Businesses with operations in potentially explosive atmospheres may be overlooking service requirements that are essential for keeping people safe, warns Pyroban.
“At the moment, many companies with a need for explosion protected lift trucks are choosing to extend the contracts for their ATEX forklifts or rent short-term hire units,” says Justine Wren, Sales and Marketing Director for Pyroban. “They may not realise this comes with safety implications.”
“It’s always important to keep people safe in potentially explosive atmospheres, which is no different today as it was six months ago,” she continues. “So, to ensure that trucks are properly protected when working in Zone 1, 2, 21 or 22, service, maintenance and inspections must not be delayed.”
In the UK, guidance from British Industrial Truck Association (BITA), Fork Lift Truck Association (FLTA) and the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has stated that despite the current circumstances disrupting ‘normal’ operations, “scheduled maintenance, repairs and statutory inspections must be considered essential ongoing activities.”
This applies to checks such as Pyroban’s Annual Safety Audits for explosion protected materials handling equipment, known as Ex-ASAs. During this thorough audit, all safety critical components of Pyroban’s explosion protection system are inspected and recorded, including Exd enclosures, cables and glands, shutdown devices, conductivity, and fork cladding.
“An Ex-ASA is recommended yearly to ensure your equipment is fully protected and working correctly, so those rolling-on their contracts or bringing short term hire equipment onto their sites must check when a safety audit was last conducted,” says Justine, explaining that the Pyroban Ex-ASA also supports compliance with the ATEX 1999/92/EC directive and EN60079-17 standard.
Pyroban is currently able to deliver its usual Ex-ASA on a customer site as long as government social distancing rules are observed and hygiene measures are taken accordingly. Service engineers can also visit sites for maintenance and repairs, while further technical support is still available for installation, commissioning, fault-finding and repair.
A Pyroban Ex-ASA can be booked now by emailing audits@pyroban.com or visiting https://www.pyroban.com/support/annual-safety-audits/.
Find out more at www.pyroban.com or call (+44) 01273 456825 to speak to a member of the Customer Service team.