleanSafe, WasteSafe, and PestSafe.

The company operators four depots, nationally, and operates in all commercial and industrial sectors, including healthcare, transport, logistics, construction, manufacturing and education.

Key services include COVID-19 cleaning, fire and flood cleaning and waste management, crime scene cleaning, fly-tip clearance, hazardous waste removal and advanced pest solutions, including pest proofing.