Dover Fueling Solutions invests in UVC technology to help prevent COVID-19 spread

Dover Fueling Solutions (‘DFS’), a part of Dover Corporation that delivers advanced fuel dispensing equipment, electronic systems and payment, fleet systems, automatic tank gauging, and wetstock management, is pleased to announce that it has recently taken delivery of a THOR UVC® disinfecting robot in a bid to help prevent and control the spread of coronavirus infection at its facility in Dundee. The UVC device was delivered on 3rd September and is currently undergoing comprehensive trials to establish the best possible practice to be adopted for site disinfection and sanitisation.

The safety, health and wellbeing of its employees is of paramount importance to DFS. When COVID-19 first forced the UK into lockdown, the Scottish government classified DFS Dundee as an essential business and therefore required the facility to reopen and provide support to other essential services and key workers. Since then, DFS has been working hard to implement the strictest health and safety procedures to protect its people. Enhanced safety protocols have been in place since production staff returned to work on 31 March, 2020. Among these ongoing measures are enhanced sanitisation practices, one-way employee foot traffic, regular “fogging” procedures to desinfect the entire site, and strict social distancing rules above and beyond what is recommended by the government. The introduction of UVC robotics takes the company a step further in its efforts to enhance the protection of its employees.

UVC robotics takes cleaning and sanitisation at DFS Dundee to the next level. Focusing on autonomous operation, the machine will allow the company to ensure that disinfection processes within the premises are thorough and consistent, and existing manual resources are well allocated. The device is also readily portable, meaning that it can be utilised in all areas of the facilty.

"THOR UVC® is the very latest high-powered disinfection robot, that can work fully autonomously around public spaces,” said Annette Crowe, Sales and Marketing Director at Finsen Tech, the manufacturer of the device. “It uses shortwave ultraviolet-C light technology, which is proven to kill a large variety of common surface and airborne pathogens, including coronavirus. UVC disinfection is clinically proven, reaches floor to ceiling and is significantly more efficient than manual cleaning. The latest generation robot, acquired by DFS, generates more power than preceding UVC technologies, which is helpful in killing the new strains of viruses.”

Mark Husband, EMEA EHS Manager at DFS noted, “We are fully committed to protecting our staff’s health, safety and wellbeing and have invested significantly in keeping the factory COVID-safe over the recent months. To get the highest level of protection from the spread of the virus, we are always looking for ways to work smarter and obtain the most cutting-edge solutions available to automate our sanitisation process. Our extensive research indicated that the technology behind the THOR UVC® robot is at the forefront of the coronavirus fight and widely used in medical settings and test centres . At the moment, we are trialling the device and fine-tuning our internal processes. We are on-track to roll out the facility-wide UVC disinfection in the next couple of weeks.”