News

Adding fuel to the fire – an invisible enemy

15-11-06

During industrial processes, we are often adding’ fuel to the fire’ without realising it and possibly compromising our own safety and that of employees.

During many manufacturing, production and converting processes.  There are solvents, chemicals and a variety of other sources of flammable vapours and gases that can be responsible for workplace fires or in a worst case scenario, an explosion.

It is remarkable how many fabrication plants and manufacturing lines we have visited that have work centres producing such potentially combustible results that management is not fully aware of this simply because the danger is invisible to the naked eye.

This is where ducting systems are highly valuable. A predominantly closed ducting system, which begins at the work centre by using a hooded configuration, can move any potentially combustible by-product of manufacturing into a containment unit inside the work site or externally.

While we like to believe that all our manufacturers have suitable workplace safety systems, there are many potential sources capable of triggering a fire or explosion.  These include electrical sparks, air streams, hot surfaces, friction, static discharge and direct-fired burners in ovens and thermal oxidises.

It is never completely guaranteed that a workplace can remain completely free of a source of ignition, so think about how a ducted system can work to ensure the safety your employees by removing any potential source of danger before it rears its ugly head.

Nothing is perfect, but the best case scenario preventing fire or explosion is to limit the amount of flammable residual to a safe level.