Member Article

GripHero shortlisted in prestigious national awards for both Innovation and Environmental Protection and Improvement

GripHero Ltd, the developer of the patented and world’s only fuel nozzle-mounted, anti-static hand-protection dispensers, has been shortlisted for two awards at the prestigious Association for Petroleum and Explosives Administration (APEA) 2019 Awards, which honour the latest products and most innovative services available on the forecourt and in the petroleum market.

Its shortlisting in the Environmental Protection and Improvement award category, as well as in the Innovation award category, is a huge achievement for the Devon-based business, which launched its revolutionary new hand-protection dispenser and anti-static range of hand-protection a little over a year ago.

Since then, GripHero has gone on to launch an Oxo-Biodegradable variant of their ATEX Certified anti-static hand-protection developed for countries that either stipulate the use of Oxo-Biodegradable materials, or that do not have the facilities in place to cope with recycling.

GripHero has also released a range of bold and brightly coloured recycling bins to help complete the loop on recycling plastics on the forecourt.

Most recently, as a result of GripHero’s efficiency, the business has slashed the volume of single use hand-protection plastic being used by forecourts by an average of 55%. That represents 490 tonnes of plastic waste per year that could be avoided if all forecourts across the UK installed GripHero.

Having already been awarded silver at the 2019 Tomorrow’s Health & Safety Awards, Oli Yeo, Managing Director and the designer of GripHero, is hopeful of further success: “Being shortlisted for two categories at the APEA awards is a huge honour for us. We’ve already demonstrated how GripHero transforms customer health and safety on a forecourt, and it’s great to also be recognised for our innovation and environmental improvement.

“Our goal is not to sell more hand-protection, but to provide protection where it is needed, when it is needed, without unnecessary waste.

“We’re helping drivers’ limit the risk of coming into contact with dirty or contaminated fuel handles on a daily basis, while preventing the risk of ignition in the refueling zone through use of the world’s only anti-static hand-protection material in our dispensers. We’re also cutting the volume of single use plastics on the forecourt, by providing a better alternative to conventional dispensers that allow clumps of gloves to be released, many of which are binned, or blow away, causing unnecessary environmental waste.

“Through our range of fully recyclable hand-protection and single item dispensers, we have a powerful solution that’s better for the driver, the forecourt and the environment. It’s great to know that the Petroleum sector thinks so highly of what we’re doing to transform forecourts for the better by improving the health and wellbeing of their customers, and the environment.”

By placing dispensers on each and every fuel nozzle handle, GripHero hopes to end the all-too-common customer experience where drivers struggle to find hand-protection, due to empty or poorly located dispensers. Research shows that despite 75% of people actively looking to keep their hands clean, four out of five people have trouble finding hand-protection at garages and forecourts up and down the country.

GripHero’s research shows that: 76% of drivers would be more likely to use a forecourt with hand-protection on every nozzle handle, over that of a closer forecourt without this service; 72% would be more likely to make impromptu purchases of higher margin items such as snacks, coffee, ice cream and sandwiches with clean hands after filling up;

Oli Yeo added: “When you consider that, on average, each pump handle comes into contact with over 200 different hands in one week, each one getting dirtier than the last and passing on contamination, you soon realise how important it is to use hand-protection whenever you fill-up. We believe that by using more environmentally friendly materials, reducing unnecessary waste through our single item dispenser, and helping forecourts to recycle - all while enabling drivers to maintain clean hands with total convenience - we’ll change the face of the forecourt for the better, forever.”

GripHero will discover if it has won the APEA Environmental Protection and Improvement Award and the APEA Innovation Award on 21 November at the APEA Exhibition, Conference and Awards Dinner, held at Stadium MK, Milton Keynes.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Lizzie Bailey .