In the December 2019 issue of Professional Safety Journal, Bob Levine (President of Zistos) discusses reducing the risks of entry with remote video inspection technology within confined spaces.
From September 30th to October 2nd we will be showcasing the capabilities of our wireless ZistosHD Tanker Inspection System at NTTC’s Tank Truck Week 2019. Stop by Booth 326 for a hands-on demonstration.
Contamination has always been a problem within the bulk
transportation industry. We can define a contaminant as any object, or
substance that renders something impure. In practical terms, it can be
described as any substance that is foreign and is not a component of the
primary product or material. It can also be an object that is an unintended contact
with the primary product or material.
Contaminants can have a negative impact on any type of
bulk load, but often have overwhelming consequences when they come into play
with food products or supplements intended for human or animal consumption. There
are many types of contaminants that can ruin food products that are being
transported in bulk. Examples of typical contaminants are fungi, residual heel
from previous loads, corrosion, delaminating liners, vermin, and foreign
objects such as: tools, phones, lights, pens, etc.
Tank maintenance can play a big role in minimizing
potential contamination problems. It is imperative to maintain hygienic
conditions in a tank between loads. A tank wash operation is a basic, common
sense maintenance that is critical to reducing the risk of contamination. Unfortunately,
the reality is the opportunity for contamination can still exist even if a
tanker has gone through a tank wash process.
There have been many instances where a fully loaded tanker was contaminated following a proper tank wash procedure:
In one case, a rail tanker had gone through an internal tank wash process and had not yet been loaded. A bird flew into the open manway at some point following the wash. The bird was not noticed, and the tanker was filled with a liquid consumable product and it was delivered to a customer at a manufacturing plant. The liquid was used as an ingredient for the manufacture of a snack food and was used for a time before the contaminant was discovered. The resultant discovery created a major disruption to the plant manufacturing process, employee downtime, expensive sanitation procedures, wasted bulk product and transportation costs. Liability for this event went well into the hundreds of thousands of dollars and damaged the reputation and brand of the company that delivered the contaminated product.
In another instance, a tank was put through a wash process, but because of a system malfunction, a pocket of the old product remained in the tank. The tank was next filled with a dis-similar product. This led to a cross contamination event that resulted in a mass product recall and many individuals were sickened.
There was one occurrence where workmen were repairing a tank interior and accidentally left lithium battery powered utility lights in the tank. The tank was washed but the lights remained in the tank, and it was used to transport a food product. Fortunately, the seals held on the lights and there were no significant negative consequences. This may not have been the case if the lithium batteries were exposed to the liquid food product and it found its way into a pet, livestock or consumer food product.
The one preventative measure that can catch these
contamination events and stop them from occurring is to perform a cursory
visual inspection of the internal tank conditions just before loading product.
This can be problematic as tanks are confined spaces and are inherently dangerous
to enter. OSHA has mandated safety procedures to help ensure the well-being of
anyone that must break the plane of a confined space environment. A proper and
safe confined space entry, requires training, manpower, equipment and
administrative oversight. This means that a quick visual inspection can add
complexity, cost, and an additional safety concern into the process.
Zistos has created a video inspection system that can be inserted into a confined space, such as a tanker, to look for these potential contaminants with no entry required. The tanker inspection system, HDTI-5AR-TIP6-3.5Z, can provide a high-resolution image of conditions inside of the tank, viewable by an individual who remains outside of the confined space-envelope.
The ZistosHD tanker inspection system consists of a telescoping pole with a camera on the base. We insert the pole and camera assembly into the tank via the manway. A swivel assembly on the pole spans the manway opening and allows the camera to be manipulated by the user so it can view any area of the interior. The system generates a wireless HD video signal that can be viewed by the inspector, or others, on a body-worn, hands-free, tablet display. It can also be wirelessly transmitted to an existing network and viewed on a supervisor’s computer. The self-illuminating camera also features a 30X optical zoom that can magnify the smallest of suspicious indicators of potential contaminants.
The inspector can scrutinize the interior to make a
final decision, just prior to load, that conditions are acceptable and there
are no obvious sources of contamination. Inclusion of this video inspection
tool in quality control procedures can go a long way in minimizing the
potential for many sources of expensive and devastating contamination events. As
the old saying goes, “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure”!
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA)
introduced the first regulation that protected personnel who work in confined
spaces in 1993. Since then, we have come a long way in keeping confined space
workers safe but until the number of fatalities from confined space accidents
is at zero, there is still room for improvement.
According to a NIOSH
study out of the 100 deaths investigated, the main reasons workers
entered a confined space were to perform their work functions of routine
maintenance, repairs and inspections. Most maintenance/repair operations start
by visually inspecting conditions. We design the ZistosHD Tanker Inspection
system to reduce the need to enter a confined space, such as a tanker truck,
hopper, vault, or rail tanker. It accomplishes this by allowing an individual
to make a visual assessment of the interior of the space without the need to
enter. The ability to inspect these locations without the need to enter the
confined space makes this phase of the process safer and more efficient.
The system (Part #: HDTI-5AR-TIP6-3.5Z), has a self-illuminating color camera head that features a 30X optical zoom. The camera head is attached to a telescopic pole which sits on the man-way and extends down into the confined space and can wirelessly send the video images onto a 5-inch, (optional 10-inch), tablet display. The inspection system can transmit video to off-site personnel and viewed remotely in real-time. In addition, it can capture the images on an SD card as still images (jpg), or motion video (mp4) in 1080P resolution. The captured images can be stored on a computer for future reference or included in maintenance inspection reports.
OSHA specifies in regulations 1926.1209(e), that if an individual enters into a confined space, (the entrant), that there must be an individual who remains outside of the space, (the attendant), and is specifically tasked with ensuring that the entrant is not in duress.
Camera technology can play a role to increase safety here as well. If following the visual inspection of the confined space it is determined necessary to enter, then the same video inspection system can assist. The OSHA mandated attendant can utilize it to visually monitor the status of the entrant from outside of the space via the video image.
Stay safe by using the ZistosHD Tanker Inspection System to inspect the entire interior of a confined space from outside the space. If a confined space entry is unavoidable, keep safe by using this same system as an entrant monitor with live video and two-way audio communication.
New Wireless Video ZistosHD Tanker Inspection System
The wireless ZistosHD Tanker Inspection System enables a safe visual inspection of the interior of a tanker trailer or rail tanker for hygienic conditions, foreign objects, residual heel, cracks and corrosion.
This uniquely configured video pole camera system is inserted into the tanker hatch. Two horizontal stabilizer rods span the hatch of the manway allowing the pole camera to stay situated without the need for the operator to support its weight.
SafeAirLADDERfor Safe Confined Space Entry(patent pending)
Keep safe by using redundant secondary atmospheric tests, which will help ensure a safe entry, when an entry is necessary.
Designed to perform a secondary test, as well as monitor and report environmental conditions — prior to an individual making a confined space entry, the SafeAirLADDER integrates gas metering electronics and alarm annunciation onto a ladder that is used to facilitate entry into a space.
The gas metering sensor is mounted to the base of the ladder and is designed to be inserted into a confined space — such as a tanker truck, rail tanker, processing tank, etc. The top of the ladder mounts onto the manway and has an integrated alarm console.