The duty of equivalence says infection control in custody cannot fall below the community standard. Yet the community's main hand-hygiene product is the one custody cannot safely use.
Prisons are classed as higher risk for respiratory transmission: confined, over-crowded and high-turnover, with the adult men's estate running at around 97.7% capacity and an outbreak declared on as few as two linked cases in five days. A single UK men's prison saw COVID-19 attack rates of 9.2% and then 18.7%. When infection moves, it moves fast.
But the standard tool is restricted. UKHSA infection-control guidance for adult prisons limits wall-mounted alcohol hand rub because dispensers carry a risk of ingestion and unintended use. Alcohol gel is also a Class I flammable liquid, pulling it into DSEAR and COSHH duties, and a documented intoxication, self-harm and contraband route in secure settings.
So the estate carries the community's infection risk under the duty of equivalence, while being denied the community's primary defence against it. That gap is not a preference, it is written into the regulator's own guidance, and it is what an alcohol-free option is built to close.
You get both: broad-spectrum protection across the pathogens that spread in a confined estate, and an alcohol-free, non-flammable form that is safe where alcohol gel cannot be used.
It is independently tested to and passes the recognised European hygiene standards, including the sporicidal and virucidal standards for C. difficile and norovirus, so it covers the bacterial, viral, fungal and spore-forming threats that move fastest in custody.
And because the active is alcohol-free and water-based, it is non-flammable and carries no ingestion-toxicity or intoxication pathway, removing the hazards that lead UKHSA to restrict alcohol hand rub and that make it a self-harm and contraband concern. It takes a Class I flammable liquid out of a secure estate, simplifying the DSEAR and COSHH position your residence and facilities teams manage. With a long shelf life, it suits controlled distribution across a confined estate, and it complements soap and water where national guidance requires it. One accountable partner specifies it and stands behind the evidence.
Broad-spectrum protection, independently tested to and passing the sporicidal and virucidal standards for C. difficile and norovirus, across the bacterial, viral and fungal threats that move fastest in a confined estate.
Alcohol-free, so it removes the ingestion and unintended-use risk that leads UKHSA to restrict wall-mounted alcohol hand rub in prisons, and the intoxication route alcohol gel carries.
Non-flammable, so it removes a Class I flammable substance from secure areas and the fire and self-harm vector that comes with it.
A hand-hygiene option for the wings where alcohol products are restricted, helping you meet the duty of equivalence that says custody IPC cannot fall below the community standard.
Removing a flammable, hazardous substance from working areas eases the fire, explosion and hazardous-substance assessments your facilities team has to maintain.
Independently tested results against named recognised standards, and a clear safety rationale, for a joint HMIP and CQC inspection judging healthcare on community equivalence.
The gap is written into prison IPC guidance. The alternative is independently tested and proven to standard.
The UK environmental and safety duties that commonly reach justice & custody. Open any one for what it requires, the deadlines, what is at stake, and how to evidence control. Every entry is sourced.
The governor asks whether it can be weaponised, ingested or traded. The healthcare lead asks for the standards evidence and where it sits against UKHSA guidance. Both have a straight answer.
It is independently tested to and passes the recognised European standards, including the sporicidal and virucidal standards for C. difficile and norovirus, so it covers the threats that spread in custody. It is alcohol-free and non-flammable, removing the ingestion, self-harm, fire and contraband hazards that lead UKHSA to restrict alcohol rub. We start with a trial in one establishment, agree controlled distribution with your safer-custody and facilities teams, and prove the fit in your own environment.
It is independently tested to and passes the recognised European hygiene standards, including the sporicidal and virucidal standards for C. difficile and norovirus, across bacteria, viruses, fungi and spores, the threats that spread fastest in a confined estate.
UKHSA infection-control guidance for adult prisons restricts wall-mounted alcohol hand rub because it carries a risk of ingestion and unintended use. Alcohol gel is also a Class I flammable liquid and a documented intoxication and self-harm route in secure settings.
It is designed for exactly this constraint. Being alcohol-free it carries no ingestion-toxicity or intoxication pathway and is non-flammable, removing the contraband, fire and self-harm concerns alcohol gel brings. Distribution is agreed with your safer-custody and facilities teams as part of the trial.
The duty of equivalence means custody infection control cannot fall below the community standard. By providing a safe, broad-spectrum hand-hygiene option where alcohol products are restricted, it helps close the gap the restriction otherwise leaves.
Yes. Being non-flammable, it removes a Class I flammable liquid from secure working areas, easing the fire, explosion and hazardous-substance assessments your facilities team has to maintain.
Tell us where the restriction on alcohol products is leaving a hygiene gap. We will set up a trial in one establishment and prove the fit in your own environment.
Tell us the cost, the risk or the obligation you are facing. A senior member of our team will respond, in confidence, with how we would help.
