News

NORMA Group donates face shields to
St. Vinzenz Hospital in Hanau

Maintal, Germany, December 2, 2020 – NORMA Group has donated 500 face shields to the medical staff of St. Vinzenz Hospital in Hanau. The NORMA Face Shield protects the wearer’s eye area against droplets and splashes of liquids. Worn in addition to mouth and nose protection, it further reduces the risk of droplet infection.

“I am pleased that we are able to make a small contribution to ensuring that the medical staff of St. Vinzenz Hospital can perform their invaluable work safely and securely,” said Alexander Olbrich, who is responsible for NORMA Group’s EMEA business.

When the shields were handed over to the hospital, Nursing Director Jutta Berg and hygiene specialist Ankica Scheidel reported on the challenges of everyday nursing care under pandemic conditions. “The current times are very challenging for all of our employees. We are very grateful for the face shields, which you hardly even notice when wearing them and which are worn in addition to mouth and nose protection.”

NORMA Group developed the face shield in the spring of 2020. The initiative came from R&D engineer Hannes Clasen, who normally develops new products for e-mobility at NORMA Group. “In light of the corona crisis, we as a company wanted to use our in-house expertise to help overcome the pandemic,” Hannes Clasen explained. “Face covers, even for medical personnel, were extremely rare at the time. Since molded parts for face shields can be manufactured well very quickly and efficiently using injection molding, we decided to do so.” Development from the first prototype to the final product was completed in only four weeks.

The NORMA Face Shield is licensed as personal protective equipment. It consists of an ergonomically shaped plastic frame and a foil that is clamped into the frame. The polycarbonate film, which is impenetrable for liquids, provides very good viewing for the person wearing it. NORMA Group uses high-quality plastic for the frame that is certified according to the VDI guidelines for medical products, so-called “Medical Grade Plastics.”

The goal of designing it was to create a facial visor that offers a high level of comfort even during prolonged use. For this purpose, the contact surfaces of the frame were designed to be particularly wide next to the forehead and temple. Compared to other models, the distance between the film and the face was also increased so users can wear an FFP2 mask underneath it if necessary.

The face shield is not a medical device. The user is responsible for the professional use, cleaning and disinfection. The face shield is not a substitute for wearing a suitable face mask and does not guarantee safety against infections of any kind. The recommended precautions, such as hand disinfection and wearing gloves and a suitable face mask, must be observed additionally.

The press photos can be opened by clicking and then be downloaded in high resolution.

Additional information on the company is available at www.normagroup.com. More press photos are available on www.normagroup.com/images.