Safety company Pyroban is advising companies that their forklift engineers may need new training ahead of the introduction of the updated EN1755:2015 standard for explosion protected forklifts in November 2017.
“To remain effective and safe, explosion protected forklift trucks must be serviced and maintained by trained engineers,” explains Darren Boiling, Group After Sales Manager for Pyroban. “All engineers responsible for Pyroban explosion protected equipment in the field must first be trained to ensure they are qualified to work on the specific systems, and then regularly retrained to ensure their knowledge is in line with current product standards and legislation.”
Due to the nature of risk and complexity of the technologies involved, explosion protection is a highly-regulated market. From November, the updated EN1755 standard for explosion protected materials handling equipment has amended mandatory requirements which apply to new forklifts ordered from June 2017, as well as forklift maintenance. For example, the EN1755 standard has identified static electricity as a potential ignition risk during “normal” operation in Zone 2 applications, which means that, among other changes, there are new requirements for forklift batteries, seats and tyres.
“To ensure that works and maintenance engineers and managers know how the changes to EN1755 will affect their responsibilities, it’s essential to check that all training is up to date,” says Darren. “For example, to avoid downtime, engineers will now need to consider increased lead times for ordering specialist replacement components such as antistatic tyres or seats.”
To support engineers working on equipment in potentially explosive atmospheres ahead of the changes to EN1755, Pyroban offers training courses for works and maintenance engineers, field service engineers and service managers. Courses can include an introduction to explosion protection, methods of protection, requirements and standards, maintenance and inspection. The training, which is available year-round, supports fault diagnosis of Pyroban equipment, recommended maintenance schedules and is suitable for engineers working with Zone 1, 2, 21 and 22 diesel or electric equipment.
For further information or to enquire about training courses, visit www.pyroban.com or email training@pyroban.com .