All chemical protective clothing is not made equal. And ph7 International’s recent deal with Kiwi success story Douglas Pharmaceuticals for more than 200 Alphatec 3000 AVANT AIRline suits shows the importance of matching the right product to the right industry.
Protective clothing is about three things:
- Preventing the wearer from coming into contact with hazardous materials,
- Preventing the contamination of what the wearer is handling, and
- Allowing the wearer to work as comfortably and unencumbered as possible.
Douglas is fully licenced and compliant with TGA (Therapeutic Goods Administration of Australia), FDA (Food and Drug Administration of the USA), New Zealand Ministry of Health (Medsafe), and Ministry of Primary Industries (MPI) for the manufacture of both animal remedies and animal products. And this means the company needs the highest levels of trust in the equipment it uses to manufacture the consumer products and prescription medicines to be sold around the globe.
Sales manager Mike Kitchin says the AVANT AIRline suit ticked all the boxes when it came to all-round performance in a workplace such as Douglas.
“Pharmaceutical companies are incredibly concerned about contamination in the workplace and so the primary benefit of having a suit such as the AVANT AIRline is that it would prevent any human contamination getting into the process,” he says.
“It would also, of course, prevent the wearer from having any direct interaction with the products being manufactured.
“And because it is an air-supplied suit, the wearers would be more comfortable and can be kept cooler while they work.”
ph7 International works with Ansell Microgard’s ranges of Microgard and Microchem chemical suits because they’re backed by more than 35 years of innovation and reputation. As well as ensuring the whole suit protects the wearer from inward particulate leakage and provides a liquid-tight barrier, the Microchem 3000 multilayer fabric is durable, light and one of the most comfortable chemical protective fabrics on the market.
The suits also come with key safety features such as a panoramic visor to provide a wide field of vision, an emergency rip-cord to allow the wearer to take it off fast in the case of an emergency, a low-flow warning whistle to alert the wearer if the air flow falls below the regulator manufacturer’s minimum designed flow rate, and exhalation valves in both the hood and the back of the suit that allow carbon dioxide to escape and the pressure to equalise.
These suits are also used in industries such as the manufacture of herbicides and pesticides where it’s vital to protect the wearer from the materials they’re working with. But whatever the industry, you have a range of choices when it comes to picking the right suit.
For example, the AVANT AIRline can be manufactured in either the Microgard 2500 PLUS, the Microchem 3000 or the Microchem 4000 materials, the regulator can be joined to the suit using a range of connectors, and the suits have optional sock and glove options.
Because every industry is different, it’s important to understand the full range of options in terms of both protection and comfort. For more information about your requirements and to talk through how we can help, contact us on 0800 323223, sales@dilnz.co.nz or via the website.
