Pirtek built its reputation on its unrivalled support for the construction and plant hire sectors. That commitment remains and indeed, continues to grow
On 6 June this year, Pirtek took its place among the elite of the construction equipment and plant hire sector at the PlantworX exhibition at Bruntingthorpe.
From its inception nearly 30 years ago, Pirtek has been a staunch supporter of the UK construction and plant hire sector. The company’s distinctive mobile service vans have become a familiar sight on construction sites the length and breadth of the UK and Ireland and major national plant hire and civil engineering companies entrust the care of their equipment to Pirtek, regardless of where those machines happen to be working.
Safety first
Pirtek unveiled an exciting, safety critical product at Plantworx that will be of interest to plant owners, operators and fitters and anyone required to get hands-on with a machine’s hydraulics.
The new Fluid Power Glove has been developed to combat the threat of fluid injection injuries that can occur as a result of hydraulic hose failure.
The velocity of fluid forced through a pinhole break in a hydraulic hose can be in excess of 250 metres per second – close to the muzzle velocity of a gun. Fluid released in a fine jet at this velocity is sufficient to penetrate clothing, including protective gloves.
Skin penetration can occur up to 100 mm away from the fluid source and at pressures as low as 100 psi. The toxicity of the injected fluid leads to necrosis of the affected area, as well as compartment syndrome, which will require timely surgery.
Compartment syndrome is caused when fluid under pressure enters the hand, causing nerve and tendon damage by over pressurising compartments, including those of nerves and tendons in the hand, which can lead to permanent damage. There is also a risk of blood poisoning and bacterial infection.
Surgery to remove dead tissue and clean out the fluid from the wound is required in 100 per cent of cases and failure to act quickly may result in the need to amputate fingers and limbs. The risk of amputation significantly increases if the wound is not treated within six hours.
The Pirtek Fluid Power Glove, with its unique hydraulic injection resistant technology, is the only glove that offers protection against hydraulic injection injury as standard.
The Pirtek 4041P Fluid Injection Glove is tested in accordance with EN388:2003, offers protection up to 700BAR (10,150 psi) and is the only glove of its kind on the market.
During laboratory testing at the Health and Safety Executive laboratory facilities (HSL) in Buxton, the injection resistant technology used in Pirtek Fluid Power Glove demonstrated injection resistance at pressures up to 700 Bar (10,150 PSI) from apertures ranging in size from 0.05 to 0.3 mm using standard hydraulic oil.
The lightweight design, pliability and sizes ranging from small to XXL make the Pirtek Fluid Power Glove a must-have PPE garment for all personnel working on or around hydraulic equipment. The Fluid Power Glove is available through your local Pirtek centre.
Pirtek knows hose
While the company’s display at Plantworx was centred on the new Fluid Power Glove, Pirtek’s support of the construction and plant hire sector extends way beyond that.
An increasing number of plant hirers, construction and civil engineering companies are entrusting the maintenance of hydraulic and pneumatic hoses and couplings on their fleet to Pirtek via the company’s Total Hose Management service.
Under Total Hose Management, a qualified and experienced engineer carries out a full inspection of a machine’s hoses and couplings, logging the specific items, labelling them with a colour and numerically coded cable tie for faster identification and replacing any items that are worn or present a threat of failure.
Inspections are repeated at a time and frequency of the customer’s convenience, eliminating the threat of unforeseen and catastrophic failure and ensuring optimum equipment uptime and profitability.
On the road
The service is delivered by a fleet of around 350 mobile service vehicles, each manned by a highly trained and qualified mobile sales and service technician and backed by more than 80 dedicated hose centres across the UK and Ireland.
Coverage extends the length and breadth of the country, making Pirtek the clear leader in the emergency hose replacement market and allowing it to consistently deliver on its service promise of Anytime. Anywhere. ETA one hour.
Little wonder that Pirtek counts the likes of A-Plant, GAP Group, Plantforce and a multitude of industry household names among its customers.
In addition to delivering emergency, on-site hose replacements for these and many other construction and plant hire companies, Pirtek delivers a whole lot more.
The company now offers a product range that extends to more than 18,000 line items ranging from the obvious hoses and couplings, through the Fluid Safety Glove to the less obvious range of oil spill and containment kits, hose protection products, tools, pumps and motors and even fluids and lubricants.
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