COVID-19: GSA certifies Solar Automated Hand Washing Machine

The Ghana Standards Authority (GSA) has granted a product certification for the solar powered automated hand washing machine invented by a Ghanaian to encourage safe hand-washing practices.

The product, manufactured by Mr Richard Kwarteng, a resident of Kumasi in the Ashanti Region, enables individuals to wash their hands under running water without touching the tap or knob of the water receptacle.

The Director-General of the GSA, Professor Alex Dodoo, who presented the certificate to the manufacturer in Accra on Wednesday, said the product had been tested for its safety and efficiency and that it was ready for mass production.

He said the certification was an attestation by the GSA that the product met international standards for electrically controlled machines.

Cost of certification

Prof. Dodoo said due to the essential nature of the product and the need to increase local manufacturing capabilities, the GSA absolved the cost of the testing to encourage other inventors to come up with similar products.

"We saw this as a support for the President’s call to increase local manufacturing capabilities so we absolved all the cost involved in the testing and certification, which could be about GH¢20,000," he explained.

Global acceptance

The Director of Testing at the GSA, Mr Clifford Frimpong, told the Daily Graphic that the GSA team spent four days in the laboratory accessing the product against globally accepted standards and arrived at the conclusion that the product was world class.

Mr Frimpong said the certification would give the manufacturer the approval needed globally to market the product.

"With this certification, the product would be accepted the world over and the mass production of it would mean that we can even export it to the world market so this means the GSA has accepted the responsibility for the safety and efficiency of the product," he said.

For his part, Mr Kwarteng expressed gratitude to the GSA for their assistance in getting the product certified and approved for mass production.

"This was not created because I wanted to make money but to help the whole country to fight this disease, so I am grateful that the GSA and the government have been so helpful," he said.

Mr Kwarteng said with the certification, he would partner with the GSA and the government to move into the mass production of the product.