High-level dust cleaning

The system, ATEX Zone 22 certified, is now utilised within some of the world’s largest food manufacturers and reaches 12m (40ft) from the safety of the ground with one operative.

The range of tools and accessories, all ATEX certified, have now been extended to cater for a variety of environments in which traditional and costly high level access equipment, such as scissor lifts and towers, cannot reach.

A choice of vacuum is available from the compact SkyVac A37 through to the more industrial A37G: both of which provide a solution to the ever-increasing problem of high-level dust cleaning 

Kudos blends

A recent investor in the SkyVac system is Kudos Blends. As with any large food manufacturing site, the cleaning of high level dust settled on inaccessible areas of the production site is a challenge. One option to manufacturers is to subcontract out this activity to third party suppliers but, as Kudos Blends discovered, the ease of use of the system together with the fact that no working at height safety competence is required, means that they now have greater flexibility through their own in-house Hygiene Team to conduct the cleans.

Sophie Martin, quality and procurement co-ordinator at Kudos, said: “The SkyVac has been a fabulous piece of kit, reaching all those normally inaccessible places, meaning we can keep on top of the cleaning standards and not have to outsource.”

This also means that high level cleaning can now be incorporated into the routine cleaning regime as opposed to a periodic cleaning activity.

Falls from height

The control and removal of combustible dusts however is only one of the key benefits of the system. The Health and Safety Executive’s statistics reveal that 37 work related fatalities in 2015/16 were as a result of falls from height.

SkyVac eliminates all the risks associated from working at height and reduces the costs of the mandatory training and competence certification required in using high level access equipment. 

Low frequency, high impact incidents

In addition, in March 2017, the HSE published their Business Plan for 2017/18. Whilst not capturing all that the HSE will deliver during this period, the Plan does outline specific priorities within an overall framework.

Included within these priorities is “reducing the likelihood of low-frequency, high impact catastrophic incidents and the potential for extreme harm to workers and the public”.

Thankfully, combustible dust explosions are rare but can very easily fit the definition of low frequency, high impact, as the consequences of such incidents are catastrophic.

In February 2008, a sugar dust explosion killed 14 employees at the Imperial Sugar Plant in Port Wentworth, Georgia.

A metal powder explosion killed 146 people in 2014 at a Chinese production company, and four people were killed at the Bosley wood mill near Macclesfield, England on 17 July 2015.

Good housekeeping

Good housekeeping is a fundamental health and safety element in any environment. In respect of combustible dusts, this includes the cleaning of areas where the dust can accumulate: particularly at elevated areas such as ducting, pipe-work, sills and shelving, which should be part of any cleaning regime.

These elevated areas can also be hidden through the design of the production area or even camouflaged by the cosmetic ambience: white dust settled on white painted walls? SkyVac can access these areas with ease.

Andy Carney, head of sales for Spinaclean, said: “Companies are quickly finding that SkyVac provides an effective and economical solution to many of the challenges that are found within milling and production areas. The most common quote following an on-site demonstration is “Please leave it here – don’t take it away!”