Managing the Risk of Legionella in Emergency Safety Showers and Eye Washes

Friday, 6th September 2019

Legionnaires’ disease is contracted when bacteria in water droplets or aerosols are inhaled into the lungs. Certain conditions allow Legionella bacteria to multiply rapidly and increase the risk of an outbreak, these include temperatures between 20-45 C, stagnated water and areas that produce a lot of water spray. As such, emergency safety showers and eye wash units, which can often remain unused for extended periods, should be managed effectively to reduce the risk of Legionella bacteria growing, surviving and spreading.

Employers must identify and assess sources of risk, prepare a scheme to prevent or control risk, implement, manage, monitor and keep records of precautions, and appoint a knowledgeable manager.

Guidance on controlling the risk of Legionnaires disease is readily available from bodies such as the Health and Safety Executive and the Water Management Society.

Here we aim to summarise ways to manage the risk within emergency safety showers and eye wash units.

Water Quality
Use a clean, potable water supply.

Supply Pipelines
As the unit can remain idle for prolonged periods, the risk assessment must take into consideration the condition of the supply line and construction materials.

Stored (tank) Water
Emergency tank showers which store water must be maintained to potable quality standards. The tank should remain clean and contaminant free.

Water Temperature
ANSI and European standards recommend tepid water as the flushing fluid in the event of a chemical spill, between 16-38 C. Unfortunately, Legionella pneumophila thrive in temperatures between 20-45 C. When assessing the risk, the water temperature should be taken into consideration but not to the detriment of the proper use and set-up of the safety equipment.

Weekly Activation Test
Weekly activation of any safety shower or eye wash is essential. The volume of water held in the stagnant zone compared to the volume replaced during routine weekly flushing should be assessed to ensure any sediment build up is minimised.

Service and Maintenance
A regular service and maintenance plan should be in place to ensure all parts of the equipment is clean and functioning such as nozzles, shower heads and ‘Y’ strainers. This would also include annual disinfection of the water storage tank in the case of emergency tank showers.

It should be remembered that this is life-saving equipment, managing the risk of Legionella is a secondary consideration and must not diminish the function of the primary objective of the safety shower or eye wash – to protect an individual in the event of an accidental exposure to hazardous chemicals.
Now available, onsite Legionella testing, book with your next Hughes service.

Survitec Sets New Standard in Lifejacket Safety With The Introduction of Halo

Friday, 6th September 2019

Safety and survival partner Survitec has introduced a completely new lifejacket designed to provide helicopter transfer passengers with a level of safety, comfort and in-water performance not currently available in the energy aviation sector.

Unveiled today at the SPE Offshore Europe exhibition, in Aberdeen, Scotland, the Halo passenger lifejacket now provides operators with the most advanced lifejacket solution available for helicopter transfer safety.

“Having launched the first passenger transfer lifejacket with compressed air in 2014, Halo was the next logical step in our mission to continuously evolve and keep our customers as safe as possible,” said Ross Wilkinson, Survitec Vice President, Northern Europe.

“With more than 60 years’ market-leading experience in lifejacket design, coupled with extensive industry insights we have been able to design a lifejacket that sets a new standard in helicopter transfer safety. Halo is a huge step forward in lifejacket comfortability and safety performance,” Wilkinson said.

Incorporating a fully integrated Emergency Breathing System (EBS), featuring a carbon composite cylinder, braided low pressure hose and second stage with integrated nose clip, Halo is significantly lighter than existing products.

At just 949g the bespoke Survitec EBS is 43% lighter than previous Survitec models and 30% lighter than competing emergency breathing systems. With a working pressure of 310 bar, the composite cylinder provides 80% more breathable air than the industry minimum standard.

Nigel Parkes, Head of Lifejacket Design, Survitec, said: “Halo is the first aviation lifejacket to utilise Fusion 3D technology, allowing for a much more ergonomic jacket that adapts to the shape of the wearer for enhanced comfort. Particular attention has been paid to improving comfort around the neck and arms. This, combined with the lifejacket’s slimline profile and the reduction in EBS size, takes into consideration the restrictive space and movement within the helicopter cabin – allowing for greater freedom of movement for the wearer during transit.”

In response to customer feedback, Survitec has incorporated bright orange Hi-Vis beaded inflation toggles, allowing for quick and easy activation. A quick-lock front buckle and easy-to-adjust straps aide quick donning.

“From day-to-day wear to deployment in an emergency situation, intuitive use, and end-user experience have been central to Halo’s development,” said Parkes. “We have gained invaluable feedback from a number of leading organisations in the industry and used this to drive the design forward, ensuring we not only meet our customers’ needs but go beyond their requirements.”

Above all it’s what’s inside that counts. Integral to Halo’s design has been the performance technology built into the lifejacket bladder, significantly increasing the safety of the user.

Should Halo need to be activated in-water, a unique buoyancy distribution system has been built in the lifejacket to offer exceptional turning speeds and increased mouth freeboard. Rotating the wearer to a face-up position, in less than three seconds, it protects the wearer’s airway and improves both body angle and face plane.

Additionally, Halo is the only aviation lifejacket offering unparalleled chin support helping further to keep the airway fully clear of the water.

It has long been known that the use of a hood can reduce the risk of secondary drowning. Survitec’s spray hood concept works with the inflated bladder to increase visibility, reduce heat loss and keep the wearer’s airway clear.

The Halo also includes the new AU10-HTS personal location beacon (PLB) developed by Marine Rescue Technologies (MRT). This state-of-the-art PLB is capable of showing all man-overboard casualties within AIS chart plotter areas, allowing search and rescue responses to be executed quickly and more effectively.

Crane Vehicle for Flood Damaged Dales

Monday, 2nd September 2019

Utilising their crane vehicle fleet to provide a flexible transport and offloading solution, Collett deliver four giant steel tubes to the Yorkshire Dales.

After a month’s worth of rain fell in just two hours, Cogden Beck bridge was completely destroyed by boulders and debris washed down in the early August floods.

Collett have delivered the components for developers to construct a temporary structure. Loaded to a Mercedes-Benz Actros 8×4 complete with 80 Tonne/Metre crane, Collett transported the cargoes the 90 miles from Cleveland Steel & Tubes Depot to the remote delivery site in Grinton in the Yorkshire Dales.

With the remoteness of the site and the restricted space, crane hire would not be an option, therefore Collett utilised their crane vehicle fleet to provide the ideal cost effective solution.

Featuring 5 boom extensions and a maximum lifting capacity of 23 Tonnes at 2.75 metres, utilising this crane vehicle allowed the Collett Team to deliver each of the four 14 Tonne tube sections directly to the river bed.

Once in place the tubes will be used to divert the waterway, allowing for the construction of a temporary bridge and restoring access for residents and tourist, with the construction of a traditional Dales masonry bridge scheduled for later in the year. The temporary structure will also allow the route to be utilised for the upcoming UCI World Championships in September when the best cyclists of the world travel to Yorkshire to compete, the first time that Britain has hosted Championships since 1982.

We will hopefully publish an update to this story in the near future so dont forget to check our commercial marine news section in the near future.

Month: September 2019

Advertise with Seaplant

Join us