Partner Article

Factory ups production due to swine flu

The growing concern over swine ’flu has led to an increase in production at a County Durham factory. The 3M site in Newton Aycliffe is running 24 hours a day, seven days a week in order to meet increased demands for protective masks.

Steve Fisher, 3M’s Manufacturing and Engineering Director for the UK said: “The site has secured an order from the UK government for a substantial number of respirators following the outbreak of swine flu in Mexico and the new cases confirmed in the UK.

“3M has well established emergency preparedness plans to support heightened global demand for respiratory protective equipment and to provide appropriate technical support to customers, government departments and health care professionals.

“These plans were proven effective during 3M’s response to incidents in the recent past such as SARS and Avian influenza.”

The firm’s new production facilities at the Heighington Lane site are designed to provide even greater capacity to meet any increased global demand. The facilities are a result of a multi-million pound investment announced last year to create additional manufacturing capacity to produce maintenance free respirators.

Steve Fisher concluded: “The investment has given us the capacity to increase our output significantly in times of particularly high demand.

“As well as being used by the healthcare sector against germs and viruses such as flu, the 3M respirators protect workers in diverse industries including woodworking, steel and engineering from inhaling dust and particles.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ruth Mitchell .