Dive Brief:

• Two Las Vegas-based contractors are employing a unique method of combating the spread of COVID-19 on jobsites. SR Construction and W.A. Richardson Builders have deployed $40,000 Opti-Clean cubes from Xtreme Cubes Corp. to help keep workers safe and healthy on their projects. 
• The cubes come with a patented solution that sprays a dry mist on workers or other people walking through the cubes at a normal pace, according to SR President Bret Loughridge. SR has been using the cubes for over a month.
• The spray is a medical-grade hypochlorous (HOCL) solution, a dry mist that was used in a nursing home with confirmed COVID-19 cases to test its ability to kill the virus, said Xtreme Cubes CEO Brandon Maine. HOCL is listed by the CDC as a disinfectant for use against the coronavirus. It has been approved by the FDA and USDA for use as a nonrinse sanitizing solution, algicide, disinfectant and sanitizer. 

Dive Insight:

The Opti-Clean cubes use motion sensors to spray the mist from all angles at workers passing through. The cubes aren't marketed specifically for construction jobsites, and Maine said he envisions them in use at airports, jail systems and schools. 

Each cube, with all of the options included, costs about $40,000 according to Maine.

SR placed one Opti-Clean on a jobsite in northern Nevada and two on one in southern Nevada. “Integrating the cubes was relatively simple as we have significant space on the jobsites where they are deployed, as well as the power to run them,” Loughridge said.

Loughridge said communicating the “why” of the cube, as well as guaranteeing its operation, was essential to getting buy-in from everyone on the sites. “We were able to provide all the documentation and literature on the product to quell any concerns about the solution,” he said.

The relatively short time to use the cube was a factor for the contractors as well, Loughridge said, noting it takes just about three minutes for 30 workers to walk through it safely.

“For the most part, everyone was receptive to the idea of putting additional safety measurements in place to prevent the spread of COVID19 and other viruses,” he said.