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Lafarge Cement and Silo Cleaning
Services have developed a new
cleaning system that improves the
safety of its employees and is already
being hailed as a ground-breaking piece
of technology across the industry.
The ‘Roof and Wall Master’ technology
was invented by Silo Cleaning Services
in response to a challenge Lafarge
Cement faced at its Hope Cement
Works in Derbyshire.
Ashley Bryan, Lafarge Cement’s Hope
Works manager explained: “We had a
large amount of cement build up in the
top of one of the cement silos, which
needed to be cleaned in a safe manner.
The usual cleaning systems require a
person to go into the silo, however, we
felt that this was unsafe in this instance.
In response to this problem we asked
Silo Cleaning Services to come up with
a solution.”
The ‘Roof and Wall Master’ works by
using a series of tentacles driven by
very high speed air. The tentacles are
attached to a sweeping arm which can
be lowered into the silo and operated
...that eight arms are better than one!
without the need for anyone being
inside.
Ian Dawson, deputy national health
and safety manager at Lafarge Cement
commented: “The product has been a
great success here at Hope Works. By
removing the need for anyone to work
in a confined space this technology has
provided a safe solution to a common
problem in the industry.
“Health and safety is a key priority for
Lafarge Cement and we continue to
look for ways to help improve safety
across the industry. Following the
introduction of the ‘Roof and Wall
Master’ at Hope Works we invited the
Mineral Products Association (MPA)
and the Health and Safety Executive
(HSE) to the site to demonstrate the
safer technology to the industry first
hand.”
Ian Gibson, Health and Safety Manager
at MPA Cement said: “In common with
its member companies, MPA Cement’s
number one priority is safety. We
welcome Lafarge Cement UK’s initiative
in finding new ways to reduce the risk
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to staff from high level silo cleaning
and we were very impressed with
what we saw at Hope Cement works.
Silo Cleaning Service’s new high air
pressure ‘whip’ marks a step change in
silo cleaning and clearly has industry
wide application. We fully support any
development that minimizes the risk of
injury to staff and contractors.”
Russell Thomas from Silo Cleaning
Services added: “We have had
excellent feedback from the Health
and Safety Executive, particularly as
the HSE has been prioritising finding
solutions to cleaning confined spaces
without man entry.
“We are delighted that it seems that
the safety improvements delivered
by this equipment can be applied to
many more applications than we first
thought, including cleaning cyclones
and concrete mixers. This technology
removes the need for anyone to enter
these confined spaces. It also saves
on expensive scaffolding and downtime,
helping site managers reduce their
costs.”
June 2011
NEwS
7