By Ron Marshall
In any manufacturing plant, there is an assortment of blowing nozzles where compressed air is used to clean product or debris. In fact, sometimes it seems like there is a never ending list of ways compressed air can be used for blowing. Some of these ways are classed as safe and others are not.
You should be aware of the OSHA safety requirements for compressed air and ensure that your blow nozzles meet the standard.
The OSHA standard states the following (1910.242b):
“Compressed air used for cleaning. Compressed air shall not be used for cleaning purposes except where reduced to less than 30 psi, and then only with effective chip guarding and personal protective equipment.”
This standard is set for safety to prevent personal injury caused by compressed air, but anyone who has been around industrial sites knows that there are a great many blow nozzles available that do not meet this standard. Not meeting this safety code sets you up for the risk that you may be found in violation, and even worse, it presents a risk to your workers.
Here is what you can do:
• Familiarize yourself with the OSHA requirement
• Do a plant survey to ensure you meet the code for all your nozzles
• Change or repair any nozzles that don’t comply.
• Consider not blowing with compressed air at all, if an alternative method of cleaning is available.
In addition to safety, please note that blowing with compressed air is expensive and inefficient, due to the high cost of compressed air — what’s more, it also contributes to the high ambient noise levels found in most industrial plants.
There are many choices available for blow guns that reduce the compressed air flow and the noise contribution. Give them a try.
[…] affect the profitability of all blasting jobs; therefore, it is important that you choose an air compressor wisely. The more you will get a compressor that can compress a lot of air per minute, the higher […]