Health and safety should be everyone’s priority. This is especially true for the supermarket division of Robinsons Retail Holdings, Inc., the retail affiliate of JG Summit Holdings.
At Robinsons Supermarket, Robinsons Selections, Robinsons Easymart, The Marketplace, Shopwise, and Wellcome, retail frontliners constantly interact with other people, making the threat of getting sick very real. To guard against this risk, store policies such as social distancing, among others, are strictly implemented, alcohol and hand sanitizers are placed at check-out counters and in other key areas, and employees are given face masks. Despite these precautions, the supermarket division recognizes that extra protection is required. However, due to the demand from hospitals and other medical centers, Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) is hard to come by these days; instead of waiting, the employees themselves decided to improvise.
As they say, “Necessity is the mother of invention.” With the need for extra protection for RRHI’s supermarket employees, the group’s staff tapped into their reserves of creativity and resourcefulness to create their own PPEs.
With the unavailability of store-bought PPEs or face shields, Danj Del Rosario, a visual artist of Robinsons Supermarket Cabuyao, sought permission from his manager to fashion face shields out of Sintra boards from past promotions and shrink film used to wrap Christmas baskets. On top of the face masks that the frontliners have already been wearing, this DIY extra protection covers the entire face or face shield.
He shared his DIY face shield on his Facebook page on March 24 and his post has since gained a good number of likes and shares. Asked how he felt upon learning that many people appreciated his work, he said, “Nakakatuwa lang kasi nakatulong ako in my own small way.” [“I feel happy because I was able to help in my own small way.”] Danj wasn’t alone in this task, as he received help from his fellow employees.
Further displays of creativity sprouted across the RRHI network, with other stores upgrading their existing promotional hats by attaching laminated plastic film to create face shields. A few renditions are below:
With the limited supply of commercially produced masks, these improvised PPEs do a great job of protecting the supermarket staff and their customers. “Our store personnel are truly inspiring,” said Jody Gadia, Managing Director of RRHI’s supermarket division. “These DIY facemasks are a testament to their creativity and ingenuity.”
The COVID-19 pandemic may have stopped the world, but it also sparked people’s creativity in dreaming up innovative ways to navigate the unusual situations that we face today.
