“One of the main reasons people go unprotected is because of low compliance. “Our technology was seen as game-changer, and still is,” Birrell explains. Industries such as mining, metalworks and stonemasonry, where workers are exposed to harmful contaminates such as coal dust, silica and welding fumes, welcomed an alternative.
Traditional devices were typically uncomfortable, hot and provided low protection. Until CleanSpace, the technology for masks had not changed for 30 years. The company has been successfully protecting workers in a wide range of sectors for the past ten years. The engineers had a vision to make respirators that delivered high level protection in an easy to use and comfortable system. ResMed is a world leader in CPAP (continuous positive airway pressure) devices. The proprietary technology at the heart of all CleanSpace respirators was designed by biomedical engineers who had previously worked for ResMed. Our deployment had to be reliable and fast (effectively reducing time required by the frontline workers).” “In introducing a new technology, this had challenges but during an outbreak, healthcare workers around the world were, and still are, overwhelmed. “Like many businesses, COVID restrictions are creating a shift change in our training delivery platform,” said Dr Birrell. The advantages of reusable systems with superior protection and a secure supply chain make this Australian manufacturer an attractive and reliable vendor for many Australian and international hospitals. Since the outbreak, this unique system has become the ‘standard of care’ for protection of high-risk healthcare teams in anaesthetics, surgery and general care. Well before the COVID-19 crisis, CleanSpace’s HALO product was protecting the lives of thousands of frontline healthcare workers globally. Initial risks around airfreight (with restricted commercial flights) were quickly overcome with assistance from Austrade, the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT), the Government’s International Freight Assistance Mechanism (IFAM), and logistics company DHL, who organised CleanSpace priority status and secured regular flights into Australia. “Our manufacturing facility in Sydney was upscaled and had to hire a lot of people and train them in advanced manufacturing and logistics.” “The need is very real and very urgent we have had to quickly adapt our manufacturing to respond to the need,” says Dr Alex Birrell, CEO of CleanSpace Technology. Since the onset of the COVID-19 crisis, with the rapid depletion of disposable masks, hospitals were suddenly desperately seeking alternatives to disposable masks.