Albion helping remove hazards from the workplace

Albion Valves, an increasingly popular UK valves supplier believes that more can be done to help further reduce the number of incidents, especially in industries such as building services, construction and manufacturing, where manual occupations have one of the highest occurrences of workplace injuries.

In the UK during 2015/2016, 144 people were killed at work. The same year there were 76 000 reported injuries at work under RIDDOR (Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations). Also that year 27.3 million working days were lost due to work-related illness and injury.

Although there has been improvement in health and safety at work, statistics still reveal a huge cost to human life and quality of life, as well as financial implications for businesses in dealing with the consequences.

To help promote safer working environments, Albion is urging specifiers and engineers to be vigilant and ensure the products they are sourcing for industrial and building services applications have the correct accreditations and are fit for purpose.

Many industrial and construction workplaces have operations that create explosive atmospheres, including activities which release flammable gases or vapours, such as paint spraying or handling dust such as grain, flour or wood.

This is a potentially a dangerous environment on two levels; whereby explosions can cause loss of life and serious injury as well as significant damage and poisonous gases can cause long-term respiratory problems for those in direct contact.

The ATEX certification mark is designed to minimise the risk of fire or explosion arising from dangerous substances in the workplace. Industrial products displaying this mark means that the equipment is suitable for use in an explosive or combustible environment.

Albion has secured ATEX accreditation across their range of stainless steel valves certified for use in potentially explosive environments, and guaranteed not to spark if they come into contact with a combustible foreign body.

Another major safety threat posed to engineers and industrial work staff is in environments with high-pressure systems operating above 0.5 bars. In this instance pipework, valves and fittings are required to be compliant with the Pressure Equipment Directive (PED) to ensure the equipment is able to withstand pressure and prevent system's bursting.

A common and potentially lethal occurrence in this situation is when relief valves are specified to do the job of a safety valve. Both safety valves and pressure relief valves are used as the last safety device in a pressure system, however engineers and specifiers need to be mindful that requirements can vary significantly from system to system.

In applications where PED is applicable, it is mandatory to use safety valves with the appropriate approvals. If a valve without type test approval is installed there is no guarantee that required blow-off at 10% would be reached, which poses a big safety risk. In order to help clarify which component is required, Albion has introduced an extensive range of PED compliant safety products.

Working with gas is one of the most hazardous industrial occupations; in the UK natural gas is distributed through a 275 000 km network of buried pipes to domestic, commercial and industrial users. Dangerous and illegal gas work carries high penalties, and careful network management and equipment procurement is of paramount importance in this field.

To help get the basics right Albion's range of brass ball valves for gas applications is verified with industry standard EN331 from BSI (British Standards Institution) assuring products meet the optimum standards for quality and reliability and safety.

Les Littlewood, Albion Valves (UK) Ltd, Sales Director commented:

"At Albion we do the utmost to ensure that engineers and anyone working in potentially dangerous situations and using our products can do so with complete confidence.

We are also aware that health and safety legislation and keeping up to date with new regulations can be a complicated and time-consuming process, which is why we have a dedicated quality team to ensure our products are all fit for purpose.

If distributors are in any doubt about the best product for the job they should speak to our team of experts for detailed product support."

Read the article online at: https://www.worldcement.com/europe-cis/26102016/albion-helping-remove-hazards-from-the-workplace/