Strict regulations are synonymous with hazardous environments. Despite this, changes to legislation can still cause disruption. Marek Lukaszczyk European and Middle East marketing manager at WEG a leading global manufacturer of motors and drives , explains the changing regulations for hazardous area motors and how the new energy efficiency requirements could provide significant financial gain.
“We are ready to ensure organisations are doing all they can to keep people safe as they return to work”: Mike Robinson, British Safety Council chief executive
The British Safety Council has today launched a new COVID-10 Assurance Assessment Service to support organisations returning to work. A detailed return to work guide can be used across all sectors and will enable organisations around the world to develop robust new processes and protocols to keep employers and their customers safe. The service is designed to ensure that employers manage the risk of transmission of COVID-19 as far as is possible within their workplace.
In recent years, the ‘REMBE Safety Days’ series of events has repeatedly made Brilon a meeting place for global explosion safety and process safety. The content of the events was to present and discuss current topics in these areas as well as to create a platform for networking. In November 2019, 150 participants from five continents were welcomed to the Sauerland region. Unfortunately, no live events can take place due to the current situation. In order to nevertheless enable such an important exchange of knowledge, REMBE is offering a digital version of the REMBE Safety Days.
Whether in a workplace or public environment, the importance of people’s safety should always be a top priority.
There are various areas that can become slippery and dangerous when in contact with water and other liquids such as production floors, ramps, stairs, loading bays and walkways. These areas can present serious injuries and costly repercussions if not treated with proper care and responsibility. In Great Britain alone, there were over 69,208 employee non-fatal injuries reported by employers in 2018/19 (RIDDOR). From that figure, 29% of those incidents were categorized as slips, trips or falls on the same level.
Plastic Jesus is a Los Angeles-based street artist best known for his bold “Stop Making Stupid People Famous” stencil art and biting Academy Award-themed installations. These days, however, he’s turning his attention to the urgent need hospital medical staff have for personal protective equipment (PPE), including face shields.
He’s adapted his 1000 sq. ft. studio to the fabrication of face shields for use by overworked doctors and nurses caring for critically ill patients requiring intubation prior to mechanical ventilation. Although it is standard practice for all members of the care team to wear a face shield during the intubation procedure, a severe shortage of face shields has meant that often only one face shield is available – and that is used by the physician actually doing the intubation.
Businesses throughout London and Birmingham can now easily and responsibly dispose of face masks, gloves and other forms of workplace personal protective equipment (PPE), thanks to a new dedicated PPE disposal service from leading waste and recycling company, First Mile.
Many businesses will be using PPE to minimise the risk of Covid-19 transmission to both staff and customers, and it’s likely this will continue to rise as more and more businesses open. Often these PPE items will be disposed of within the workplace, requiring a proper disposal route to complete the Covid-secure chain.
There are a few things that will (eventually) get us all to the other side of the COVID-19 pandemic. Across the globe, everyone is hoping for an effective treatment or vaccine. The possibility of a viable vaccine that can be licensed and mass produced remains a distant prospect for the coming year. There is hope that ongoing trials and research into potential treatments may produce successful drug therapy within a few months. Nevertheless, there are non-pharmaceutical interventions that will have an impact on when we will emerge from “quarantine fog,” and what it will be like when we do.
STEGO Heater CREx 020, Compact Thermostat REx 011:
Air as a medium can be malicious to electrical and electronic appliances. Absorption and release of water in the air within control cabinets creates the potential for the formation of condensate. Condensate, in turn, carries out corrosion processes on sensitive components and can freeze at minus degrees. Thermal Man-agement specialist STEGO also offers the right answer for hazardous environments.
With the government announcement on 10th May of its ‘road map out of lockdown’, in England at least, if you work in manufacturing, engineering or construction, or can’t do your job from home, you’ll now be able to return to work providing you can maintain social distancing. This is the first step in a phased process with 100% ‘normality’ still some months down the line.
The types of workplaces now permitted to re-open are sites where health and safety and environmental monitoring are key considerations. As well as arrangements for PPE, hand sanitisation, social distancing and effective cleaning regimes, a large number of sites will have environmental monitoring needs, many of which may be uniquely linked to the lockdown circumstances.
Hi-line Industries, the UK’s leading designer, manufacturer and installer of air/gas dryers and nitrogen generators, is lending its support to the NHS in combating the current COVID-19 pandemic.
The company’s fabrication department have been working round the clock to build and despatch medical gas dryers for a number of new NHS Nightingale and existing hospitals, supplying equipment against stringent deadlines. As key workers in the crisis, their service department is remaining open to support the NHS and customers in essential industries such as medical, healthcare and food manufacturing.
