Ensuring Gas Detection and Compliance in the Delivery of Carbonated Drinks

The Need for Gas Detection

While it is probably best known as an ingredient in fun and indulgent drinks, CO2 is, nonetheless, dangerous. It can kill in two ways: it can displace oxygen and cause hypoxia, and it can be a toxin in its own right. If N2 leaks, it cannot be detected by human senses alone because, like CO2 , it is odourless and colorless. Nitrogen mixes readily with ambient air and the main danger comes from the way it displaces oxygen which, if it reaches a severe enough level, can cause asphyxiation and death. More commonly, small leaks of N2 may cause confusion, dizziness and loss of consciousness. This is extremely dangerous for delivery drivers, who will be taking control of a large and dangerous vehicle on public roads, immediately following exposure. 

Enforcing and proving compliance

The penalties paid by a business that fails to comply with these can be very severe. But, as we have seen, conventional gas detection is not particularly user-friendly; data often lacks detail (for example, many detection records do not record time weighted average [TWA] exposure) and getting gas exposure data ready for any regulatory audit generates lots of paperwork and takes staff away from other duties. In addition, the carbonated drinks industry has trouble enforcing regulatory compliance among drivers, and/or the drivers do not always use their detectors correctly. This puts both drivers and the business at risk. 

Efficient, automated Gas Safety Insights

Crowcon Connect is a cloud-based solution that quickly, efficiently and automatically collects comprehensive data from Crowcon gas detectors and presents it in user-friendly format that is ideal for audit.

Crowcon Connect also makes it easy for managers to record and analyze their fleet use and fault data, providing safety insights they can immediately act upon – for example by alerting customers to the dangers on their site (and suspending deliveries until these have been fixed) or by delivering to a different part of the building.

Crowcon Connect is particularly helpful when monitoring detector fleets: users can be automatically assigned to their gas monitors (for example via an existing RFID tag, such as their work ID badge) without additional hardware or paperwork. Their data (e.g., exposure alerts, TWA and any issue) is uploaded directly to the cloud at the end of a work shift – no need for additional processes – where it is safely stored and can be accessed 24/7 from anywhere.

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