Nearly all coatings have two very serious health hazards for use in confined spaces.
- Flash Point
- Toxic Fumes
Flash Point
Flash point is the temperature at which the vapor from a volatile material can ignite in air. In practice this means that in a confined space, when spraying a coating with a flash point lower than the temperature in the space, the vapors can ignite and explode if someone strikes an arc. It is astonishing how many protective coatings have a flash point lower than the typical temperatures seen in a tank. Contractors go to great lengths to recirculate air to keep the concentrations of vapor low. They ban smoking and equipment that might cause a spark, but the work is inherently dangerous. EonCoat vapors cannot be ignited no matter what the temperature is and no matter what spark occurs (even a direct flame) because the coating is completely non-flammable. Flash Point in confined spaces becomes a non-issue as EonCoat is completely non-flammable and cannot ignite. A massive advantage over other coating systems.
Toxic Fumes
The other issue is toxicity. All of us who have worked within confined spaces for a time, have known at least one person who had to be pulled from a tank or other confined space because of toxic vapor inhalation. We do everything we can to prevent it. We blow fresh air through the tank. We sniff the tank before we enter. We stand a watch outside the tank every second someone is in a confined space. We talk about it at safety meetings. We make people wear a full respirator. Yet it happens – people are overcome by fumes. EonCoat is a huge step in the right direction. It has zero toxicity. While it is always appropriate to have fresh air flowing anytime someone is working in a confined space, with EonCoat you don’t have to worry that someone you are responsible for is in danger from toxic fumes.
A contractor working with EonCoat put all this in perspective for me last week when he said “I don’t go home with a headache anymore.”
For more information about confined space safety click here.
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