Enware partnership tailors safety technology to needs of individual mines

A leading Australian supplier of industrial safety equipment has joined forces with some of the Asia-Pacific’s largest resources projects to tailor emergency equipment to the individual needs of their sites.

Enware Australia Pty Ltd produces emergency eyewash, facewash and safety shower equipment especially optimised for top performance at projects as diverse as Olympic Dam, Ravensthorpe and Cannington in Australia and Goro Nickel in New Caledonia.

Enware’s safety technology – which also includes spill prevention and spill containment equipment – is designed to withstand the rigours of operations that are often hot, remote and rugged but where safety and employee welfare are a top priority.

“Mine owners are extremely safety conscious – they are highly aware of the dangers of accidents involving eye or skin contact with injurious materials, for example, where the most important first aid requirement is copious irrigation within seconds,” says Enware Managing Director Paul Degnan.

While the standard recommended maximum time between accident and irrigation is 10 seconds - so emergency eyewash and/or shower equipment must be carefully sited and ready for immediate use - mining sites present special additional challenges to obtain ideal results.

“Out on a hot remote mine site, water in pipes can rise to scalding temperatures in minutes. And in some hazardous areas, there just isn’t any water on tap at all. So we have worked with leading miners and resource developers to produce technology that is not only utterly reliable in normal service, but which can produce top performance in extraordinary conditions,” says Mr Degnan, whose company is extensively involved in the testing and certification of equipment to top international standards and the very highest national standards, including ANSI Z 358.1 2004.

“We are also the only manufacturer in Australia whose products are tested by the CSIRO, then audited and certified by SAI Global to the ANSI Standard. We believe this is an industry first,” says Mr Degnan.

Exporting to 15 countries, Enware is also accredited to the highest ISO quality grading, ISO 9001-2000, for its quality assurance in design, development, production, installation and servicing of its ranges of water technology and safety systems.

“What has made us so useful to the mining community for more than 15 years is that we are not just a supplier of safety products - we are a partner in their development. We are an organisation in which, like our customers, total quality standards are observed throughout a process, from design and selection of materials, right through manufacturing to installation and service. One of Enware’s particular strengths is our custom manufacturing capability, which provides total solutions engineered to particular safety requirements.”

Examples of Enware technology now in service at mine sites throughout the Asia-Pacific include:

Specialist portable decontamination equipment and multipurpose shelters These folding structures are designed to be compact and light so they can be quickly deployed to rescue sites or treatment areas
Combination shower and eye/face washes engineered to provide water at correct temperatures even in scalding ambient conditions. One recent large consignment of such equipment was fitted with specially developed flow-controlled thermal relief valves, to bleed the line, without activating alarms, when water reaches an unsafe temperature.

Thermal insulation was also incorporated to moderate the effects of strong direct sunlight and ambient heat. Custom-flanged fittings were incorporated to facilitate installation in optimum situations. Finally, specialised packaging was developed for easy identification by project managers.

Plumbed combination showers and eye/face washes specified to deliver optimum flows where acids and caustics are used. Acids and caustics are some of the most hazardous materials involved in areas such as in mineral processing. Plumbed combination showers and eye and face washes are the minimum requirement of ANSI Z 358.1 2004 in such areas These Primary Eye Wash devices specified by the Standard may be a self-contained, portable or plumbed unit that (among other attributes) activates within a second or less, flushes both eyes simultaneously, provides hands-free operation, and delivers not less than 1.5 litres a minute of tepid flushing fluid, preferably aerated for a minimum of 15 minutes (Secondary Eye Wash units do not provide 15 minutes of continuous hands free flushing simultaneously to both eyes as required under ANSI Z 358.1 2004).
Self-contained shower units with walk-on platforms for use in areas where no plumbed water is available. Different types self-contained showers have also been specified by customers for use in areas such as leaching ponds when water is not available. Such self-contained eye and body wash units can be ideal supplementary support for plumbed units, providing the flexibility of location nearer hazards. The showers are engineered to provide flow rates that thoroughly clean the body of the injured person, while the dual outlets of the eye/face wash remove contaminates and minimise damage to skin and sight
Special rapid-response technology. Examples include Enware equipment fitted with flow switches wired into the client company’s business management system, to alert staff to potential hazard situations. Other shower and eye/face wash equipment has been custom-fabricated to incorporate audible and visual alarms to alert staff members to an incident and make it easier for rescue and first-aid staff to locate the emergency.

Quick response and correct siting of equipment is critical because, when a hazardous substance makes contact with the human eye, damage to sensitive tissue can be immediate. In certain cases, the only hope to reduce the severity of injury and reduce the time and treatment required for recovery is by utilising emergency eyewash and shower facilities.

“With the wide variety of hazardous solutions in use throughout the mining industry – including strong acid, caustic, paints, poisons and petrochemicals - it is most important to ensure emergency eyewash and shower equipment complies with the relevant Standards and is installed in accordance with them,” says Mr Degnan, whose company assists clients in ensuring compliance.

“One size or type of equipment does not fit all – there are vastly different requirements in vastly different mining and processing operations. Because operating conditions vary so widely, each mine site has its own set of specific requirements in terms of product details and performance requirements

“This is why it is important for us to be able to customise products for these specific requirements. We have demonstrated considerable flexibility in achieving this through our Australian manufacturing facility, even to the extent of making late modifications with minimal expense and still delivering on time.”

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