Ashtead Technology urges firms to think safe

Ashtead Technology has stressed the importance of using up-to-date safety monitoring equipment before sending personnel into a workplace.

It warned that the risks arising from toxic gases, dust, explosive mixtures and oxygen depletion can be complex and constantly changing.

General manager James Carlyle said employers could choose to conduct their own testing and monitoring, or they may prefer to employ the services of professional consultants to conduct the risk assessments.

"Either way, the employer of the consultant has to decide whether to purchase the instrumentation or to rent it,” he explained.

“Once an instrument is purchased, the company is committed to that technology for the next few years and this can be a major disadvantage.

"For example, if a company purchases a PID gas detector for the measurement of solvents, it may find later that there is also a requirement to monitor methane, and the PID would not be suitable for this, so a second analyser would be necessary; an FID for example.

"Similarly, the company may discover at a later date that solvent speciation is necessary, which again, the PID would fail to achieve.”

Ashtead Technology provides rental equipment, calibration, repair and maintenance for safety monitoring devices. Based in Aberdeen, the company also operates from London, Houston and Singapore and via agents in Norway, Australia and the UAE.