Page 49 - OHS, April 2020

Ideal for use in Class II Division 2 areas, breakaway central vacuum systems utilize a portable vacuum with a dirty-side vol- ume less than 8 cubic feet and therefore, per NFPA standards and OSHA regulations, does not need an explosion vent to use in Class II Division 1 and 2 areas.
In contrast, a typical stationary central vacuum system to suit the plant layout at the feed mill would have been much larger and require an explosion protection system. The combination of the larger size and explosion protection would have most likely led to an outdoor installation, introducing additional challenges such as the acquisition of air permits as well as construction permits. The breakaway system avoids such costs and delays, providing the con- venience of a multi-inlet central vac, with the energy efficiency and flexibility of a portable vacuum.
Although the feed mill didn’t originally purchase the system with the intent to eliminate entry into the confined space of the feed mill’s elevator pits, one of the biggest benefits and quickest cost reductions for the company came with cleaning the elevator pits from outside.
Those areas tended to accumulate hidden dust, and the pro- cess of having to enter permit-required enclosed space called for a three-person team to monitor the air. Now, with the use of exten- sion tubes on the portable vacuum, no one needs to enter the space to clean it.
Abrasive Blasting
According to NIOSH publication Industrial Health and Safety Cri- teria for Abrasive Blast Cleaning Operations, “there are general safety problems inherent to working in confined spaces” in abra- sive blasting operations.
Abrasive blasting is taxing on machinery causing substantial wear and tear on components which results in regularly servic- ing equipment to maintain operation. Often when maintenance is necessary, media must be removed from blast pit areas to ac- commodate those repairs. While some blast media pits are shallow and narrow and create hazards (but are technically designated as enclosed space hazards), some facilities have deeper pits that do qualify as enclosed spaces.
To eliminate the need for workers to descend into an enclosed space in order to shovel and scoop tons of heavy blast media out of the pits, a metal fabricator sought out a vacuum designed for high volume recovery in an industrial setting.
The fabricator utilized the same type of portable vacuum used in the breakaway vacuum system at the feed mill, but rather than rolling the vacuum to various tubing networks, the facility decided to move the 15HP vacuum, capable of recovering up to five tons per hour, via forklift to the pit area to remove the material. This eliminated the need for workers to enter a confined space to clean blast material from the pit.
Sump Pits
In the metalworking industry, under the floor sump pits, used to keep an area dry prevent flooding, are a common area where con- fined space standards apply.
Under the floor sump pits are where sand-like, semi-solid ma- terial forms when residual particulates and chips settle in the bot- tom of a sump. These pits are ideal breeding grounds for harmful
bacteria and fungus that endangers workers’ health, shortens the life of metalworking fluids, interferes with machine function and can eventually plug fluid lines.
Some organizations clean their sump pits on a monthly basis to maintain coolant quality, but others wait an entire quarter to avoid the hazards and cost of shoveling masses of sludge from an enclosed space.
Continuous duty, industrial sump vacuum cleaner systems re- duce the amount of time workers need to spend removing sludge from enclosed spaces, allowing operators to empty sump pits at one to two gallons per second (60-120 GPM).
In many situations, the use of vacuum cleaning equipment with extended hoses and tools can eliminate the need for workers to en- ter confined spaces, eliminating costly enclosed space procedures while preserving life.
Today’s industrial vacuum cleaners are powerful tools that can be equipped for wet or dry applications, suitable for Class II Divi- sion 2 areas, and designed to render explosives inert. Most likely, if it isn’t possible to completely eliminate a confined space cleaning hazard, working with a vacuum cleaning expert can at least mini- mize employee exposure in enclosed spaces.
David Kennedy is the general manager of the vacuum cleaning di- vision at VAC-U-MAX. He has been assisting the manufacturer’s design and engineering in heavy duty industrial vacuum cleaning systems for over 25 years.
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