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Breathing Air Quality Tests
At Airblast Eurospray, we prioritise the safety of our customers by ensuring they have access to essential spare parts and breathing air quality tests after installing blast rooms and blasting cabinets. These elements are crucial for safe blasting operations.
Not all employers are fully aware of their legal responsibilities or the potential dangers of inadequate maintenance, particularly regarding breathing air quality tests.
What are the legal requirements for breathing air in the UK?
Employers have a duty of care to their employees, which involves taking all reasonable steps to ensure their health, safety, and wellbeing. However, the specifics of legal requirements, especially concerning breathing compressed air and breathing apparatus, are often less understood.
In the UK, BS EN12021 standards advise that breathing air samples should be taken and analysed at least every three months, or more frequently if there are changes or concerns about the production process. Records of these tests must be maintained for five years.
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) guideline document, Respiratory Protective Equipment at Work (HSG53), specifies that the frequency of these tests should be based on a risk assessment but should occur at least every three months. More frequent testing is required if the air quality cannot be consistently assured.
Stringent legislation exists because poorly maintained air compressors pose significant health risks to operators. For example, not replacing the breathing air filter cartridge every 400 hours or three months, whichever is sooner, can cause severe harm to the operator, potentially resulting in permanent lung damage.
Airblast Eurospray recommends replacing filter cartridges if there are large pressure drops, unusual tastes in the air supplied to the respirator, or moisture found at the outlet fittings.
How do we test your breathing air?
We use advanced air analysis equipment to provide a detailed breakdown of your breathing air. Since high-quality testing equipment can be costly, it is often more economical for companies to have an expert visit their site to perform the tests. Our highly trained technicians can measure:
- Breathing Air Flow (BA Flow)
- Oil
- Water
- Oxygen
- Carbon Monoxide
- Carbon Dioxide
- Dew Point
Our tests take 45 minutes and will supply you with an immediate pass or fail. If you pass, we will provide you a test certificate which will be valid for 3 months. If issues are detected and you fail our test, we can offer advice on what your next steps should be to pass next time.
Airblast Eurospray emphasises the importance of regular compressed air quality testing for all companies using breathing air and respiratory protective equipment. Some UK employers rely on annual compressor services instead of regular breathing air quality tests, which may result in non-compliance with legal requirements. We encourage those in the shot blasting industry to recognise the significance of regular checks and equipment maintenance.
Training Sessions with Airblast Eurospray
If you wish to have a further understanding of these tests, we offer training here at Airblast Eurospray, which covers the safe use of compressed air and compressed air quality. Click here to see more details.
Air Treatment
Airblast Eurospray offers four main types of dryer that provide various solutions for dealing with moisture-saturated air.
Plant Air Audits
Airblast carries out audits of customers' plants and systems to ensure that compressed air is being used economically.
Condensate Treatment
The majority of oil lubricated air compressors produce oil contaminated condensate from filters, dryers, and drains.
Intelligent Compressed Air Energy Management
Producing compressed air is often referred to as the forth utility behind water, gas and electricity due to the vast amounts of energy used.
Distribution Pipework
Airblast Eurospray supplies high quality distribution pipes to work in tandem with compressed air, medium and high pressure, vacuum, and low fluid power systems.
Compressor Servicing
Regular compressor servicing is vital and Airblast Eurospray has over 40 years of experience in maintaining and servicing all types of air compressors.
La-Man Filter
The Extractor is a two-stage, point-of-use compressed air filter. Designed for the final usage of air, it will remove water, oil and other contaminates.
