Insulating hot pipes, flexible hoses and equipment with Worbo’s Cool Skin™ Technology (see products page for more information) will greatly reduce the potential of burn related injuries in your workplace.

Reducing the Possibility of Workplace Burn Injuries

Most plant process steam (and other hot or cold system) piping is insulated with a permanent fixture of hard lagging insulation at the time of initial installation. As plant processes evolve or if system problems occur, sections of insulation are often removed for trouble shooting, pipe replacement or line reconfiguration. The removed sections of insulation are irreparably damaged and often never replaced thereby creating a potential burn hazard.

In addition, often times the hard piping lines are insulated while flexible (steam/oil/heat traced) hoses are left un-insulated. These flexible hoses are often connected to moving machinery or equipment that is regularly maintained or operated by nearby personnel who are subjected to this potential burn hazard.

The two scenarios above are just two of literally hundreds of common applications where the potential for a serious workplace burn injury exists.

Figure 2-114 Distribution of heat burn and scald cases and all nonfatal injury and illness cases involving days away from work in private industry by days away from work, 2001.

Workplace burn and scald injuries lead the way in injury lost time from work (average of 5 days per year per burn or scald according to NIOSH Publication No. 2004 -146) it’s difficult to ascertain the full impact in a measured cost to companies. One study of Oregon State suggested the average cost in that state for thermal burn or scald injuries per employee was ~ $5,400 USD.

The majority of potential burn surfaces in the workplace (such as un-insulated piping, flexible hoses and equipment) are at a temperature up to or below 450°F. Worbo Cool-Skin™ Sleeve provides an economical, clean and safe solution to covering exposed burn surfaces that can easily be installed by plant maintenance staff.

With a minimal initial capital investment (depending on the amount of un-insulated or improperly insulated piping, flexible hoses and equipment) a typical plant can be equipped with burn protection insulation (Worbo’s Safe Sleeve, Heli-Coil or Safe Tape) to significantly reduce the risk of workplace injuries. The initial investment could pay for itself in the first 6 months alone with an overall increase in plant efficiency leading to reduced energy costs.