PPE & WORKWEAR
FILTERS IN ACTION This revolutionary innovation from 3M has been “eagerly anticipated” according to one early adopter of the new technology.
Andy Rennie, HSE/HR manager at the ENTEK site in Newcastle-upon- Tyne, which makes membranes for car batteries, has been so impressed with 3M’s End of Service Life Indicator Filters that, following a four-month trial, he will be rolling them out to the rest of his company.
Andy said: “This innovation from 3M has made a massive difference. Our employees need to use respirators as we work with a solvent called trichloroethylene which, like many vapours, can have some potentially harmful side effects.
line, the filter will need replacing. The products are compatible with all 3M half and full-face masks, so they can be used in a wide variety of applications and industries.
The ESLI can be used as either a primary or secondary method of determining a filter change out schedule, depending upon the specific hazard and exposure level. It also enables health and safety managers to audit filter status in real-time for each individual user – which has not been possible until now.
If the ESLI is to be used as the primary method of establishing a change out schedule, there are certain criteria that have to be fulfilled:
• User must be working only with organic vapours
• Airborne concentration level must be known
• Exposure level must be more than or equal to the Minimum Indicator Level (MIL)
• MIL must be less than the Workplace Exposure Limit (WEL)
For businesses that do not have access to all of these data points, which is often the case in smaller outfits, the ESLI should be used to complement an existing change schedule. Users should follow their normal pattern of filter changes, but change the filter early if the
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indicator shows it is necessary. In these situations, users gain extra reassurance that their filters are doing the job.
3M admits its new filters are approximately 10-15% more expensive than current products on the market, but the company maintains that they could be more cost-efficient in the long term. If a company has been playing it safe by replacing filters every two days, but the indicator shows it only has to replace them every two weeks, there would be savings to be made. Even if this wasn’t the case for every business, it’s a small price to pay to protect worker health.
Senior marketing executive Jennifer Raymond, who unveiled the new filters alongside 3M Personal Safety’s technical services specialist Alan McArthur, commented: “Our revolutionary product will help to improve the safety of workers using respirators in appropriate environments.
“The innovative technology behind the Organic Gas and Vapour End of Service Life Indicator Filters enables wearers to know when they need to replace their filter, without waiting until the breakthrough point.”
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“Up up until now, we could not tell when the filter needed changing – it was a bit of educated guess work.”
Before introducing the 3M product, Mr Rennie had a system in place where his staff would change their filters on a pre-defined schedule. However, this could not be easily monitored and some members of staff disposed of the filters more or less frequently.
“The 3M filter makes my job a lot easier,” he added. “I can walk around the site, pick up a filter and see if it needs replacing, whereas in the past, they all looked exactly the same.
“Being able to monitor how much life the filter has left is a big bonus from a health and safety point of view. It helps me to ensure that the filters do not reach the point where vapours start to breakthrough, exposing my staff to potential harm.”
Mr Rennie has also noticed significant cost savings since switching to the 3M filter. The indicator bar means each filter is used to its full capacity, instead of being thrown away while potentially still in a good condition.
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