Council of Gas Detection and Environmental Monitoring

CoGDEM (UK) is the Council of Gas Detection and Environmental Monitoring, a trade association with a membership of over fifty companies involved in the gas detection industry. They are pleased to have ETP (the publishers of this IET magazine) as an Associate Member, so we will place a regular column of news from the gas detection industry in IET magazine.

CoGDEM members have much expertise in workplace safety related to the detection of hazardous gases that could impact on people or plant, so they are frequently asked for impartial guidance and to give presentations to industry bodies. For example, twice this year CoGDEM have given presentations to regional gatherings of BOHS, the British Occupational Hygiene Society. They asked CoGDEM to identify the differences between ‘personal’ and ‘portable’ gas detection instruments used by their members, identifying advantages and disadvantages, applications which particularly suit one type of instrument over another, and highlighting areas of innovation within the industry. CoGDEM is well-placed to give up to date information in a commercially unbiased fashion, and illustrate its talks with a range of products from various manufacturers.

The use of Flue Gas Analysers (FGAs) to check the efficiency and safety of combustion appliances in the workplace and in the home is already very widespread. From April 2014 their use in the UK will increase again, when it becomes compulsory to check the level of carbon monoxide (CO) in the flue of newly installed domestic boilers, as well as checking the ratio of CO to CO₂ which is a measure of how efficiently the boiler is performing. Due to the nature of the work they do, FGAs require an annual service and calibration, and sometimes an FGA will be returned to the manufacturer or an approved service centre bearing stickers suggesting it is owned by someone other than the person returning it. CoGDEM is working with the industry to set up a database of FGAs that have gone missing from their legal owners, and they also hope to instigate a common method for identifying when the next calibration is due, so that instruments are always being correctly used. This is important to field inspectors who need to validate that a heating engineer has used appropriate techniques and equipment during the installation and commissioning of heating appliances.

Manufacturers and users of flammable gas detectors in the workplace are likely to be aware of two relevant standards that cover these products and the way they should be used. IEC 60079-29-1 covers the performance requirements and test procedures for the apparatus itself, while IEC 60079-29-2 (covering oxygen detectors as well) gives guidance to users on selection, installation, training, use and maintenance, including guidance on ‘bump testing’. Both standards have been in place for some years but are currently undergoing review, so updated drafts have recently been circulated to CoGDEM member companies for their own inspection and comment. This enables those members to have advance notice of likely changes to the standards, ensuring that they are able to future-proof the design and construction of their products.