A chance to head back to work to help out during a crisis is very rewarding in the eyes of a Penetanguishene plant manager.
Rich Carruthers, general manager of Magna Techform (a division of Magna International), is spending his time these days working through plans to launch manufacturing of Puro.
"In this time of uncertainty, coming to work every day is concerning for all of us," he said, "but coming back to work on something that helps out the healthcare project is very rewarding. There's a buzz at the facility. It's given a lot of people a great sense of purpose."
If approved through lab tests, Puro could be used to disinfect N95 masks and other personal-protective equipment used by frontline heath-care workers, said John O’Hara, president of Magna Mechatronics/Mirrors/Lighting.
"As part of our overall creative thinking, we're very problem-solving oriented," he said. "We also have a number of non-automotive projects and one of the projects is Puro."
The cooler-sized box uses technology to create ozone from oxygen in the air and disinfect all sorts of items that can't be thrown into a washer, killing bacteria and odors.
O'Hara said tests are now being performed at the University of Toronto to see if the masks that have been disinfected using the machine can stand up against COVID-19.
"Assuming we get that test (done), the idea is to get two (machines) in every hospital across Canada," said O'Hara.
The engineering part of the product has been taken care of at Magna Mechatronics/Mirrors/Lighting, but the execution on the ground will happen at the Penetanguishene facility, said Carruthers.
"We have a team of 20 engineers and workers, preparing the area, doing assembly trials and working on the process internally," he said, adding that 17 of the 480 laid-off employees were brought back full-time after the project came up, with an additional three working part-time. "That is the same team that will be moving from prep to the production."
Not only has it brought some activity back to the plant, Carruthers said it's also given community partners an economic stimulus.
"We're also working with local suppliers who have brought back labour to work on this," he said. "Right now, we're working with three production suppliers and tool shops and we're quoting with many more."
For Carruthers, the success of this will definitely hit home.
"My wife is an ER nurse at RVH (Royal Victoria Regional Health Centre in Barrie), and she wants to use the Puro to clean her equipment," he said, adding she's unable to do so until testing approves it. "My wife has to take off all her stuff in the garage because she doesn't want to bring anything into the house. She was excited to be able to use it once it's approved."
And it's not just the personal-protection equipment, it's everything that the nurses and doctors touch in their day-to-day use that could be disinfected in the unit, said Carruthers.
But it all boils down to approval through research, said Tom Tomaszewski, global director of marketing at Mechatronics/Mirrors/Lighting, adding he's confident it will be approved.
"We're not making a hypothesis here," he said. "There's a bunch of literature on tests that's been done around ozone being able to kill H1N1 and SARS and MERS. We're taking guidance from the universities around this. We feel it should be a positive (result)."
For now, O'Hara said, the company has up to 75 units ready to go, some of which are still being tested.
He added the company will be donating these initial units to hospitals across the country.
"Our recommendation would be one unit per wing," O'Hara said. "The idea is to disinfect 100 masks at a time to be used maybe a second or third time, but no more than that."
