Confined Space Entry – Are You Using the Right Gas Detector?

Working in confined spaces is difficult at the best of times. Operators often have to don personal protective equipment (PPE), often have limited mobility, and may have to carry tools or equipment to complete the task at hand (such as welding). In such an environment, the last thing a worker wants to be distracted by is his or her gas detector. Gas detectors designed specifically for confined space environment (CSE) work should not be too eye-catching, but the display information must be clear and can be read at a glance.

According to China's "Occupational Hazard Protection Code for Confined Space Operations" (GBZ/T 205-2007), a confined space is defined as "a limited space that is relatively isolated from the outside world, has limited access, poor natural ventilation, and is large enough to accommodate one person to enter and engage in non-routine and non-continuous operations (such as furnaces, towers, kettles, tanks, tank trucks, pipelines, flues, tunnels, sewers, ditches, pits, wells, pools, culverts, cabins, underground warehouses, storage rooms, cellars, barns, etc.)."

Although this definition covers all industrial activities, it is particularly applicable to the public utility industry (water and wastewater, electricity, telecommunications and natural gas), construction, oil and gas exploration and processing, petrochemicals, marine engineering, agriculture, food processing, brewing, and emergency services. In these industries, workers or emergency personnel always have to enter potentially dangerous areas from time to time to conduct inspections, routine maintenance, emergency repairs or rescue.

The equipment required to enter a confined space (CSE) environment is diverse, and the CSE equipment industry has developed maturely and can provide a large number of personal protective equipment (PPE). However, one category of CSE products that has been left wanting and has until now had to make do with compromises is the gas detector.

Gas detector users have typically had to choose between larger detectors with an internal pump, smaller diffusion detectors, and detectors with an external aspirator that can be easily lost or damaged. Handheld detectors are used to measure a wide range of gases and have a front-mounted display. They are usually more suitable for detecting leaks or environments that require a hot work permit, and are therefore not suitable for confined space entry (CSE) operations.

Workers are using the new Gas-Pro confined space entry gas detector from Conocon [page]

So what does an “ideal” CSE gas detector look like? After extensive market research with users and key account sales managers around the world, Conocon found the following features to be essential:

• Easy to use.
• Bright, easy to read display.
• Long battery life (at least until the end of a shift, preferably two shifts).
• Rugged construction.
• Reliable detection (since workers are focusing on the job at hand, not the detector, unreliable detection can immediately interrupt work).

These features may seem commonplace at first, but until now, there has been no gas detector that has all of these and other important features.

Taking customer feedback to heart, Conocon did not simply upgrade an existing CSE portable gas detector, but designed a detector from the ground up. The result is the Gas-Pro. This multi-gas detector is ideal for CSE operations and meets all hazardous area and health and safety standards.

Unique CSE features of the new Gas-Pro include:

• Compact size compared to mainstream front-end diffusion detectors. Designed to stay out of the way of other PPE and equipment, and not to interfere with a worker’s primary activities.

• Bright, clear top display allows for quick readings without even touching the detector. Dual-color backlighting intensifies alarm levels once the Gas-Pro goes into alarm.

• Built-in aspirator makes pre-entry testing quick and easy. This keeps the detector small and eliminates seal issues, as well as the need for additional equipment and chargers for external aspirators.

• +ve Safety™ – Detector status is becoming more important to managers. Health and safety executives around the world (OSHA, HSE, Safework Australia) are introducing and developing stricter guidelines and issuing regulations to ensure worker safety. +ve Safety™ is exclusive to the Gas-Pro with a three-color status display that allows for quick and effective monitoring of functional tests, calibration, over-range and recent alarm notifications. +ve Safety™ is not only flexible and can be adjusted to meet specific user requirements, but the indicator lights are visible to everyone, providing managers with a quick, simple, yet very comprehensive visual indication of the detection status, unlike general functional test indications or reliability indications.

• The multi-gas sensor can detect up to 5 potentially hazardous gases, covering a wide range of gases, including: hydrogen sulfide, carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, oxygen and combustible gases, as well as industrial gases such as ozone, ammonia, chlorine, chlorine dioxide and sulfur dioxide.

• In addition, the Gas-Pro is extremely rugged and durable, with IP65 and IP67 sealing levels, and comes standard with an extremely loud alarm of no less than 95 decibels, a vibration alarm and a two-color visual alarm.

It can be seen that the new Gas-Pro CSE detector from Conocon is a completely new type of product, which is designed with one purpose - to ensure gas safety in confined environments. Operators no longer have to worry about the risks of lowering the standard of detector products, and will focus more on their core tasks when entering confined spaces, while knowing that the gas detector they are using is also focusing on its own core tasks to ensure their safety. (end)