The Department of Education and the Department of Agriculture issued a statement last night advising that an approved hand sanitiser widely used in schools was being recalled.

The Department of Agriculture said it was recalled as "prolonged use of such sanitiser may cause dermatitis, eye irritation, upper respiratory system irritation and headaches".

The Department of Education has said that Schools using the sanitiser can close today if a "school impacted judges it necessary " - see statement below from Department of Education

Statement from the Department of Education 23rd October 2020

The Department of Agriculture Food and the Marine has tonight, 22 October,  issued a product recall notice on ViraPro hand sanitiser (PCS100409).

This supplier of this product was one of 11 suppliers on the multi supplier framework for PPE for education settings.

The Department of Education is informing all schools of the need to check whether they have used this supplier and have stocks of this product. Schools should follow the advice of the Department of Agriculture to cease using it.

On Friday 23 October schools that are impacted by this can make local arrangements to purchase stocks of hand sanitiser and can maximise the use of hand washing to support necessary hand hygiene.

If a school that is impacted judges it necessary to do so, they can choose to close for the day or close early on Friday 23 October.
 
If a school is having difficulty sourcing replacement hand sanitiser, they should contact the Department on the Covid -19  helpline and email address supplied to schools. Additional funding will be provided to schools to enable them to purchase the necessary supplies  from an alternative supplier.

Comments