FIVE REASONS TO SPECIFY AN ATEX AND IECEX APPROVED CRANE IN HAZARDOUS ENVIRONMENTS www.engineeringnews.co.nz 29 Cranes and hoists often operate in hazardous, dangerous and potentially explosive areas, where a single incident can cause significant, personal injury, damage, downtime and loss of income or production. In addition to being indispensable to manufacturing, processing and distribution operations – where often, if the cranes stop, business stops – cranes and hoists are also regularly lifting valuable pieces of equipment, or are next to or above valuable machinery and plant. An explosion or failure of a crane can cause even greater collateral damage to these, compounding the problem for a host of industries encountering or using flammable substances, chemicals, vapours, gases from liquids, volatile substances and dust. Industries commonly affected, include bulk handling and distribution, transport, including road and rail logistics and ports, chemical processing, energy, food and beverage, manufacturing, logistics, mining and mineral processing, oil and gas, materials handling; mechanical, production and process engineering, industrial logistics; water, waste water and biomass recycling. In these environments, safety is paramount. As a leading global crane manufacturer and the world’s largest crane service organisation – with more than 450,000 pieces of lifting equipment of all brands under service agreement worldwide – Konecranes has extensive experience in explosion-proof and ATEX and IECEx compliant cranes. Konecranes manufactures its EX ranges to the globally respected ATEX and IECEx compliance standards aimed improving the health and safety protection of workers potentially at risk from explosive atmospheres Konecranes expert David Wilson, industrial crane sales manager, believes there are five major reasons why companies should always specify an ATEX and IECEx approved crane in hazardous environments: Safety The single most important reason to specify an ATEX and IECEx approved crane is safety. Without KNOBS & HANDLES the proper cooling systems in place, a crane’s engine may reach very high temperatures and cause minor sparks that are harmless in other situations, but deadly in explosive environments, where vapours, mist, dust and other contaminants can react with a single spark with devastating consequences. In dusty environments, it’s also essential to have motors and engines completely covered, to avoid flammable dust particles coming into contact with a heated area. Non-ATEX and IECEx approved lifting equipment may have these safety features, but ATEX and IECEx approved equipment confirms it. Compliance ATEX and IECEx are living things – they are constantly being expanded and improved, so companies need to learn the latest requirements and to incorporate them into their duty of care. In many regards, this can be a specialised and expert Extensive range in stock, fast delivery • Knobs & handles • Handwheels • Levers • Adjustable feet H_2370 Available from Hi-Q Electronics Limited engineering@hiq.co.nz 0800 766 709 www.hiqknobs.co.nz EN093 process which many companies choose to ascribe to experts such as Konecranes. The ATEX directive also gives strict rules for constant production and product quality follow-up. For Konecranes, having that certificate is our assurance to our customers that we are doing everything possible to provide them with the highest levels of safety and compliance. We even have multiple certifications to substantiate the quality of our products: IECEx for the world, ATEX for Europe, CSA US for the United States and INMETRO for Brazil. It makes good business sense to do so The small initial saving you might make up-front buying a non-ATEX and IECEx certified crane will be dwarfed by the costs and downtime if an explosion or incident occurs, where you could be looking at replacing the crane, replacing other machinery, loss of inventory and significant downtime. And even
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