Selby College uses 3D printing technology to create PPE visors for care homes

Selby College is manufacturing face visors to help provide protection to care homes across Yorkshire in response to the coronavirus outbreak.

Fifty of the face visors have already been donated to Horizon Care, which were gratefully received by the care home company.

Mick Wilson, Engineering Lecturer for Computer Aided Design (CAD) at Selby College, has been using the College’s state-of-the-art 3D printers to produce the visors.

Following the national shortage of personal protective equipment (PPE), Mick relocated the College’s 3D printers to his home to produce the visor enclosures, as well as source the fronts for the visors and arrange the elasticated bands for the backs.

In just under three weeks, fifty visors have been produced, with each one taking around two-to-four hours to manufacture. The machines are continuously running so that more visors can be donated to local care homes in the North Yorkshire area, in addition to the fifty which have already been donated to Horizon Care.

“Due to the various materials required, producing the visors has been nothing short of a challenge,” said Mick Wilson. “We’re extremely pleased to have been able to overcome this and provide Horizon Care with fifty completed face visors. The visors are essential personal protective equipment for any care worker and we hope they will go a long way in providing them with the protection they need.”

This comes following the College’s recent donation of a range of PPE to local emergency services and care homes to support frontline staff in the fight against coronavirus.

The donation was made to Selby-based care homes such as Carentan House Residential Care and Osborne House, as well as Selby War Memorial Hospital, North Yorkshire Police and Yorkshire Ambulance Service.

“The creation of the visors is another example of the fantastic response of Selby College staff during these challenging times in helping to support the wider community and those working on the frontline,” said Phil Sayles, Principal and CEO of Selby College. “In addition to the donation to Horizon Care, Mick is working extremely hard to produce more visors to help meet the rising demand for PPE for care workers, which we hope will be well received by care homes in the county.”