More than one thousand forecourts globally have taken up Devon-based GripHero’s offer of providing hand-protection dispensers free to protect their customers from the transmission of Covid-19 at the fuel pump.

GripHero is a hand-protection dispenser, which sits on top of each hand-pump on the forecourt, so that the first thing the customer interacts with is the hand-protection itself. This prevents customers from coming into contact with the fuel pump handle where Covid-19 could easily be passed from one driver to another.

Following the outbreak COVID-19 and its designation as a global pandemic, GripHero took the step of offering its dispensers free of charge to help stop the spread of COVID-19 at the fuel pump.

Oli Yeo, who developed GripHero, said he decided that the only right thing to do was to provide the dispensers free of charge, as they are the only ones in the world permitted within the refuelling zone due to their use of ATEX-Certified anti-static materials. All other hand-protection has to be stored away from the fuel pumps as they are susceptible to static charges.

He said: “Our commitment is to continue providing our dispensers free of charge for the time being, making this a non-profit exercise that will enable forecourts to protect their customers”.

Motorway service group and Top 50 Indie Westmorland, is one of the groups that has adopted GripHero in the last week.

Andy Smith, group fuels manager for Westmorland, explained: “It is more important than ever before to protect our customers in the best way we possibly can. By offering GripHero, Westmorland is playing its part in the battle against coronavirus, and is dramatically reducing wastage that other glove dispensers produce. We’re also eliminating the static-risks for our customers in the fuelling zone.”