Tag: 29 CFR 1910.95

How to Meet the OSHA Compressed Air Standard

Published on by Dave WoernerLeave a comment

Every day we talk to customers who need to comply with OSHA regulations for using compressed air to clean up their shop or product. Back in 1972 on Valentine’s Day, OSHA published Directive Number STD01-13-001 standard 1910.242(b), which strives to provide guidance on how manufacturers can safely use compressed air for cleaning purposes to comply with the Walsh-Healey Act of 1936.  This directive laid out acceptable methods for complying with 41CFR 50-204.8 and 29 CFR 1910.242(b)

The two methods are very simple, but still many people have questions.  The first method (pictured below) is to regulate the line pressure from the compressor to below 30 PSIG.

Regulator Method

Figure 1 Regulator method Photo Courtesy of osha.gov

The second method is to install a nozzle engineered to reduce the static pressure of the nozzle to less than 30 PSIG.

OSHA Nozzle Method

Figure 2 Nozzle method Photo Courtesy of osha.gov

The first method reduces the danger by limiting the energy in the system to less than an amount which can injure a person.  OSHA determined that 30 PSIG was the safe limit for the amount of pressure the human body could withstand without causing severe injury. The problem with this method is that cleaning with compressed air at 30 psig is virtually impossible.  Which means at such a low pressure the operator must pass the nozzle so close to the chips and debris, he might as well use a broom or pick each piece of debris up with his fingers. This first method I will label the regulator method. The second method introduces a relief valve at the nozzle, so that an operator cannot block off all of the openings of the nozzle, and build up any static pressure on their skin. I will call this the nozzle method.

Commonly and cheaply, the nozzle method is done by cross drilling a hole in an open pipe.  This is a sometimes effective method for protecting employees from static pressure, but it also is great at producing a tremendous amount of noise and wasting a lot of compressed air every year. The noise produced by even a ¼ pipe with a cross drilled hole fed with 80 PSIG can easily exceed 90 dBA and consume up to 140 SCFM. The noise can be even louder, if there are burrs or rough edges from drilling out the pipe.  This is also a violation of OSHA standard 29 CFR – 1910.95 (a), if the employee is not using hearing protection.

Air Nozzle work

To meet this OSHA standard, EXAIR’s solution is to engineer features which cannot be dead-ended into a wide variety of compressed air products. We do this a variety of ways depending on the product.  For the Super Air Nozzles, we utilize multiple small orifices which are protected by raised fins.  The multiple orifices offer an escape path for the air in case a single orifice is plugged. The fins protect the orifices so that no one person can block more than one orifice at a time.

So if you are worried about an OSHA inspector knocking on your door, or maybe you aren’t sure if you should be worried, contact us.  The Application Engineering team here will help you determine what engineered solution you need to keep those pesky fines away.

Dave Woerner
Application Engineer
Davewoerner@EXAIR.com
@EXAIR_DW

Selecting the Right Air Gun is a Key for Success

Published on by Dave WoernerLeave a comment

Last week I wrote about the OSHA requirements for using compressed air for cleaning in “How to Meet the OSHA Compressed Air Standard“. That was a title only an engineer could love. It was functional and with no flash. In my quest to write to my audience, I’m going back to the well today. I want to talk about using the right tool for the right job.

Every engineer worth his salt knows that using the wrong tool to do the job can make the task at hand ten times harder, than it needs to be…

And every weekend warrior of home, or automotive repair has used the wrong tool for the job. Most of the time these tools are going to work in a pinch. But when they don’t work, they can fail spectacularly. Yes, the flat head screw driver might be able to turn the Phillips head screw, but it can also strip the screw or slip out and dent the wall. Yes, the adjustable wrench works on quite a few different bolts, and will work as a weak hammer in a pinch, but when you have to go back in the house to get a rubber mallet, the socket set and discard the pieces of your broken wrench, you will wish you had the right tool in the first place.

I want to include the importance of using the right air gun for the job. Our priority for specifying air guns (and some would argue,  in life) should be safety first. Protecting the people using our products is the most important task. The best way to protect them is to specify the right Safety Air Gun to get the job done.

How can getting the right air gun increase safety? If we have the right tool for the job, we can avoid modifications to the safety features of our air gun. Below are two examples of what we see on a regular basis.

crushed air gun
Air escaping this gun will be LOUD, annoying and violates OSHA standard 1910.242(b).
Open Air Gun
Nothing says I’m costing the company money like a wide open air gun – and it’s DANGEROUS.

 

The air guns above belong to new customer, who had provided air guns with a cross drilled nozzle to the employees in their shop. The employees gave up their homemade air guns and managed to comply with OSHA standards for a few minutes, some may have even reached hours of safety…

I can almost envision the sequence of events… The OSHA inspector warns or fines the company for using  blow offs which violate the standards for pressure and/or noise exposure. Management makes certain the guns get replaced, Supervision or engineering finds a cheap quick solution, and no one checks to see, if the air gun can do the work. Workers find that the new air guns don’t have the same force, so they start altering the nozzles and guns to get the job done.

Several months pass. The OSHA inspector returns. The company is still fined for violating Directive Number STD01-13-001 standard 1910.242(b), because their blow offs can be dead ended and they are using a pressure higher than 30 PSIG. Also, a noise audit finds that the sound level in the plant is higher, than it has ever been, so all employees are now required to wear hearing protection.

Not quite the fix that everyone thought. Modifying air guns and/or air nozzles can create additional safety hazards for employees and increase compressed air expenses. Consider engineered Safety Air Guns and our line of Super Air Nozzles when looking for a safe and efficient solution to your processes and compressed air applications.

Left-right: Precision, Soft Grip w/Stay Set Hose, Heavy Duty w/Rigid Extension, & Super Blast Safety Air Guns
Here are some legitimate solutions for increasing safety and decreasing noise. Left to right: Precision Safety Air Gun, Soft Grip Safety air Gun w/Stay Set Hose, Heavy Duty Safety Air Gun w/Rigid Extension, & Super Blast Safety Air Gun.

At EXAIR, we strive to provide our customers the support and guidance, which they require to run a company safely and efficiently. We offer an efficiency lab to test any homemade blow offs, guns or nozzles.  Once we have tested these pieces for force, flow, and noise, we can specify a nozzle, safety air gun, air amplifier, or air knife that will meet the force requirement, while saving compressed air and lowering the noise level. Please contact an Application Engineer today to get your employees the right tool to do their job safely every time.

Dave Woerner
Application Engineer
Davewoerner@EXAIR.com
@EXAIR_DW

 

EXAIR Super Air Knife: Reduce Cost, Reduce Noise, Increase Safety

Published on by Lee EvansLeave a comment

This question from end user’s comes up again and again:

“I know EXAIR makes Air Knives. Do you have one for this application?”

We can answer, almost unequivocally, with a resounding “YES!” Whether we can meet the needs of the application with a stock product, or through manufacturing a specially made unit, we make every effort to provide the needed solution.

Super Air Knife Replaces Drilled Pipe Blow Off

Case in point, in the application above, a specific length Air Knife was desired to remove debris from material as it goes into a processing chamber. The current setup (outlined in red)  uses drilled holes in a section of pipe which are costly, loud, and unsafe.

How costly, you ask? Our customer stated this knife was 100″ long with 3/32″ holes on 2″ centers (50 holes). EXAIR test results on 3/32″ drilled holes confirm 15 SCFM per hole at 80 PSIG inlet pressure. The customer also estimates this drilled pipe operates for a total of 1 hour every day, 250 days per year. Using $0.25 per 1000 SCFM we can calculate the following:

  • 50 holes x 15 SCFM = 750 SCFM at 80 PSIG
  • 750 SCFM x 60 minutes per day = 45,000 SCF per day
  • 45,000 SCF x 250 days = 11,250,000 SCF per year
  • 11,250,000/1000 x $0.25 = $2812.50 cost per year

How loud, you ask? Our customer confirmed all personnel near the application were require to wear ear protection at all times. Though they were unable to provide a decibel (dBA) level, the need for hearing protection would indicate this pipe was operating in excess of 100 dBA.

How unsafe, you ask? Air can be dangerous when the outlet pressure of a hole is greater than 30 PSIG. In the event any of the holes were blocked by a hand or other body part, air may enter the bloodstream through the skin, resulting in serious injury. All of the Air Knives manufactured by EXAIR have been engineered for safety. They are all safe to be supplied with higher pressure compressed air and meet OSHA standard CFR 1910.242(b). Drilled holes in a pipe DO NOT MEET this OSHA standard.

Initially, discussions with this end user focused on a custom length, custom built Super Air Knife. Given the dimensions of the processing environment, we determined the desired length and the end user was thrilled we could not only make to their specifications, but offer 3 day delivery as well.

As the discussion carried on, we realized that the special length Super Air Knife, while applicable, was not a critical requirement for the application. With this new consideration, a stock length knife was chosen, and just like any stock EXAIR product, we had it on the shelf, ready to ship the same day.

This application highlights several benefits of the EXAIR Super Air Knife solution – compressed air savings, noise reduction, providing safety, and quick delivery. EXAIR Super Air Knives solve multiple problems for end users and OEM’s in a variety of applications.

Compressed Air Savings: 

  • 96″ knife with 2.9 SCFM per inch consumption at 80 PSIG = 278.4 SCFM at 80 PSIG
  • 278.4 x 60 minutes per day = 16,704 SCF per day
  • 16,704 SCF x 250 days = 4,176,000 SCF per year
  • 4,176,000/1000 x $0.25 = $1044 cost per year
  • $2812.50 (drilled pipe annual air cost) – $1044 (EXAIR 96″ Super Air Knife air cost) = $1768.50 SAVINGS the first year!

Noise levels reduced to under 80 dBA. 

SAFETY: EXAIR Super Air Knives meet the OSHA standard CFR 1910.242(b).

Switching this customer over to an engineered solution provided a win in these three important areas of any operation. If assistance is needed determining which Super Air Knife best suits your application, contact an Application Engineer.

Lee Evans
Application Engineer
LeeEvans@EXAIR.com
@EXAIR_LE

Award Winning Compressed Air Nozzle Saves Hundreds of Dollars Annually

Published on by Dave WoernerLeave a comment

awards2013_1126_400wide

 

EXAIR’s 1 Inch Flat Super Air Nozzle won the Gold Award for Compressed Air from Plant Engineering in 2014. We won the award for the immense savings that our customers reap by using this nozzle to replace open blow offs. While saving compressed air, we also reduce noise level and comply with an OSHA regulation 192.242(b).  Do not leave that blow off open. It is costing you everyday in dollars; it may cost you more in OSHA fines later, and it will cost your employees hearing later.

A 1/4″ copper tube can use 33 SCFM at 80 PSIG of inlet pressure. This homemade blow off will use 1,980 standard cubic feet per hour. Typical industrial compressed air cost $0.25 per 1,000 standard cubic feet.  That 1/4 copper tube is costing you $0.50 every hour to run. Each year, one 1/4″ copper tube costs $2,970*.

The 1 inch Flat Super Air Nozzle, model 1126, uses 10.5 SCFM or 22.5 SCFM less than 1/4″ Copper tube.  Saving your company 22.5 SCFM, is the same as saving $0.34 every hour or $2,025 every year.*  Saving 22.5 SCFM also, means that your compressor system doesn’t have to work as hard.  A 5 HP compressor will put out 20 SCFM, so replacing one 1/4″ Copper Tube with a model 1126 will save you from upgrading compressor system as your company expands.

Regardless of the $2,025 you just saved by replacing the homemade blow offs with engineered nozzle, it is also an industry best practice because it can lower the noise exposure for personnel and prevent any harm from dead end pressure.  OSHA standard 29 CFR – 1910.95(a) requires that if an employee is exposed to greater than 100 dBA for 2 hours, he or she needs to wear hearing protection.  A 1/4″ copper tube will easily exceed 100 dBA.  The model 1126 will lower the noise level to 77 decibel, 13 dBA lower than the OSHA requirements for an 8 hour day.

Finally, the 1″ Flat Super Air Nozzle cannot be dead ended, which protects your employees from serious injury. In the event, that a compressed air orifice is blocked with no means of escape, air may enter the bloodstream from an open cut or wound in the skin. Compressed air must be kept below 30 PSIG to eliminate this danger when using an open pipe, tube or many commercial air nozzles. With EXAIR nozzles, pressure to the nozzle  can remain at line pressure and produce the maximum velocity and force for a successful application.

*Assuming 24 hours a day and 250 working days

Dave Woerner
Application Engineer
Davewoerner@EXAIR.com
@EXAIR_DW