Case Studies » Centriforce
The challenge
A visit was made to the Centriforce plastics recycling site at 14-16 Derby Road, Liverpool, on 6th August 2015 to consider compliance with the Dangerous Substances and Explosive Atmospheres Regulations 2002 (DSEAR). The site’s core business is making high quality recycled products from plastic scrap such as plastic bottles, carrier bags, film and packaging.
Routine plant operations involve potentially-hazardous substances and the site does have a solvent based screen printing operation within the factory.
The solution provided
An assessment of the site was carried out in compliance with the DSEAR regulations 2002 and overall risk deemed acceptable. However feedback indicated a number of recommended actions need to be implemented with a small number points of particular significance.
Hazardous area classification applies to those areas where a flammable atmosphere may persist either briefly or for longer periods of time as outlined in the regulations – specifically within confines of equipment or around handling or storage locations. A key area was solvent printing operation; these were classified as a Hazardous Area due to low flashpoint inks and thinners used. A recommendation to management was the minimisation of inventory held within this process sub-unit and the importance of adequate ventilation to reduce the likelihood of fire or explosion.
The assessment also considered if fine dusts were allowed to accumulate at the facility, and the potential to lead to an ignition /explosion incident. The importance of effective housekeeping regimes are essential to limit overall DSEAR hazard from recycling operations on-site.
All findings were discussed with site management and presented in a comprehensive report with a prioritised action plan to work to.
