HandiFoam® Process Improvement Engineer, Paul Hunt, has been selected as a finalist for the Ohio BWC Safety Innovation Award for 2017. The BWC Safety Innovations competition was established to encourage, recognize and showcase innovative solutions that reduce the risk of workplace injury and illness. Ohio BWC accepts innovations in the form of equipment, machinery, processes and procedures.
Paul Hunt’s process safety improvement design is a pneumatic cylinder clamp designed to fill cylinders behind an enclosed Plexiglas box. This activity was previously performed manually, exposing workers to chemical releases and sprays. The pneumatic clamp has greatly improved the safety of the filling operation and reduced the frequency of chemical spills at the HandiFoam® Akron, Ohio plant.
The need for this innovation came from safety concerns in the HandiFoam® cylinder filling department. Employees love the new clamping system, and reduction in safety hazards is evident, with no issues reported as of the date of this writing.
Hunt sold his idea to HandiFoam® decision makers with a rough concept he created from spare parts in the maintenance department. The innovation was taken from concept to completion in one year, and fourteen units were in place and fully operational by November 2015.
Hunt, with members of the HandiFoam® team, will attend the Ohio BWC safety Expo in March to present the innovation.
