CoGDEM Comment - WWEM Review

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

CoGDEM is one of the collaborating organisations involved with the WWEM exhibition, conference and workshops, held every two years. The 2014 event in the Telford International Centre in the UK in November was a great success, and the CoGDEM Gas Detection Zone was a busy part of the exhibition, with over a dozen gas detection companies showing their latest products and services. New products were on show from many CoGDEM members, including innovative miniature portable gas detectors, wirelessly communicating safety systems, infrared sensors for dual gas applications, control systems, air quality monitors including optical particle counters and new gas products for calibration and testing.

The series of half hour presentations and workshops spread over the two days of the WWEM event were also well attended.  Gas detection subjects varied from bump testing, calibration and maintenance, to VOC detection and cloud-based compliance record keeping of personnel exposure to toxic gas. We were also pleased to have Dr Peter Walsh from HSE give a presentation on 40 years of the Health & Safety at Work Act and its implications in the world of gas detection. Dr Walsh created some timelines of notable events over the 40 years, including the creation of key standards and regulations, the development of new sensing technologies, and the major industrial incidents which have been related to gas escapes.

Not only does 2014 mark the 40th anniversary of the HSWA, but also of CoGDEM itself. The trade association was formed in 1974 after BSI suggested that the gas detection industry should come together with one voice when discussing the fledgling standard for flammable gas detectors that was being created. At the gala dinner and awards ceremony held during the WWEM event, a short history of the organisation was given to the audience of almost 300 people, mentioning how the original group consisted of just six manufacturers, although we have now grown to ten times that number. CoGDEM’s current Chairman Dr John Saffell presented past Chairman and founder member John Sonley with a certificate to thank him for his outstanding service to CoGDEM and the gas detection industry since its earliest days, and also gave him a pair of domestic carbon monoxide alarms to protect him at home. These alarms have a 10-year life, so we have already invited him back to celebrate CoGDEM’s 50th anniversary event in 2024, where we have promised to replace them.

WWEM 2016 is already in the planning stage, taking place on 2nd and 3rd November 2016 again in Telford.  Some CoGDEM gas detection equipment manufacturers have already booked their space and look forward to welcoming more end-users to the exhibition and educational workshops.