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maintenance & Housekeeping
Safer fume cupboards
Tarmac Southern > Somerset > 01373 812800
www.safequarry.com
Due to the risks of inhalation and splash / irritation, all
processes using methylene chloride are carried out within
the confines of a fume cupboard. However, this does not
entirely eliminate hazards, as human error can lead to
fume cupboard doors being left open.
The team at the Halecombe Quarry laboratory has
developed a cheap and simple adaptation for fume cupboards which further reduces hazards – by creating
an automatic “shut off” when the doors to the fume cupboard are opened.
The use of isolation switches on the cupboard doors enables the air
supply to the pressure filter to be cut, and the pressure in the filter
released whenever the cupboard doors are opened – preventing
splash and inhalation hazards. Isolator switches are fitted to the fume
cupboard door, which allow the air supply unit to function only when
the cupboard doors are shut. When the doors are shut, the electric
circuit is complete and the valve can be opened, allowing air to pass
into the pressure filter. When the doors are open, the valve closes,
allowing the air to drain from the filter and release the pressure.
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Lids for settlement tanks
CEMEX UK Materials > Borough Green Landfill, Kent > 01622 791301
As part of its site operating plan, CEMEX’s Borough Green Landfill has to provide a vehicle
wheel wash which recycles all water without discharge.
on
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To allow free flow of water and silt, the settlement tanks were placed into the ground, but this presented
obvious safety issues. As an alternative to handrails – which could not guard against incidents outside
of working hours – CEMEX installed three weld mesh lids on rails which were both transparent for
operational reasons and strong enough to support pedestrian traffic. When the tanks need to be emptied,
padlocks are removed and the lids are moved back and forth to enable the removal of the material in each
compartment.
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Pan mixers – high-pressure wash system
Tarmac Northern > Cambusnethan House, Motherwell > 01698 575503
The need to enter the mixers at this Bellshill plant for their daily cleaning has been dramatically reduced
with the trial of an automatic wash system. High pressure water from spray heads cleans all areas of the
mixer with lids in position. As well as avoiding the dangers associated with entering the mixer, the new
process is also far less time-consuming – taking 15 minutes, rather than one hour. Servicing is also required
more infrequently and the life of the wear plates has doubled.
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Changing bucket toe-plate
Tarmac Southern > Park Farm Quarry, Bury St. Edmunds > 01284 728931
At Park Farm Quarry (Tarmac Southern, Bury St. Edmunds), the manual handling risks involved in
changing a toe-plate have been substantially reduced, principally by the purchase of a torque multiplier
(10:1 gearing) and the fabrication of a stand to support the toe-plate at waist height.