Helping you stay safe during the BBQ season

Who doesn’t love a summer BBQ? Come rain or shine we light up our BBQs with usually the only worries being whether it will rain, or the sausages are fully cooked through.

While these are important, (especially making sure the sausages are cooked!) many of us are completely unaware of the potential risks.

Carbon monoxide is a gas that has received its fair share of publicity with many of us installing detectors in our homes and businesses, but completely unaware carbon monoxide is associated with our BBQs.

If the weather is poor, we may decide to barbeque in the garage doorway or under a tent or canopy. Some of us may even bring our BBQs into the tent after use. These can all be potentially fatal as the carbon monoxide collects in these confined areas.

Equally with a propane or butane gas canister, we store in our garages, sheds and even our homes unaware that there is a risk of a potentially deadly combination of an enclosed space, a gas leak and a spark from an electrical device. All of which could cause an explosion.

All of that said, BBQs are here to stay and if we use them safely, are a great way to spend a summer afternoon. So, here is a selection of facts and tips from our safety team at Crowcon which we hope will help you enjoy a safe and delicious summer ahead!

Quick facts and tips about BBQ charcoals:

Carbon monoxide is a colourless and odourless gas so just because we can’t smell or see it, doesn’t mean it’s not there
Carbon monoxide is a by-product of burning fossil fuels, which include charcoal and BBQ gas
Always use your BBQ in a well-ventilated open area as it can accumulate to toxic levels in enclosed spaces
Never bring a charcoal into a tent, even if it seems cold. Remember a smouldering BBQ will still give off carbon monoxide
Be aware and act quickly if someone experiences the symptoms of carbon monoxide poisoning which include headaches, dizziness, breathlessness, nausea, confusion, collapse and unconsciousness. These symptoms can be potentially fatal

Quick facts and tips about gas cannisters:

Gas barbecues tend to use propane, butane or LPG (which is a mixture of the two)
Gas BBQs have holes in the bottom to prevent a build-up of gas. This is because gas is heavier than air so will accumulate in low areas or fill a space from the bottom up
To avoid the accumulation of gas, cannisters should always be stored outside, upright, in a well-ventilated area, away from heat sources, and away from enclosed low spaces
If you store your BBQ in the garage, make sure you disconnect the gas cannister and keep this outside
When you are using your BBQ, keep the cannister to one side so it isn’t underneath and close to the heat source and position the BBQ in an open space
Always keep the cannister away from ignition sources when changing cannisters
Always make sure you turn off the gas at the BBQ as well as on the regulator on the cannister, after use

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Explosion hazards in inerted tanks and how to avoid them

Hydrogen sulphide (H₂S) is known for being extremely toxic, as well as highly corrosive. In an inerted tank environment, it poses an additional and serious hazard combustion which, it is suspected, has been the cause of serious explosions in the past.

Hydrogen sulphide can be present in %vol levels in “sour” oil or gas. Fuel can also be turned ‘sour’ by the action of sulphate-reducing bacteria found in sea water, often present in cargo holds of tankers. It is therefore important to continue to monitor the level of H₂S, as it can change, particularly at sea. This H₂S can increase the likelihood of a fire if the situation is not properly managed.

Tanks are generally lined with iron (sometimes zinc-coated). Iron rusts, creating iron oxide (FeO). In an inerted headspace of a tank, iron oxide can react with H₂S to form iron sulphide (FeS). Iron sulphide is a pyrophore; which means that it can spontaneously ignite in the presence of oxygen

Excluding the elements of fire

A tank full of oil or gas is an obvious fire hazard under the right circumstances. The three elements of fire are fuel, oxygen and an ignition source. Without these three things, a fire can’t start. Air is around 21% oxygen. Therefore, a common means to control the risk of a fire in a tank is to remove as much air as possible by flushing the air out of the tank with an inert gas, such as nitrogen or carbon dioxide. During tank unloading, care is taken that fuel is replaced with inert gas rather than air. This removes the oxygen and prevents fire starting.

By definition, there is not enough oxygen in an inerted environment for a fire to start. But at some point, air will have to be let into the tank – for maintenance staff to safety enter, for example. There is now the chance for the three elements of fire coming together. How is it to be controlled?

Oxygen has to be allowed in
There may be present FeS, which the oxygen will cause to spark
The element that can be controlled is fuel.

If all the fuel has been removed and the combination of air and FeS causes a spark, it can’t do any harm.

Monitoring the elements

From the above, it is obvious how important it is to keep track of all the elements that could cause a fire in these fuel tanks. Oxygen and fuel can be directly monitored using an appropriate gas detector, like Gas-Pro TK. Designed for these specialist environments, Gas-Pro TK automatically copes with measuring a tank full of gas (measured in %vol) and a tank nearly empty of gas (measured in %LEL). Gas-Pro TK can tell you when oxygen levels are low enough to be safe to load fuel or high enough for staff to safely enter the tank. Another important use for Gas-Pro TK is to monitor for H₂S, to allow you judge the likely presence of the pryophore, iron sulphide.

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Servicing for safety… A visit to the oil refinery

Working in the office makes it easy to focus on the individual tasks and get detached from how our products are making a difference to people’s lives. One of our customers was kind enough to facilitate an onsite visit so that Andrea (our Halma Future Leader on a marketing placement) could see first-hand how our products are used and who the end users are. This meant a visit to an oil refinery to see where our Crowcon portable gas detectors are used.

“The main thing that surprised me was the sheer size of the site. The oil refinery was very spaced out and it took us 10 minutes to walk from the entrance of the site to where the Crowcon engineer’s based. The engineers and employees around different parts of the refinery wore Hi Vis jackets, big safety boots, hard hats and all appeared to have personal gas detectors. During a quick site tour, I learned the products of the oil refinery are not limited to gas or petrol, but also tar, asphalt, lubricants, washing up liquid, paraffin wax and much more.

The products are all stored in big containers with pipes all over the site. Most of the products are highly flammable which explains the big focus on safety. In the distance, there were a few dome shaped containers which are pressurised vessels. If one of them were to explode, it would have a 10 mile blast radius. Suddenly I had the urge to leave and drive about 10 miles.

Crowcon’s engineer base was full of orange T4s, Gas-Pros as well as an army of “Daleks”, I mean Detectives, awaiting calibration and service. While the harshness of this industrial environment was evident from their appearance, they were otherwise in good working order, and the service engineer worked through the devices quickly.

The end users think of them as a simple device they have to wear to do their job, and they like the simplicity and reliability of Crowcon devices. The Detectives get thrown around and Gas-Pros are almost black is comparison to the usual orange, which just showcases how important the robustness of our devices is. The dangers of this working environment are not generally a big concern to the users, this is everyday life to them. Our devices help ensure they go home after a tough shift. Ensuring the devices are functioning properly is down to the service engineers, and they need to think for the users to ensure that the devices are being used properly.

Seeing Crowcon’s devices being used and the number of times someone enquired if the devices are calibrated and ready to go back into action, highlighted just how important use of portables as part of the safety regime is considered. “Quality” and “robust” is how users describe Crowcon products and even though they may now treat them like the life saving devices they are, the devices are regularly used and valued. They make a very flammable and dangerous environment a safer place to be.”

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Changes to Workplace Exposure Limits (WELs)

What Are Work Place Exposure Limits?

Workplace exposure limits (WELs) provide a legal maximum level for harmful substances in order to control working conditions.

Directive and National Standards

The EU Directive 2017/164 establishes new ‘indicative occupational exposure limit values’ (IOELVs) for a number of toxic substances. The UK Health & Safety Executive (HSE) has decided to change UK statutory limits to reflect the new IOELVs. This decision by the HSE has been taken to comply with Articles 2 and 7 of the Directive requiring Member States to establish the new occupational exposure limit values within national standards by August 21^st 2018.

Gas Detector Alarm Thresholds

The exposure limits defined in this Directive 2017/164 are based on the risks of personal exposure: a workers’ exposure to toxic substances over time. The limits (configured into gas detectors as ‘TWA alarm levels’) are expressed over two time periods:

STEL (short-term exposure limit): a 15 minute limit
LTEL (long-term exposure limit): an 8-hour limit

Portable (personal) monitors are intended to be worn by the user near to their breathing zone so that the instrument can measure their exposure to gas. The instruments TWA (time-weighted) alarms will therefore alert the user when their exposure exceeds the limits set within the national standards.

Portable monitors can also be configured with ‘instantaneous’ alarms which activate immediately when the gas concentration exceeds the threshold. There are no standards to define alarm levels for instantaneous alarms, and so we have these generally set at the same thresholds as the TWA alarms. Some of the new TWA thresholds are low enough to make frequent false alarms a significant problem if they were also adopted for the instantaneous alarm setting. Therefore, new portable instruments will retain the current instantaneous alarm thresholds.

Fixed gas detectors only utilise ‘instantaneous’ alarms as they are not worn by the user and therefore cannot measure an individuals’ exposure to gas over time. Alarm levels for fixed detectors are often based on the TWA alarms as these are the only published guidelines. HSE document RR973 (Review of alarm setting for toxic gas and oxygen detectors) provides guidance on setting appropriate alarm levels for fixed detectors in consideration of site conditions and risk assessment. In some applications where there may be a background of gas it may be appropriate for fixed detector alarm levels to be set higher than those listed in EH40 to prevent repeated false alarms.

Re-configuration of Gas Detector Alarm Thresholds

Users of portable gas detectors who choose to adjust their instrument alarm thresholds to align with the Directive can easily do-so using a variety of accessories available from Crowcon. For full details of calibration and configuration accessories visit the product pages at www.crowcon.com.

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Why enter into an apprenticeship at Crowcon?

“Working at Crowcon provides me with all the necessary skills required to become a competent engineer within the industry.” Noah Fisher

Apprenticeships are more than just a qualification. They allow you to become a professional in your chosen trade area, earning a wage whilst making a real impact in the business.

Whilst building your engineering career through an apprenticeship scheme at Crowcon, you’ll get experience in a work environment day-to-day in parallel with also gaining the benefits from experienced colleagues and mentors who can help you build your skills and take them straight into the workplace.

Key benefits to an apprenticeship:

Learn and earn money at the same time
Gain a nationally recognised qualification
Get relevant and practical experiences
Have full support, guidance and training
Broaden your knowledge and skillset
Network and collaborate with colleagues
Future career prospects

There is great scope to earn good rates of pay working as an engineer – across a variety of specialisms as your career develops.

Hear what some of our current apprentices have to say:

“For anyone looking to start an apprenticeship I would say go for it, as it has been a great experience for me because you get to carry out practical activities on site at Crowcon and the theory side at college on a day release type format. This is vital as it gives me the knowledge behind carrying out certain activities and it all links together with my everyday work.” Ryan Jones

“For someone who was interested in technology and how things work in different industries, it was inevitable that engineering would be sector in which I chose to pursue a career. However, I am also a person who wouldn’t prefer to be learning in a classroom every day. Therefore, apprenticeships allow you to work in real world environments giving the options to gain the essential experience needed for future careers choices.

Working for an established company like Crowcon provided a clear training programme, both in and out of the workplace that would provide me with the skills and knowledge to progress further within the engineering industry. Given the support provided by the company I have been able to push myself in the classroom to achieve the very best. This was reflected in being awarded a variety of accolades on both local and national levels during my time here at Crowcon.” Vikesh Patel

We’re always looking at recruiting apprentices and graduate engineers to support in achieving recognised qualifications from NVQs at Level 2 to BTECs, HNC and in some disciplines, such as finance or purchasing, post graduate or professional certificates.

Home grown talent will be the differentiator of the future. The cost of higher education is making many re-think the automatic study routes. It is no longer necessary to become burdened with a large debt, via full time study, to achieve your potential in the work place. Vocational career paths are finally becoming more widely available, with a multitude of opportunities and development routes.

People Development is at the heart of our business success and working collaboratively to release the wider potential within our business is how Crowcon will continue to go from strength to strength.

Following a successful completion of the 3 year apprenticeship, you could follow a similar path to previous apprenticeships with scope to move into an engineering role after a few years in the Line Technician position. Previous apprentices have taken roles in Test & Verification, Quality Engineering, and Manufacturing Engineering.

After all, why would you take a job, when you can have a career?

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Don’t get caught in a tight space!

OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health Administration) has released a factsheet (29 CFR 1926 Subpart AA) on all the rules and regulations of residential workers in confined spaces. OSHA works to assure the safety and health of all of America’s working people.

This blog highlights what we think are the key points.

Well, how is a confined space defined?

OSHA defines these as

has limited entry and exits
larger enough for workers to enter
not intended for regular occupancy

Confined space sites could be drains, manholes, water mains, sewer systems, crawl spaces, attics, heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning systems.

There are two different variants on confined spaces. Those that contain hazardous conditions and those that do not contain a physical hazard to the individual.

A confined space that contains hazardous conditions could be considered a permit-required space under the new regulations (PRCS). These spaces might be dangerous to the life of the worker if the space hasn’t been investigated, tested and controlled.

Spaces that tend not to be permit-required confined spaces generally do not contain life threatening hazards. Attics, basements and crawl spaces have a smaller risks but still fall into new regulations.

I’m an employer. What do I need to do?

Evaluate the space! If hazardous conditions are present, a permit specifying safety measures and names of those permitted in the space must be written before any work can take place.
Inform employees! Let your employees know all the facts. Does a workplace contain a confined space? Is this a permit-required space? All workers should be informed of these hazards – these only needs to be a signpost for entry and exit points if required.
Protection! Attempt to remove or isolate any hazards that may be present in the space.
Have the right equipment! Check out our range of Portables that would help protect your employees from hazardous gases.
Train your staff! Workers should be aware of the dangers and understand any hazards in places permits are required.

Still not clear? Don’t worry, the factsheet offers insight and obligations for all kinds of employers.

Under the new standards, the obligation of the employer will depend on what type of employer they are. The controlling contractor is the main point of contact for any information about PRCS on site.

Host employer: The employer who owns or manages the property where the construction work is taking place.
Controlling contractor: The employer who has overall responsibility for construction at the worksite.
Entry employer or Sub Contractor: Any employer who decides that an employee it directs will enter a permit-required confined space.

How are the new regulations different to the previously applied rules?

The guidelines require employers to figure out what confined spaces their employees are working in, what hazards there are and how these can be made safer, develop rescue plans and ensuring staff training.

For all the facts, visit https://www.osha.gov/Publications/OSHA3914.pdf

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Working together for safety at sea

Crowcon Detection Instruments is working together with Solent University’s Warsash School of Maritime Science and Engineering – all in the name of teaching engineering cadets, senior Merchant Navy officers, and Superyacht crews.

Solent delivers world-renowned yacht and powerboat design degree programmes, a suite of international maritime studies courses and a wide range of specialist support services for the maritime industry. It is also conducting a large number of research studies that make a real impact on industry thought leadership.

Their partnership with Crowcon makes good sense! The marine environment is a dangerous one – and not just the more obvious hazards like high seas, storms, or rocks and coral reefs. Confined spaces on ships, high-risk cargo, and on-ship processes all present potential gas hazards.

To keep mariners safe, gas monitoring equipment is essential. Gas detection equipment requires specific marine environment testing and certification to ensure suitability to the extreme environments it operates in. The European Marine Equipment Directive (MED) approval is internationally recognised. Gas detectors used by mariners onboard a vessel registered in an EU country must hold MED approval, and show the wheel mark to demonstrate compliance.

Crowcon has provided the university with demonstration T4 portable multi gas detectors. T4 provides effective protection against the four most common gas hazards experienced in the marine industry, and is robust and tough enough to deal with the demanding marine environments. T4 is ideally suited to help vessels comply with multiple SOLAS requirements which dictate the need for gas detection onboard vessels.

John Gouch, lecturer at Solent University, said: “I have used Crowcon instruments in industry for many years, and know how reliable and trustworthy their gas detectors are. Since joining Warsash 18 months ago, I have been keen to ensure students understand the important part gas detection plays within the on-board safety system.”

“By using demo units of these detectors within our marine engineering courses, we can show the importance of gas detection in a marine environment to hundreds of seafarers and mariners, keeping as many people as possible aware and safe.”

Louise Early, Head of Marketing at Crowcon, said: “We’re really pleased with our partnership with Solent University. By developing our relationship with training establishments, our safety message gets out to the people who will benefit most. We are always keen to learn from industry and this programme also offers Crowcon further insight into the way in which our equipment is used.”

For more information, visit the Solent University website, or the marine section of our industries page.

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Sapphire hunters saved!

The Mine Hunters are on the search for sapphires. In this episode they head to South Western Madagascar, to one of the few places in the world where a single mine can produce sapphires of every color of the rainbow.

After a wall collapse, oxygen depletion is the biggest danger they face in these dangerous environments – tunnels which have been sealed off for some time, are long, narrow, and go deep under ground.

Unfortunately miner Fred runs out of Oxygen whilst inspecting the first muddy pit mine. His Tetra 3 gas detector goes in to alarm, allowing his friends to pull him out quickly and safely. Although the team here is on a budget, the one piece of kit they can not go without is clear – a life saving gas detector!

View the video here

Read more about the Mine Hunters series and watch other episodes.

Find out more about the Tetra 3 Gas Detector and other interesting applications such as Volcano research

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Life Offshore

Many of you may have wondered what life is really like offshore? To fly in a helicopter to work in the middle of the sea? To work 12-hour shifts for 14 days straight, surrounded by dangerous equipment and hazardous materials?

Continue reading “Life Offshore”

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Carbon Dioxide – Friend and Foe?

Carbon dioxide (CO₂) gas is commonly used in the manufacture of popular beverages. The leak at the Greene King brewery in Bury St Edmunds (UK) last week, is a reminder of the importance of effective gas detection. It resulted in twenty workers having to be rescued by emergency services and local residents being evacuated. So what is carbon dioxide, why is it dangerous and why do we have to monitor it carefully?

Continue reading “Carbon Dioxide – Friend and Foe?”

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