Key outcomes
- Designed and implemented an innovative ventilation system;
- Worker exposures minimised;
- Won WorkSafe 2022 “Workplace Health and Safety Solution of the Year” award;
Workplace health and safety is a critical aspect of any industry, especially those involving high-risk tasks. One such industry is the transportation industry, where workers are exposed to various hazardous substances, including solvents, during the maintenance and painting of trains. In particular, painting can result in elevated solvent exposures and explosion risks. To manage this, the business-as-usual approach involve multimillion dollar dedicated painting facilities, which often still pose significant risks. To address this issue, Metro Trains Melbourne engaged Synergetics Consulting Engineers to develop a fit for purpose ventilation system transform an existing maintenance workshop at Metro Trains Melbourne’s Westall Maintenance Depot into a high-quality facility capable of spray painting whole trains with relatively low airborne solvent concentration levels.
Synergetics conducted a detailed analysis of the existing painting process and used computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations to identify and optimisation a solution that massively reduced the solvent concentrations.
To address these issues, Synergetics Consulting Engineers used their expertise in computational fluid dynamics to simulate the painting process and identify potential solutions. The team collaborated closely with site personal, regularly seeking their feedback to ensure the solutions were practical and effective. The designed solution carefully involved a novel system which controlled to the airflow patterns to minimise the zone of the workshop that was contaminated with solvent fumes., reducing personal reliance on PPE. The designed system was then manufactured, installed and commissions, with the performance verified by field testing.
Figure 1 – The work won the 2022 WorkSafe Victoria “Workplace Health and Safety Solution of the Year” Award.
WorkSafe Victoria awarded Synergetics with the “Workplace Health and Safety Solution of the Year” for this work. Please contact Dave Collins +61 3 9328 4800 or davec@synergetics.com.au to obtain a quote for a specialised ventilation system, or if you are interested in being an exclusive supplier of Synergetics SAFE PAINT spray painting ventilation system.
Huge thanks to our partner and supplier organisations for their assistance:
For further examples of bespoke designed solutions click here.