Oxygen Monitors Guide

The danger of asphyxiation due to deficiency of breathable oxygen in the air is one of the risks faced by workers in many industrial settings. The highest risks are in industries that involve heavy use of chemicals in their processes and where organizational policies do not prioritize or emphasize establishment of adequate protection and safety protocols for personnel.

Past incidents of serious or fatal accidents have pushed Federal agencies like the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) to implement stricter rules that pertain to worker safety in the industrial setting.

The ironic thing about it is that all accidents involving toxic gases or chemical exposure are easily preventable through installation of appropriate safety protocols that involve devices called oxygen deficiency monitors since most accidents actually happen because toxic gases displace the oxygen that we need to live. A simple installation of toxic gas detectors or oxygen monitors reduces the risks significantly because modern monitors have become very good at what they do.

Installation of oxygen deficiency monitors or other types of gas alarm systems should be done in places where the risk of exposure is high such as in confined spaces inside chemical plants, refineries, storage vats and tanks, sewers, pipes, etc.

If you are unsure about how to implement such a protocol, there are a lot of consulting firms specializing in occupational safety assessment that you can get in touch with. If you are unsure of whom to contact, a call to your local fire department or even your insurance company will probably do the trick to finding the right contacts.

The importance of installing oxygen monitor and other gas detector devices should become a priority in any industrial work setting. Company policies should be established that will make sure that personnel are adequately protected. The costs of doing so will be easily justified because the cost of accidents, of lives lost due to safety negligence, will be severely higher.

Image Credit: aoi-corp.com

This entry was posted on Monday, April 19th, 2010 at 1:27 pm and is filed under Industrial Worker Safety Policies, Oxygen or Gas Monitors Installation. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.