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Case Studies » Daido Industrial Bearings Europe Ltd

The Challenge

Daido Industrial Bearings Europe Limited, based in Ilminster, Somerset, UK, produce plain bearings, bushings and thrust bearings for medium speed diesel engines, turbochargers, and a range of other rotating and reciprocating machines.

The facility operates 24/7 days per week and there are approximately 150-160 staff working in production areas.

The business has several natural gas installations on site as well as hydrogen gas burners. As well as this some substances used in the manufacturing activities are highly flammable or flammable and indeed could form explosive mixtures in air without appropriate controls, these include, hydrogen gas, IPA and Renoclean ISO (a degreaser).

The solution provided

It is essential that areas where flammables are used have adequate, well maintained, intrinsically safe, extract ventilation systems in place so that an explosive concentration of vapour is unlikely in normal operation. During the inspection the focus was placed upon whether suitable controls were in place and if not what improvements were needed. Additionally all potential ignition sources need to be well controlled and fitted with warning systems if failure could result in an explosion or fire.

Containment is fundamental to safety where flammables are stored or transferred in large quantities as the risk of vapour generation from a leak is significant and can occur very quickly. It was found there were some issues around the transfer and storage of flammables on site which needed to be addressed.

A detailed report was issued to Daido identifying the findings across the site, the DSEAR zoning to be applied and a full action plan on what was needed to improve safety standards and bring the business in line with DSEAR compliance.

Thanks you for your report it confirms we have some work to do.
Matt Stevens - Engineering Manager