RAP repurposes its specialist food packaging designs and technology to make PPE
One of the UK’s leading food-to-go packaging manufacturers, Rapid Action Packaging (RAP), has turned over its production line to manufacture disposable PPE face shield equipment.
The company has already begun operations by producing one million face shields, of which the first 65,000 have been earmarked for free distribution to care homes across the UK and Éire.
With an established supply chain and industry accredited manufacturing facilities, RAP is able to reach full scale production immediately in order to deliver between seven and ten million face shields a week.
RAP’s ground-breaking design solutions are normally used to produce high grade protective and hygiene food packaging for sandwiches, hot products, chilled meats and ready meals. The company’s customers include coffee shops, independents, convenience stores and the retailer multiples – including Tesco, Sainsburys, Waitrose, Morrisons, ASDA, M&S, Pret A Manger and LEON.
Mobilising its award-winning design and technical team, the new RAP Face Shield is a lightweight, disposable and unique PPE solution, which confirms with Category 1 PPE EU Regulation
The solution is intended for use among health support workers, cleaners, teaching staff, retail operatives and any other public facing role where PPE of this type is typically unavailable.
The RAP Face Shield provides a barrier for the user against airborne moisture and spray, which is emitted during coughing and sneezing by people in proximity to the wearer. The material used in the shield’s construction is a high barrier protective film, commonly used in the packaging industry to protect food against bacteria, virus and other harmful pathogens.
The visor is laminated to a carton board frame to provide a rigid head frame with adjustable strap. The robust RAP Face Shield is also extremely economical with prices starting at 0.12p per unit for bulk orders making the solution a sustainable and viable option.
Graham Williams, CEO of RAP comments: “As award-winning designers and manufacturers we felt, like many others, that it was absolutely critical for us to step up and join the national effort to help deliver the Government’s PPE plan. With the difficult challenges being faced by the care sector, we also felt it only fitting that we started our PPE journey with a donation of face shields to the industry.
“We have always been extremely proud of our simple and clever packaging solutions. But we are even prouder of our innovative and intuitive team who have worked so hard over the last couple of weeks to develop this face shield. Not only does it conform to the EU Regulation 2016:425 Category 1 technical PPE specifications, but it is also economical to purchase – such is our desire to help fulfil a much-needed solution at this time.”
The face shields are manufactured in the EU at RAP’s state-of-the-art facilities in Éire, which are BRC AA accredited to QA standards governed by ISO 9001:2019 and EN 2023/2006 manufacturing practice. All employees adhere to stringent health and safety guidelines and a strict social distancing policy is in place.
