Dubai:UAE businesses are capitalising on a Dubai laboratory breakthrough in their drive to ensure safety in the workforce.

A sanitiser which mimics the human immune system to provide protection was initially developed by water treatment specialists Culligan Middle East for use by its own 400-strong workforce in response to the Covid-19 outbreak.

The surface and skin contact sanitiser is now used in sanitisation tunnels welcoming employees to work every morning at industrial sites across the UAE.

Thousands of gallons are used in electrical equipment spraying of Covid-19 testing stations, quarantine facilities, common areas, staff transport, cranes and other equipment.

While a stream of other products have been banned for not complying with safety regulations, Culligan Safe Guard 45 H 25 has been certified to the highest standards and is in use at ports, hospitals, hotels, construction firms, food production companies, as well as private and public sector offices.

It is the result of a novel process by the laboratory team at the company’s Dubai Technopark plant to convert an existing water treatment product into one providing the perfect combination of wide-ranging health protection and very low toxicity to humans.

The sanitiser can be safely applied directly to the skin and has many other applications, from hotel guest room to laundry.

“When the pandemic broke out we looked for a good hand sanitiser for our staff, but couldn’t find anything suitable in the market,” said Culligan Middle East technical director, Rodger Macfarlane.

“So I put on a lab coat and worked with the team to adapt one of our water treatment products through a novel process.”

With a base of hypochlorous acid, a substance the body’s white blood cells produce naturally to combat infection, it has been tested and passed by Dubai Central Laboratory, certified both by Emirates Authority For Standardization & Metrology and Dubai Municipality, and also independently tested by an accredited UK laboratory.

“This has all happened during a time when Dubai Municipality has banned a large number of other sanitisers for failing to comply with safety specifications,” said Macfarlane.

“We’ve capitalised on Culligan’s 30 years of high purity water experience and are pleased to be playing our part in helping business recover from the effects of Covid-19.”