The “Easy Clean” – Bedside Cabinet wins the Horners Award 2010

The highly innovative and friendly “Easy Clean” - Bedside Cabinet has been announced as the winner of the Horners Award for Plastics Design and Innovation 2010.

 

This worthy winning entry was developed by Kinneir Dufort.

 

The “Easy Clean” from Bristol Maid™ was designed to assist in reducing unwanted healthcare associated infections. 

 

The design reduces the number of hard to reach corners and surfaces without cutting down storage space for patients. The rotationally moulded design helps to achieve better standards of hygiene in patient care whilst maximising space, security and flexibility in operation. 

 

The Horners Award is run jointly by the Worshipful Company of Horners (an ancient guild and livery company of the City of London) and the British Plastics Federation. It is awarded annually for entries demonstrating innovation in plastics design and manufacture or in the processing of plastics.

 

The prestigious Award, established in 1947, is thought to be the oldest existent award for plastics in the world and is a cornerstone of the Horners many activities supporting Design and Education in the Plastics Industry.

 

Craig Wightman, Design Director of Kinneir Dufort, adds: “It is not every project that offers the opportunity for design to save lives, but the Design Bugs Out project, initiated by the Design Council in co-ordination with the NHS, set out to achieve just that, by encouraging the design of new products aimed at reducing Healthcare Associated Infections (HCAIs).  As one of the selected teams, Kinneir Dufort, working with hospital equipment manufacturer, Bristol Maid, set out to redesign the bedside cabinet, fit for the 21st century.

Having carefully researched the needs of patients and hospital staff, our design team identified rotational moulding as a process we could use to create a product with smooth continuous surfaces, which would be easy to keep clean, and would have no joints or crevices to harbour infections.  As well as innovative, easy-to-clean features such as removable drawers, a backless cabinet design, and no-touch electronic locks, the final design relies upon excellent tooling and moulding to deliver the product detail and surface quality required in this demanding application.

 

We have great respect for the Horners Award and are delighted that the Easy-Clean bedside cabinet has been recognised by being selected as the winner of the 2010 award.”

 

The Horners Award Committee was impressed by the level of entries covering innovative products and processes. The judges were struck by several features of the “Easy Clean”: its practical design, its surface area which also maximises patient storage and of course the high standard of hygiene.

 

The judges were also delighted to nominate the “NightOwl Retro Reflective Keep Left Bollard” system as runner-up and recipient of the BPF’s Highly Commended Certificate. LINPAC Environmental’s “NightOwl” is an all-plastic, recyclable, passively safe, self-righting, bollard comprising a ‘bounce back’ base unit and replaceable rigid sign carrier.

 

The Horners Award Judging Panel included, David A Williams, Chairman of the Horners' Award, Colin Richards, Master of the Horners’ Company and Peter Davis, Director General of the British Plastics Federation.

 

The Horners Award is jointly organised by the Worshipful Company of Horners, a City Livery Company, and the British Plastics Federation. 

For further information contact Kim Hawksworth at the British Plastics Federation on 0207 457 5007 or email [email protected].

 

 

 

For all media enquiries, BPF logos and images, please contact Rita Ogole, Senior Public Affairs Executive on 0207 457 5043 or email [email protected]

 

 

British Plastics Federation (BPF) is the UK trade association for the plastics industry – representing the whole supply chain including polymer producers, distributors, additives suppliers, machinery manufacturers, processors and recyclers.