International health and safety manufacturer Dräger is supporting employees in the expanding UK petrochemical and chemical industries with its calibration and management tool, the X-dock.
As optimism increases in the UK chemical and petrochemical industries, there is growing demand for personal protection, escape and gas detection devices in the plant environment, due to an increasing number of workers. Companies are facing increasing pressure to improve safety standards and as confidence in the industry increases, a safer environment contributes toward attracting and retaining a skilled workforce.
Statistics cited by market intelligence provider Key Note predict a 2.6% growth in the UK chemical industry in 2014, followed by a further 3.4% in 2015. Therefore, products such as the X-dock provide peace of mind for workers who must continually work amongst hundreds of very different and hazardous gases.
Due to harsh conditions in the plant along with wear and tear, gas detection units are often subjected to shock, sudden temperature change, dust and other elements, and therefore to ensure a gas detector continues to operate effectively, it should be bump tested daily. The X-dock is a docking station management system that ensures portable gas detection devices at any plant, are working correctly. No two chemical plants are the same and the different versions of the X-dock available, ensuring all bases are covered.
Kevin Honner from Dräger said: “Industries using portable gas detection equipment rely on these instruments to identify potentially fatal hazards and ultimately save lives. There could be hundreds of portable gas detection devices located at a major chemical or petrochemical plant. These need to be calibrated every six months and bump-tested daily to check they are working efficiently.
“The X-dock also offers a robust documentation and reporting function so that users can see the status of their entire portable gas detection instrument fleet at a glance. There is an increased emphasis on managing the fleet as a whole, rather than focusing on individual instruments.
“Logistically, the X-dock dramatically reduces the amount of time it takes to test and calibrate equipment, significantly reducing costs whilst improving the entire safety landscape in gas detection.”