3 Gas Detection Practices to Leave Behind in 2023 and 3 to Take with You
Improve the safety of your workers with new approaches to gas detection and safety programs.
- By Dante Moore
- Mar 01, 2023
In the blink of an eye, 2022 is long gone and 2023 is in full swing. Children are back in school. Adults are back at work. Some people are already busy working on their goals—both personally and professionally. Others are just getting started.
Whether your organization offers a minimalist approach to safety operations or boasts a more robust model, your goals around protecting workers from gas hazards can range from improving on last year’s exposure metrics and preventing equipment failures to eliminating avoidable gas exposures. No matter your goals, implementing a robust, full-service gas detection and maintenance program can make achieving those goals easier.
While everyone’s gas detection and safety programs look different, there are still ways you can achieve the next level of gas safety for your organization. Here are three gas detection practices to leave behind in 2023, as well as three to take with you, to best achieve your safety goals this year.
1. Leave Behind the Hidden Hazards Found in Confined Spaces
It seems like no matter what you do, confined spaces on your site still have hazards—and it’s putting your team at risk. With the right gas detection program in place, you can uncover any and every hidden gas hazard within a confined space before entering so you can prevent exposures before they happen.
In some cases, it can be as easy as placing an area monitoring that automatically sends data back to hole watches in real-time so they can prevent a dangerous entry from happening. In others, it can involve workers easily adapting their monitors from personal monitors to sampling equipment with easy-to-use slide-on pumps—with one less monitor to juggle so they can get to work quicker.
Plus, once data is picked up from an area monitor or workers’ monitor, safety personnel can automatically track gas hazard levels all from one dashboard—no matter their location. So as gas levels change, they can ensure workers are making the right decisions. If a team member does still go down, safety teams will not only know immediately, but they’ll also know the exact cause to ensure that rescue teams are prepped, preventing even more accidents.
2. Leave Behind Poor Team Communication
In most aspects of life, communication is key—and gas detection is no different. That’s why you should leave poor team communication behind in 2023 to help improve safety operations. Instead of asking your workers to check in more frequently with each other or safety personnel, you can rely on gas monitoring equipment that automatically shares real-time gas readings, man-down alarms and panic alarms between both peers and safety personnel. This means the entire team knows who is in danger and why.
This article originally appeared in the March 1, 2023 issue of Occupational Health & Safety.