Got one that is not done very often and I am looking for a few ideas. One of our subcontractors has decided to start using supplied air for their excavator operators. We are well within osha requirements and PEL limits for respirators. Long story short, Im wondering if anyone has mounted breathing o2 bottles on any excavators. These are late model cat excavators, and currently have high pressure o2 bottles ratchet strapped to the deck in front of the engine compartment. This doesnt exactly seem to be the most secure, or safe solution.
Turbo, I think you should get the harness they use in aircraft to hold the 4Hr O2 bottles down. Then get a hold down channel and mount it to the back wall behind the seat. These channels have circles cut out of them every inch. The holddown straps drop in and lock in place. The aircraft set up is your answer. Later Bob
Bob, these are full size welding bottles, they need to be mounted outside the cab. They have emergency escape bottles, 10 min, inside the cab.
Sorry Turbo, Thought it was for operator to use. Later Bob
http://www.national-site-safety.com.au/safety-security-equipments/gas-bottle-restraints-bottle-chocks?mode=list Turbo, We have these Bottle Chocks here in Aus. Supposed to be very good, but a little pricey. When I Googled the name, only Australian sites came up,you may know them by another name. Cheers,Greg
Sorry i can help you wiht your question, but could i ask why would you need O2 bottles on an ex ? are you running inside a biulding or someting ?
Couple of things here. No. 1: There is a difference between industrial Oxygen and medical Oxygen. Right enjorcement agency come along and you will be in trouble for using industrial Oxygen. No. 2: Is a fire hazard going to be created by using Oxygen in this application? As I recall NASA used pure Oxygen in the Apollo I space craft that killed three astronauts back in the mid 1960's. THey redesigned and changed to lesss then 100% Oxygen atmosphere. I think your, or their best bet would be to use something similar to what firemen use when entering a burning building. The tanks used in that application contain compressed air. It requires a special compressor and filtering system to capture any oil that may bleed by the compressor. You sub could be going down a pretty slippery slope if they decide to do what is described above.
You can buy grade D compressed air in 6000 psi bottles in assorted sizes ranging from 20 cubic feet to 300 cubic feet. Any welding supply can get you these cylinders Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
You can buy grade D compressed air in 6000 psi bottles in assorted sizes ranging from 20 cubic feet to 300 cubic feet. Any welding supply can get you these cylinders Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Greg, as BlazinSS934 has stated, the o2 is grade D breathing air, that portion of the set up is fine. They are running through regulators, and respirators, so that set up is legal. The only real concern is the bottles are laying on their side, held in place by ratchet straps. Its like a rocket waiting to go off in my opinion. The only way I have seem O2 bottle securement on any machine is on the old 200 series cat machines. The bottle would be stood up on the step to the engine compartment next to the boom, and secured to the engine housing behind the step.
What are the conditions that require O2 in a modern cab? Must be bad.
I've never seen one mounted on an excavator, but any gas cylinder mounted on a moving vehicle must be mounted upright. In the event of an accident where the valve is broken off the cylinder, the cylinder becomes a missile (the valve also becomes a mortar, but that's another issue). If the cylinder is in the upright position, the force will push it downward and it will stay in the carrier. If it's ratchet strapped on it's side, it will kill whoever is in it's path. For that application, I would imagine that OSHA would require protection for the valve as well. If they're going to the expense to supply oxygen, a proper carriage for the tank wouldn't seem like a huge expense. SCBA tanks are too small to be practical for an 8 hr shift. The work involved in keeping them filled would be huge. x3 on what are the conditions?
Yea I'm curious as to the conditions/contaminates they are dealing with. That BS 10 minute escape cylinder is a joke lol I want at least a 30 min Scba system for escape. Just saying. In theory if you are on the supplied air system and you need to escape a 10 minute bottle will go real fast under panic and duress. When I am operating in the bucket of a tower ladder at a fire I wear my Scba and the bucket has a whip hose for me to click into. I did 2 jobs that required supplied air on my excavator. Did a temporary set up on my machine I used a welding cart welded it to the handrail and secured with ratchet straps. I used 1 1/2" black pipe as shielding for the hoses and secured that with EMT straps and tec screws. Not pretty by any stretch but it was a emergency spill response and I planned it out on a Dunkin donuts napkin while in route to the spill site. Loaded out like 3000 yards of soil with MEK and assorted solvents over the course of a weekend started at 1 am Saturday And was done backfilling by 8 pm sunday night. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Due to confidentiality agreements with clients, what can be let out as far as information is little to none. The site has had various industrial applications over the years, from dealing with heavy manufacturing, to chemical plants, to plants involved heavily with the petroleum industry. Most of the contaminants involve Volatile Organic Compounds. VOCs are easily dealt with via full face respirator and proper cartridges. The current chemical compound that has caused the sub to supply his guys with Breathing O2 cannot be stopped by any known cartridge respirator. That being said, the Permissible Exposure Limits are no where near being reached. The PEL numbers are 10ppm sustained for an 8 hour day. The majority of the time there is 0-2 ppm exposure, and even this is not constant. The procedure in place if there is an exposure of 10 ppm or greater after 2 minutes of sustained readings, is to evacuate the area. After a half hour of evac, sampling will take place and it is determined weather or not to continue. If we see a 20 ppm reading, procedure is to evacuate immediately. We have not experienced sustained readings over 10ppm for over 2 minutes. The chemical we are dealing with oxidizes rapidly, and at a very low temperature. This is purely a sub contractor going above and beyond when it comes to taking care of his employees. Very admirable, but IMO the bottles laying on their side expose other people on site to a potentially dangerous situation. There are several guys on site taking care of other work not directly involved in this excavation, but within a few hundred feet.
VOC's are also absorbed through the eyes. Are they wearing full face masks?
Most chemicals are absorbed via inhalation, and absorption via mucus membranes. That is why we wear full face cartridge respirators on a majority of the work where we do wear respirators.
Was any consideration given to using a rushmar foam system for vapor suppression? Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Blazin, We are using an oder control system to keep oders leaving the site to a minimum. This is not a foam system. I dont think foam would provide any benefits for those in the exclusion zone. The issues we have experienced are when the excavators are moving soil. The contaminates are so deep, and the site layout is requiring double and triple handling of soils before it gets to a truck. Our sub has come up with a way to secure their O2 bottles a little better, but they are still on their side. We have not had any huge spikes of anything in the past few weeks, and any use of O2 is purely at the choice of the operators.
I have a question. Are the operators breathing pure oxygen? If your bottles are O2 then i assume they are. This is not good at all, SCBA system is much better for them. In all my OSHA training I have never heard of an OSHA approved pure O2 system for working. Only SCBA or Supplied Air.
Dirthauler, read back through the first page, it's not actually 02, it's air.