Industry expert explains how company aims to inspire confidence in its products beyond pandemic
PPE was thrust into the spotlight by the pandemic. Overnight, people with no concept of what the acronym meant or stood for suddenly knew as they ordered masks by the bucket load.
Now, as we hopefully head to the tailend of the COVID-19 crisis, with vaccination rates climbing higher every day, the question for the safety-at-work industry is what will the next stage of PPE look like?
Rahil Hasan, Product Market Leader, PPE Americas at Honeywell, has more than 15 years’ experience of multi-national manufacturing for Fortune 500 corporations, and told COS that there is now a big emphasis on not only how comfortable workers find their PPE but also how they look.
He said that good-fitting PPE is paramount to allowing people to work efficiently. That was vital, especially for frontline workers as they endeavoured to make us safe when the virus first hit. Now the back-to-the-office worker will want the right mask, for example, to enable them to go about their day unhindered.
Honeywell has been one of the companies leading the way with N95 mask production, with dual-layer protection and re-useability. But of course, PPE is not just about masks; it’s everything head to toe. A worker might be dealing with sharp machinery or be in an environment with potential falling objects.
Given the trauma of the past 18 months, how does Honeywell increase confidence among PPE wearers that these products are right for them?
Hasan said the answer can be broken down into two areas: comfort and fit, and integrating PPE with more advanced technology.
“Workers want to be confident that what they’re wearing, they’re wearing properly and it allows them to do their job without getting exhausted or having excess fatigue,” he said. “We have a full team of designers that take these factors into consideration. They look at fabrics, advanced materials, how breathable the designs are, how ergonomic they are, and they make sure our products have the ability to fit individual workers.
“It's not just having a product or a single offering, but making sure that the wide range of workers are safe.”
Honeywell caters for the full spectrum of professions, including healthcare, government, industrial, construction, and oil and gas. If the PPE is not comfortable, then people don’t want to wear it, Hasan added. "Comfort helps them to ensure they wear the proper equipment throughout the day.”
The second element of inspiring confidence among workers is the new drive to integrate PP with technology. With younger generations now more familiar with having advanced technology in every aspect of their lives, Honeywell has products that feature smart hearing, which not only prevents noise but also prevents hearing loss over time.
Hasan explained: “It takes a traditional hearing product to get to the next level. It gives that worker a better quality of life.”
It’s set to be the tip of the iceberg as more innovation comes down the pipeline. One of Honeywell’s recent product launches featured the integration of a QR code. All workers have to do now is pull out their phone in the same way they bring up a menu at a restaurant, enabling them to look up details about a product like whether it protects against a certain chemical.
Hasan said: “You see this trend towards better information and smarter products, and having information at your fingertips, whether it's in the form of specifications or where the product is in terms of longevity. We’ll see a lot more of that intelligence in our products moving forward.”
He added: “You’ll also see a much greater emphasis on the aesthetics. We see this in our eyewear and hardhats. There’s a greater sense of pride that workers have with their PPE – and they want a personal connection in the look and feel of it.”
