Get Answers To Your Questions On Portable Gas Detection

Posted by: safetyinc - Tuesday, April 30, 2013

Join us on Tuesday May 7 for a webinar on Portable Gas Detection where a representative from Draeger Safety Inc will discuss this topic. He will cover:

- Different technologies associated with gas detection
- Selection of the appropriate instrument for an application
- Sensor technology in portable instruments

The webinar is free and is scheduled for 12 pm (ET). All are welcome to attend. Just log in at gotoWebinar.com
and use code 871-461-786. You can preregister at any time as well.

Meeting ANSI standards with Encon showers and Eyewashes

Posted by: safetyinc - Thursday, April 25, 2013

The American National Standards Institute came out with new standards between 1990 and 1998 regarding minimum safety to the user during irrigation operations of a shower or eyewash, ANSI Z358.1-2009.

The changes that occurred between the 1990 and 1998 standards focus on:

• Distance from the hazard and the shower – now 10 SECONDS from the hazard – It must be on the same level with no obstructions to access it.
• It must have high visibility signage – It must allow simultaneous operation of an emergency shower and eyewash
• The pressure must be 35 psi dynamic, flow 20gpm, 1 ½ line supply
• Combination units simultaneously could exceed 30 gpm
• Eyewash require 35 psi dynamic pressure, flow at 3.5 gpm, ¾” line
• Face wash require 35 psi dynamic pressure, flow at 8gpm, ½” line
• They also require annual inspections and weekly activations
• They require freeze protection for all units.
• They require that all plumbed units have tepid water, 78-92 degrees F

While hot water ceiling tanks are very common, they are known to have problems with bacteria and their performance issues fall short of what ANSI requires to maintain minimum safety to the user. Hot water heaters are often set to 85-90 degrees F but they need to be set at a minimum of 140 degrees F to prevent bacteria growth.

Either a blending valve or system will be needed. Requirements in selecting the proper system will depend on how many units would be used at the same time, what is the friction loss across the unit in full flow and what is the reaction of the by pass in the event of valve failure. In addition the blending system must be capable of blending and delivery 23-30 gpm. It also needs to be manufactured as a piece of safety equipment and meet the require reaction time of the bypass if the valve experiences a catastrophic failure.

Engineered systems are available from Encon to meet the objectives. All that is needed is to add water and power. They are designed either for indoor and outdoor applications whether electric, steam or air driven. These will allow you to meet the ANSI requirements for minimum safety to the user in safety showers and eyewashes.

Safety Inc offers many Encon showers and eyewashes, please see this link here to learn more. Or call 978-532-7330 or email sales (a) esafetyinc.com for additional information.

Visit Safety Inc at MASSbuys Conference – May 1-2, 2013, Worcester MA

Posted by: safetyinc - Wednesday, April 17, 2013

Visit our booth #1312A at the MASSbuys conference to learn about available contract pricing and other opportunities.

Safety Inc is on the Mass FIR03 – Statewide contract for:

• Fire/EMS, Police Equipment & Supplies, Safety Equipment, Calibration and Repair of Gas Detection and Other Instruments
• Portable Instruments – Full Service Center
• Calibration gases – Any Concentration, Any Cylinder size

Safety Inc is also a subcontractor to Parsons Brinckerhoff on DCAM Contract DCP077-EX1 Statewide for Subcontractor Facility Maintenance, Operation and Energy Advisory Services and Steam Trap Surveys.

If you are a purchaser or involved in procurement for equipment and services under statewide or multi-department contracts. MASSbuys is for you. Held at the Worcester DCU center on May 1 and 2, 2013, this event is free to attend.

Join Safety Inc at NEAIHA’s April Technical Meeting, April 24, with Casella CEL

Posted by: safetyinc - Friday, April 12, 2013

Join Safety Inc and Casella CEL at NEAIHA’s April Technical Meeting on April 24, at Ken’s Steak House, Framingham, MA.

Sponsored by Safety Inc and Casella CEL, this month’s NEAIHA Evening Technical Meeting will cover topics including:

“Demystifying the Conflicting Collection of Regulatory Compliance Guidelines and Emerging Research in Hand-Arm and Whole-Body Vibration” – Measurement standards and exposure assessment practices will be presented for occupational applications.

“What’s New in Noise?” – Offering a fresh look at a routine subject-new trends, tools and techniques to make a familiar and complex issue manageable in today’s regulatory environment.
Both topics will be presented by Rob Brauch, BA, Business Unit Manager for Casella CEL

Included in the evening will be **“Multi Drug Resistant Bacteria and the Implications for EH&S Professionals/Update on the “Super Bug”**  by Eileen McHale, BSN, Healthcare Associated Infection Coordinator, MA Dept. of Public Health

Agenda:
5:00-5:30pm – Registration
5:30-6:30pm – Update on Occupational Noise Control
6:30-7:00pm    - Buffet Dinner Selections
7:00-8:00pm – MDR Bacteria/”Super Bug”
8:00-9:00pm – Vibration Hazards in Workplace Environments
9:00pm – Questions/Closing Comments

Certification Maintenance Points:  The meeting agenda is planned to provide 3.0 technical contact hours, and may be eligible for ABIH, CM credit.

Held at: Ken’s Steak House, 95 Worcester Rd. (Rt. 9), Framingham, MA, (508) 875-4455,  www.kenssteakhouse.com

Directions:  Ken’s Steakhouse is located on the west-bound side of Route 9, approx. midway between the junctions of  Rt. 95/128 and Rt. 495.  Traveling west-bound on Rt. 9, Ken’s is on the right just past Shopper’s World, in the same parking lot as Borders Books.  See Ken’s web site (above) for detailed directions.

For more information or to register, download a brochure here or visit www.neaiha.org

Learn about Thermal Gloves with Mapa Glove at our Webinar on April 26

Posted by: safetyinc - Tuesday, April 9, 2013

Join us on Friday April 26 at 12pm (ET) to learn about Thermal Gloves with Mapa/Jarden.

This webinar is part of our free monthly series of educational webinars designed to provide information to our customers and potential customers so they can make better decisions with their safety products.

This webinar will cover topics such as:

Visit Safety Inc’s booth at SHCNNE’s NH Conference, April 9 & 10

Posted by: safetyinc - Thursday, April 4, 2013

Visit Safety Inc at the 42nd Annual New Hampshire Safety & Health Conference, April 9-10 at the Grappone Conference Center, Concord, NH.

Sponsored by SHCNNE, visit our booth at the show and receive a 10% discount on any website order, www.ESafetyInc.com, through April 30, 2013.

For more information or to register, download a brochure here or visit www.shcnne.org

Selecting Chemical Gloves

Posted by: safetyinc - Tuesday, February 12, 2013

There are some common misconceptions we see concerning chemical gloves:

• gloves of the same thickness and same material from different manufacturers perform the same
• thicker is better
• no visible wear to the glove means that the glove is fine to use again (or keep using).

Manufacturers of gloves make their own material, with their own formulation – a nitrile glove each manufacturer is a different nitrile material. Each formulation performs differently, so the only way to know how a glove will perform is to have permeation and degradation data from the manufacturer that makes the glove. If there isn’t data available, as is commonly the case with imported gloves and “private label” gloves, you have no way of knowing how the glove will perform (and no way to document that the glove is appropriate for the chemical hazard).

The wrong glove material won’t be the right protection if it’s thicker (although it may be a little better), and there’s no reason to buy a thicker glove if a thinner glove provides the right amount of protection. Thicker gloves reduce dexterity and can cause strain to the hands. The correct way to choose a glove is to identify the chemicals, understand how often and how long the chemical will be in contact with the glove, and then determine the right glove material based on permeation and degradation data. A thicker version of the correct glove material will provide longer usage times.

I mentioned both degradation and permeation above. Degradation is the breakdown of the glove material due to chemical contact – a change in the physical properties (cracking, swelling, etc.). Degradation is typically easily seen.

Permeation is molecules of the chemical passing through the glove material without changing the physical properties of the glove – it’s almost impossible to detect permeation, and it typically happens much faster than degradation. Think about it – a chemical glove is liquid-proof by definition, so it also doesn’t breath, meaning your hand is sweating. There’s no way for you to know when the moisture is sweat, and when it is the chemicals you’re wearing gloves to protect against. If you don’t have permeation data, you have no way of knowing how long the glove can safely be used.

- Joel Myerson, President

Gasmet FTIR – bringing lab-level detection capability to a portable instrument

Posted by: safetyinc - Wednesday, January 30, 2013

Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), as its name implies, is a fairly complex technology that has been used in laboratory instruments for decades to identify known and unknown gases down to ppb levels.

Every gas has a “spectral fingerprint” – a spectrum that shows how much infrared light the gas absorbs at each wavelength of the infrared spectrum.  Every gas has a spectrum that is unique to each gas – the amount of absorption at each wavelength is directly proportional to the level of the gas present.

FTIR instruments can speciate gases down to very low levels without any cross-interference issues.  There are very few gases that can not be measured with an FTIR instrument (because they don’t absorb infrared light) -  noble (or inert) gases; homonuclear diatomic gases (e.g., N2, Cl2, H2, F2, etc); and H2S (detection limit too high).  Every other gas can be measured.

While all FTIR instruments can measure the same gases, the lower detection limits (ldl) of FTIR instruments vary dramatically.  The table below shows some representative data for 5 gases – the first column shows the ldl for an FTIR portable unit that competes with the Gasmet dx4040 portable FTIR – the differences in ldls are dramatic.

Gas	Competitor	Gasmet
	FTIR LDL	DX4040 LDL
Hydrogen chloride	18 ppm	0.20 ppm
Ammonia	8.9 ppm	0.13 ppm
Methylene chloride	4.9 ppm	0.10 ppm
Benzene	1.2 ppm	0.13 ppm
Acetone	4.2 ppm	0.07 ppm

Fixed

• measuring hydrides and other semi-conductor gases down to low ppb levels
• continuous emissions monitoring systems (cems) for epa compliance
• on-line process measurement

Portable

• emergency response – measurement of known gases, and identification and measurement of unknown gases, including “terrorism” gases like sarin and mustard gas
• hospital gases – anesthetic gases, sterilizing gases, indoor air quality investigations
• industrial hygiene exposure studies
• greenhouse gas studies

Updating for the new year

Posted by: safetyinc - Thursday, January 17, 2013

At Safety Inc, we’ve added new office staff to our service group both to handle the increase in the number of instruments we’re servicing, and to provide a higher level of service.  Our goal is to service instruments in under 10 working days.

We’re looking at ways to better communicate to our customers the status of their repair order.

We also offer preventive maintenance plans – these allow both us and our customers to schedule work.  Maintenance plans are more cost effective than paying for service on individual orders, and also help prevent downtime and unexpected costs.

Visit our service page for more information on available options.

American Society of Safety Engineers – Nashua, NH

Posted by: safetyinc - Thursday, November 29, 2012

This week, November 27, 2012, we exhibited at the ASSE (American Society of Safety Engineers) regional conference in Nashua, NH.

As a past President of the Boston ASSE Chapter (1995-1996), this is always one of my favorite trade shows. I get a chance to catch up with old friends, some of whom served on the Board with me.

We featured the complete Draeger product line at this show. Attendees were impressed by Draeger’s advances in sensor technology for both portable and fixed gas detection. As the largest world wide manufacturer of gas detection, Draeger has the resources and expertise to patent dozens of innovations.

Some of the new Draeger portable gas detectors have 5 year warranties on the oxygen, carbon monoxide, and hydrogen sulfide sensors – this is astounding to people who are used to replacing the sensors in their instruments every 12-24 months (at a cost of $ 150-$ 250 per sensor!).

Draeger’s fixed gas detection group has also introduced many breakthrough in sensor technology – true predictive maintenance on electrochemical sensors, infrared sensors with multiple calibration curves on the transmitter, and carbon monoxide sensors that aren’t affected by the presence of hydrogen.