News

The impact of air quality on health and wellbeing has been rising on the agenda of governments and private sectors. Sick Building Syndrome has been a recognised cause of illness amongst office workers for almost four decades, caused by poor indoor air quality. WHO estimates that poor urban air quality accounts for up to 7 million deaths each year. In 2014 alone, it was responsible for approximately 1 in 8 deaths globally. ION Science is tackling this health crisis with its range of high-quality gas sensors and monitors, designed to help control and improve air quality for health, wellbeing and the environment.

As an industry leader and OEM producer of gas sensors, detectors and monitors of volatile organic compound (VOC) using photoionisation detection (PID), ION Science is dedicated to improving air quality, health, and reducing harmful emissions. As a key part of their work, they have developed a range of sensitive and widely applicable sensors capable of detecting even the smallest levels of VOCs or other harmful compounds.

Equinor is introducing autonomous ATEX-certified robots on their oil and gas installations. Partner in the project is inspection robotics specialist Taurob of Austria. Its robot will be used to conduct routine inspection and maintenance tasks on offshore installations.

Thorough certification

Taurob started developing robotics applied for human safety, particularly in emergency response situations, 11 years ago. Safety is also the main driver for the energy domain to step into robotics. The state-of-the-art ‘Taurob Inspector’ is the result of an intensive 2-year collaboration between Taurob, French energy giant Total and UK’s OGTC. Total was the first energy major to implement robotic inspection on their plant in the North Sea’s Shetland Islands. Matthias Biegl, Managing Director and co-founder of Taurob, emphasizes his company’s focus on safety: “Our goal is to build trust with operators and raise acceptance on site. Going through thorough certification procedures with the customers and their HSEQ and Electrical departments is as important as the development process itself.”

Snickers Workwear = Comfort = Wellbeing and Improved Performance.

Everyone wants to be cool, and comfortable at work this summer – and to do their bit for saving the planet. That’s why Snickers Workwear has integrated improved 37.5® fabric technology and ‘Verifiable Sustainability’ into its T- and Polo-shirts. 

The new AllroundWork styles are made from highly functional waffle- structured 37.5® fabric for optimal ventilation, cooling and moisture transport to keep you feeling fresh for longer.

In recent years, the ‘REMBE Safety Days’ series of events has repeatedly made Brilon a meeting place for global explosion safety and process safety. The content of the events was to present and discuss current topics in these areas as well as to create a platform for networking.

In November 2019, 150 participants from five continents were welcomed to the Sauerland region. Unfortunately, no live events can take place due to the current situation. In order to nevertheless enable such an important exchange of knowledge, REMBE is offering a digital version of the REMBE Safety Days. 

New Model Institute for Technology and Engineering (NMITE), an international player in engineering education, has announced the launch of the Safety Champions in Engineering Education programme in partnership with UCL, London’s leading multidisciplinary university. 

The 10-week online programme, which is funded by Lloyds Register Foundation and the Royal Academy of Engineering through the Engineering X programme, will be delivered to international educators from Malaysia, the Philippines, Nigeria, South Africa, Kenya and Uganda, will commence on 3rd May 2021. This is followed by a six-month mentoring phase in which participants develop proposals for educational innovation. The core aim of the programme is to support Engineering X’s ‘Skills Where They Are Most Needed’ mission, drawing on contemporary best practice in engineering education to support local educators in developing curriculum innovations that tackle the specific safety challenges engineering graduates in emerging economies face as critical infrastructure undergoes rapid expansion. 

In December 2020, SOCOTEC’s Laboratory & Analytical division were contracted to provide chemical and physical testing services, supporting a design and build project for a new port facility in a British Overseas Territory.

SOCOTEC’s services would support our client’s surveying works for the first phase of the project, with the results obtained from the samples tested used to inform decision making for the next phase of surveys.

Adhesive Handling Issues

Adhesives are available in various forms often utilising either Solvent or Water as a component to aid curing. Whilst water-based adhesives can be handled with a wide variety of materials, solvent based glues require handling differently. 

Solvent based glues are a mixture of polymer based ingredients mixed with solvent. Once the glue is applied and the solvent is exposed to air, it begins to evaporate until cured when the bond is at its strongest. 

An on-site inspection is part of the daily business of industrial manufacturers and plant operators alike.

Safety-relevant components, such as rupture discs or safety valves, must be tested by the manufacturer – this is often done by notified bodies like the TÜV. Many operators additionally conduct on-site tests at the manufacturer's premises to ensure that the delivered products comply with the required specifications and performance features.

Albany in New York, USA is just one of several global locations where pressure has been increasing to seek environmental justice for vulnerable local communities facing exposure to Hazardous Air Pollutants (HAPs). It’s a key ongoing political issue that all companies emitting VOCs must tackle, but now thanks to the highly sensitive, stable and reliable Falco PID fenceline technology, ION Science have a reliable early warning solution. 

Falco fenceline fixed gas detector, from leading industry manufacturing specialist ION Science, offers continuous, fast and reliable detection of Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) & Total Aromatic Compounds (TACs) including benzene, in high humidity environments. It also boasts innovative typhoon technology for unrivalled accuracy without fault, in condensing atmospheres and extreme weather conditions.

Whilst China and other governments around the world commit to a green economy by 2030, companies are starting to turn to employee health and safety monitoring to learn and evidence improvements in carbon emissions. 

Thanks to Cub’s patented photoionisation detection (PID) of volatile organic compounds (VOCs), UK based gas detection manufacturing experts ION Science, is helping employers significantly reduce the daily exposure risks faced by occupational hygienists and technicians operating in the chemical or petrochemical industries.