Plant Managers – Friday Plant Walk – Compressed Air Safety
How is your compressed air safety?
If you’re in a manufacturing plant, you use compressed air. It’s used to operate all kinds of equipment, for material conveying (dense phase or dilute), and for cleaning.
As you’re walking today, look and LISTEN.
Are you hearing air leaks? Especially when your equipment is down and you still hear air, you have leaks. Or leak$. Compressed air leaks affect your electricity costs more than you’d think. Not to mention, if your operations are limited by compressed air capacity, just repairing most of your leaks can get a boost for you.
Before you approve a capital project to add or upgrade a compressor, find and fix your leaks and do a compressed air study.
Let’s look at all those compressed air drops you have all around, for cleaning and tool use.
Are there hoses left rolled out all across the floor, even when not in use? That’s a trip hazard – roll ‘em up.
Do your air wands and nozzles have the safety tip? (See the pic above – that’s a Guardair brand air gun. Pic is from the Grainger website.) If you’re going to use compressed air for cleaning, OSHA 1910.242(b), the pressure must be reduced to less than 30 psi. If you’re using nozzles with that relief hole, that’s acceptable. BUT, if the tip is broken, or unscrewed and removed, that is NOT OK. Nozzles with no safety relief, or damaged nozzles? Open or homemade nozzles? Get rid of them.
When they’re using compressed air to clean anything (under equipment, classifier screens, etc.) your folks should be wearing PPE – at least goggles or face shields for eye protection, plus whatever else is necessary. They might need dust masks or respirators depending on what they’re blowing around.
In a plastic company, blowing pellets around is usually low risk. Powders? Not a good idea. Sweep those whenever possible. Blowing dust around creates hazards. It’s at least a respiratory hazard and possibly a risk of fire or explosion (sorry – “deflagration”) if your dust is combustible.
Your folks should NOT be using compressed air to clean themselves or their clothing. That’s in an OSHA letter of interpretation from 1994. Safety nozzle or not, no. This is a common problem – people use air for cleaning their clothes all the time. What’s the risk? You can blow debris into your eyes, nose, ears, etc. Compressed air can even get under your skin if you have a cut.
And horseplay with compressed air? Never! Some serious injuries have been caused by folks messing around with compressed air.
Compressed air safety doesn’t sound like it’s a big deal, but compressed air is used everywhere and by everyone. It’s nothing you should overlook.
Have a good weekend.