Flame-free grooved piping is safe choice for construction

Flame-free grooved piping is safe choice for construction
“Hot work alternatives can slash health and safety risks,” says Pankaj Soni, Victaulic Country Manager India
For many building owners, a contractor’s demonstrated safety performance is not only a prerequisite to inclusion in the bidding, it is also one of the significant factors in determining the outcome. Savvy contractors are focussing more and more on injury prevention, using zero injury techniques.
It is recognised that safety adds real value. It impacts people as well as the bottom line. In addition to the personal side of work injuries, safety affects contractors, owners, workers, managers, company reputations, and even performance, productivity and profitability.
Construction-related costs are both direct and indirect. Direct expenses — which may be covered by insurance — include medical treatment, prescription drugs, weekly wage replacement and administrative costs. But indirect expenses are often more detrimental to the overall expense.
Indirect expenses include interruption of work schedule; training of replacement workers; administrative time to investigate cause of injury and prepare reports; repair or replacement of damaged materials, equipment or facility; and any required clean-up of the accident scene, resulting legal action and increased insurance premiums or fines.
Today owners are paying close attention to all aspects of safety related costs, from the safety records of their contractors — including hiring and subcontracting practices — to the decision of whether to shut down during construction. Shutdowns create tremendous pressure to finish, and the probability of injury increases.
Victaulic, the world’s leading producer of mechanical pipe joining systems, conservatively estimates that jobs requiring welding applications demand up to 45 per cent more man-hours on average over its own no-flame piping solutions. The mathematics is simple: less man-hour equals less exposure and project risk.
Mechanical pipe joining systems are easy to install and provide a union at every joint, giving contractors maximum field flexibility and enhanced on-site decision making capabilities. As grooved mechanical pipe joining is a no-flame solution, it requires no costly fire-watching manpower or fire shielding, neither tanks, torches and potentially dangerous lead lines.
The grooved pipe joining method eliminates the safety concerns associated with open-flame pipe joining methods, delivering enhanced job site safety and cost savings for owners and contractors. Risks are reduced and pipe fitters are not exposed to the damaging fumes and serious health issues associated with hot works. Grooved piping systems mean safer job sites for all.
About the authorPankaj Soni is country manager for Victaulic in India. He has more than 18 years of industry experience, worked for several respected international engineering firms and holds an MBA and a BE degree in mechanical engineering.

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