This is noted by Martin Karlsson, who has worked as service manager at Hydroscand for many years. Before becoming service manager, he worked both in the field and as a supervisor. As someone with personnel responsibility, he has come to understand the importance of taking workplace safety seriously, something he believes has become easier over the years.
– Over the past decade or so, major changes have taken place in awareness of workplace safety and in creating safe workplaces. There are now clearer rules and requirements at work sites, and contractors must demonstrate their competence through, for example, ID06 identification. Hardly anyone works without safety glasses anymore either, a simple but important detail in personal protection.
Each individual workplace also has its own on-site safety training, where evacuation plans, site-specific safety measures and much more are reviewed.
– In addition, all companies have their own safety routines. Our employees must always carry out a risk analysis of the planned job before the work order can begin, for example. We do this to create awareness of the specific workplace and the tasks to be carried out, to make people think beforehand, explains Martin Karlsson.
All employees working with service have also undergone thorough safety training in hydraulics, pneumatics and industrial hoses.
Nylon fibre hose protection
One of the safety measures that can be used to protect against the risks of a damaged pressurised hose is a textile hose protection sleeve that can easily be mounted on the hose. If the hose develops a hole, the protection sleeve holds against it. Instead of a high-pressure oil jet spraying straight out of the hose, the sleeve captures the jet and the oil diffuses through the textile as an oil mist instead.
– The hose protection is made of a dense nylon fibre fabric that withstands very high pressures. It can handle the pressure in all hoses used in the types of applications Hydroscand works with. The hose protection has been tested for fire, pressure, abrasion and pinhole performance.
If a pinhole jet hits the skin, it can penetrate the body and cause long-term and serious injuries. If the damaged hose contains hydraulic oil, it may in the worst case mean a risk of amputation.
– One problem is that if you are hit by such a jet, the wound is very small and barely visible afterwards. That makes it difficult for medical personnel to understand the seriousness of the situation and provide the right treatment from the start.
Printed information cards
The longer treatment is delayed, the more dangerous the injury becomes. After a day, the risk of amputation becomes significant.
– That is why we have printed information cards that all our employees carry with them. They explain the problem of being hit by a hydraulic oil jet if the person seeks medical care. Such cards are also available at our workshops so that customers can take them with them as a safety measure, says Martin Karlsson.
If a company has systems with hoses and line components, it is important that both the systems and the hoses are inspected regularly and receive proper service before they fail, as this helps secure a safe working environment.
Also protects against wear
A hose protection sleeve also protects the hose against abrasion and wear, which both reduces the risk of oil leakage and increases service life.
– It is also good for the environment around a hydraulic power unit. If there is a small leak in the hose, the protection sleeve captures it. That means you avoid oil dripping from the hose.
There are different versions of the protection sleeve. It can either be slipped onto the hose before assembly or fitted afterwards to an already connected hose on existing machines. In the latter case, the protection is fastened around the hose with a Velcro attachment that has also been tested for the highest pressures.
Steel wire prevents hose whip if a hose comes loose
Pressurised hoses also pose other hazards. One is that hoses can come loose from their mountings. This risk is greatest with pressurised air hoses. If that happens, the hose can lash violently and cause major damage to anything in its path.
– Such an accident can actually be fatal if things go really badly. The forces are so great that a loose hose can punch a hole through a container if one is nearby. To prevent this kind of accident, there is another type of protection, a whipcheck or restraint cable, which is a steel wire mounted between the machine and the hose that keeps the hose end close to the machine if it comes loose, explains Martin Karlsson.
SlangExpress – a mobile service fleet
Hydroscand has built up a mobile service operation, SlangExpress, which helps customers create safer workplaces. With more than 90 service vans, as well as specialised vehicles such as a motorcycle, snowmobile and service boat, they provide fast and reliable service wherever the customer may be. This includes everything from emergency callouts to planned maintenance and larger customer projects.
– Examples of preventive service that we help with include workshop inspections and pressure testing of hoses and lines. Through such measures, damaged hoses are identified and repaired, helping to prevent both serious personal injury and unnecessary leakage.
One reason they use so many different types of service vehicles is the importance of reaching customers quickly and in inaccessible places.
– By combining flexibility with innovation, we can offer fast and reliable service, whether it involves reaching a customer on an island, in the forest or in the middle of an industrial site. We are constantly working to develop our solutions in order to provide the best possible service.
For example, customers on Sweden’s west coast can quickly receive help with an urgent hose replacement thanks to the service boat, preventing costly downtime. In the same way, the snowmobile has made it possible to reach customers in northern Sweden’s winter landscape where ordinary vehicles cannot get through.
There is still more to do
Even though Martin Karlsson believes the industry has come a long way in working with workplace safety around pressurised hoses, more still needs to be done. Rules and regulations need to be clarified, and people need to be encouraged to follow them.
– We need to increase awareness even further and place a greater focus on workplace safety. To succeed with that kind of work, an internal culture is required at all levels of a company so that these issues are raised jointly. Employees need to be encouraged in various ways to think more about their working environment, both by being aware of risks themselves and by helping to create a safer environment for everyone, he concludes.
