Flowtech, wins right to test all masks coming in to the state
A southside company is doing its bit to protect the state from COVID-19 and is testing all personal protective masks coming into Queensland.
Logan
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A southside company is doing its bit to protect the state from COVID-19 and is testing all personal protective masks coming into Queensland.
Flowtech, which is based at Meadowbrook, in Logan, was awarded a lucrative state government grant to test all coronavirus protective masks after a gap in the market meant all masks had to be sent across the border to New South Wales for testing.
Although testing masks is not its core business, Flowtech managing director Mark Gilby jumped at the chance to put his company’s unique airconditioning compliance skills to work in new areas.
The company had carved out a name in the Queensland market for being a leader in certifying clean rooms and hospital operating theatres.
When COVID-19 struck, it was already helping the largest hospitals in the state upgrade facilities.
It honed its skills in Western Australia, where it pioneered a method to vet air inside mining safety chambers before moving that technology east.
Mr Gilby said it was serendipity and a bit of luck that the testing grant came about through an association with another Logan-based company, Evolve Engineering.
Shortly after the COVID -19 lockdown started, Evolve won a state contract to start making much-needed face masks.
But there was no company in Australia which could provide National Association of Testing Authorities certification for face masks.
CSIRO, Australia’s national science agency, launched the country’s first accredited surgical face mask testing facility in Melbourne in August.
“We began to consult with and advise the Queensland government on ways that certification could be implemented, achieved and provided locally,” Mr Gilby said.
“We became well aware of the front line issues being faced and used our capabilities to help at very short notice.”
The grant will help the company to keep pace with an increase in state-based face mask manufacturing after the government pledged to buy 25 per cent of its personal protective equipment locally.
Flowtech general manager Shane Donoher said the business would add to a technology hub growing in the logan suburb of Meadowbrook, which was also home to the Logan Hospital, Griffith University and the Logan TAFE.
Many of the face masks Flowtech will test will be made at the Aspen Medical factory in Hendra.
Aspen is preparing to ramp up production of masks from 2 million to 4 million by October after receiving government funding and has invested $2 million for equipment to make N95 and three-ply masks.
Treasurer Cameron Dick said before COVID-19, only 5 per cent of the country’s medical masks were made in Australia at the Med-Con factory in Shepparton, Victoria.
“Our immediate priority is making sure we’re keeping our frontline health professionals safe with the PPE supplies we currently have, but it is also critical we build supplies for the future,” he said.
“By backing our manufacturing sector, Queensland has more capacity to respond to crises like this pandemic.”