MONITORED VALVES SAFEGUARD FLUID POWER SYSTEMS

Is your machinery truly safe? As standards have changed in Australia, it has become confusing for some whether we are meeting the standards or not.

According to Jason Hodges, Operations Manager at Fluidsentry, there is evidence that the potential energy of fluid power (pneumatic or hydraulic) is often forgotten about during system design. And short of being able to see inside the system plumbing, operators have no way to confirm that machinery is truly safe before putting themselves in harm's way.

Fluidsentry offers a range of devices that create a safety interface between electrical safety circuits and fluid power systems. These provide a world’s-best solution to avoid unintentional machine startups in fluid power driven machinery.

Fluidsentry monitored valves work by diverting fluid power away from machines, ensuring that they cannot come alive while being accessed. And while these interlocking engineering controls are primarily designed to avoid amputation and fatalities, the team at Fluidsentry have found that they can offer added benefits of increased productivity.

One case study completed by the company found that along with the safety benefits, the customer was able to save $50,000 in labour for a single-operator machine over the first 12 months after installation – an impressive RoI.