Air quality training!

Reflecting the level of support and expertise that Ashtead Technology has been able to provide for its sales and rental customers over the last year, TSI has renewed Ashtead’s Gold Partnership status. The achievement of this level of support triggers higher levels of engagement with TSI, resulting for example, in joint activities such as free air quality training events.

One such event took place in January, focusing on both indoor and outdoor air quality. “Previous training days have taken place at TSI’s headquarters in High Wycombe, but this year, to give our customers in the north of the UK the same opportunity, we moved it to the Magna Science Adventure Centre in Rotherham,” explained James Carlyle, Ashtead Technology General Manager. “We were delighted with the level of enthusiasm for the day, and feedback from delegates was extremely positive,” he added.

Two of the attendees from WSP, a 7,640 strong British engineering consultancy, travelled to the Magna Centre from their Cardiff office. Luc Porter, a Principal air quality consultant at WSP, said: “It was great to gain some practical hands-on experience with a variety of technologies, and to see the latest TSI models. We also found it useful to engage with the other delegates; sharing knowledge and experience.”

The day began with a presentation by Ashtead’s Josh Thomas, who outlined the reasons for monitoring particulates; including the management of indoor air quality and regulatory compliance. He explained which instruments are most appropriate for specific applications, citing examples in applications such as cooking, soldering, construction, manufacturing, animal husbandry and even smoke management during the filming of feature films.

The next speaker was Nicholas Baxter from the Health & Safety Laboratory (HSL), which is the science division of the Health & Safety Executive. He described the requirements for Respiratory Protective Equipment (RPE), including an explanation of the terms ‘adequate’ and ‘suitable’ with respect to RPE. He also highlighted the importance of the CE mark, correct storage of RPE, and Fit Testing, as well as employer and employee responsibilities. This was followed by a practical demonstration of FFRED (HSL's Face-Fit Respirator Demonstrator) which highlighted the problems caused by badly fitted masks.

Technical presentations were also provided by TSI – Maxine Dolloway described the DUSTTRAK and SIDEPAK range of particulate monitors, and Nick Brown outlined the advantages of the Environmental DUSTTRAK. The participants were given numerous opportunities throughout the day to work with all of these instruments.

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