The BACKGROUND
The maintenance, installation and revamping of process equipment for towers and vessels require complete internal and tray inspections, tray cleaning, welding and any necessary repairs including hardware replacement. To provide customers with high-quality services, projects must be delivered safely.
A tower can be defined as a confined space “as the previous contents or chemicals used in a previous activity in the space, indicate that the atmosphere might be contaminated or to any extent unsafe to breathe”.
The CHALLENGE
a1-cbiss were approached by a large chemical company to supply up to 700 personal four gas detectors to various sites as part of a multi-national project. The gas detectors would be used to protect workers as they carried out maintenance within power station and petrochemical towers.
Dangerous levels of Hydrogen Sulphide or Carbon Monoxide could remain in the towers and need to be continuously monitored. There is also a risk of Oxygen being displaced whilst welding takes place. Heavy Hydrocarbons need to be monitored too.
Worker safety should never be compromised so as part of a comprehensive safety programme, gas detection should be given a high priority and be based on industry best practices.
The Health & Safety Manager from the chemical company met with a1-cbiss technical advisors to discuss the large scale project. Due to the vast amount of portable gas detectors required to keep their own workers and contractors onsite safe, the H&S Manager had three main priorities:
1. To purchase the most practical confined space gas detectors that only require minimal training.
2. To consider the cost of ownership over 4 years
3. Reduction in service admin time – The H&S manager also stressed the importance of being able to charge a large number of gas detectors at once before shipping them to the next location. The client is also required to carry out their own charging at various geographical locations.
This coverage will go a long way to ensuring the safety of all maintenance workers within the most hazardous locations.
The SOLUTION
a1-cbiss work closely with a number of gas detection manufacturers which allows them to select from a wide choice of gas detection equipment.
Based on the challenges of the project, the technical advisors calculated the cost of ownership for a number of gas detector brands. They then compared each product, weighing up the features and usability of each detector. a1-cbiss concluded the findings and suggested the GMI PS200 personal gas detectors.
The PS200 has become the best selling four gas detector for a1-cbiss thanks to its intuitive menu, the look and feel of the product and its reliability.
a1-cbiss invited GMI to meet the client to ensure a smooth transition from order placement through to delivery.
Working with GMI, the a1-cbiss engineering team have developed a low power charging station which enables 49 gas detectors to be charged at a single time. This vastly reduces the time spent disconnecting and re-connecting a handful of gas detectors at one time.
Two ABC docking stations were ordered for each location to enable the client to calibrate the PS200 gas detectors each year.
What is the PS200?
The PS200 warns the user that calibration is due. After one year, the unit powers down until calibration has been performed. This safety feature ensures that gas detectors reliably perform.
The PS200 can be configured to detect a combination of Methane, Oxygen, Carbon Monoxide, Hydrogen Sulphide, as well as other flammable gases.
If the PS200 is ordered with the internal pump, the instrument can switch between pumped and diffusion operation.
Pre-entry checking can be carried out with the internal sampling pump, and diffusion operation ensuring maximum battery life in confined spaces.
A robust and accurate portable gas detector, the Personal Surveyor (PS200 Series) provides protection in confined space applications with audible and visual alarms in the event of exposure to flammable or toxic gases.
Additional optional accessories include coloured rubber boots for multi-site or multi-application working.
To find out more about how you can help keep workers safe with gas detection equipment, contact us below.
