WORKSAFE Victoria has outlined the safety risks associated with air receivers, a type of pressure vessel used to store compressed air for applications which demand more than a compressor’s capacity.
The guide, ‘Working safely with air receivers,’ is intended to improve risk awareness and explain ways to eliminate and reduce them.
The organisation’s Manufacturing, Logistics and Agriculture Industry Program Director, Ross Pilkington, says air receivers have the potential to seriously injure people and damage property if they are not properly installed or maintained.
He says there have serious incidents in the past where air receivers have exploded that fortunately did not result in injuries, damage or fatalities.
According to the director, employers with air receivers must ensure they are properly maintained to reduce the risk of explosion or fire.
Pilkington urges operators who use the machines in their workplaces to use the handbook to assess their safety.
The organisation has provided a link on its website to Comcare’s unfired pressure vessel assessor macro, a hazard level calculator to indentify whether air receivers must be registered.
WorkSafe will begin inspecting air receivers during workplace visits from early 2009.
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