NORTH-EAST factory workers are poised to help battle the potentially deadly swine fever outbreak that has spread to the UK.
Staff at 3M, which makes respirators at its site on Aycliffe Business Park, County Durham, are ready to ramp up production if necessary.
As well as being used by the healthcare sector against germs and viruses such as flu, 3M respirators protect workers in manufacturing industries.
Steve Fisher, 3M's UK manufacturing and engineering director, said: "We are well prepared for sudden surges in demand, such as that which accompanied the Sars outbreak some years ago."
The sudden demand for respirators after the Sars outbreak saw the Aycliffe site take on 120 temporary employees working round the clock.
New facilities, the result of a £4.5m investment announced last year, mean the factory is even better placed to cope this time. Mr Fisher said: "The investment has given us the capacity to increase our production output significantly in times of particularly high demand."
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