|
|
|
| New York City is full of energy. From skyscrapers to people on the street, they all depend on reliable energy and a safe environment. Consolidated Edison Company of New York, Inc., known as Con Edison is the city’s regulated utility providing electric, gas and steam service for more than 180 years to New York, including the island of Manhattan and surrounding areas. |
|
| Now, Draeger Safety, Inc., based in Pittsburgh, Pa. is proud to be a part of this energy by providing a variety of gas detection safety equipment to Con Edison and its workers. Con Edison is one of the nation’s largest investor-owned energy companies serving more than 3.14 million electric customers, more than 1.1 million gas customers and almost 2,000 steam customers. The city’s Manhattan section is unique: All of its utilities are located underground. Combining this with the size and population of the city, it is easy to imagine the maze and miles of pipelines and high voltage lines all running below the street, creating a huge need for gas detection and respiratory protection equipment. |
|
| Despite Con Edison’s intricate start with their instrumentation change, Kenneth M. Reinhart, Section Manager of Industrial Hygiene Environment, Health and Safety at Con Edison, stated that, “with a change in procedure or equipment we have had to respond to resistance from end-users, however, many of the managers clearly see an expected increase in performance and cost-savings with these Draeger products.” In fact, Reinhart continued, “We have been quite impressed by Draeger’s support and performance. If there are any procedural issues the Draeger technical sales support representative quickly responds and explains the resolutions or how the products work.” This change in instrumentation has created an on-going relationship between Con Edison and Draeger Safety, Inc. where Draeger continues to provide both technical and order placement support. |
|
| The initial order began two years ago, when Dräger supplied Con Edison with gas detection equipment consisting primarily of the Dräger 4-gas detection instrument the Miniwarn, some single-gas small instruments called Micropac and an electronic calibration system called E-Cal. The E-Cal takes all of the Dräger Instruments and automatically calibrates them. With Dräger, Con Edison saw innovative technology in terms of software that would allow their MIS people to integrate the E-cal’s into their automated record keeping system to insure proper calibration before any worker puts it into use. Reinhart claims that “Despite some initial doubts regarding whether or not the new technology would really work for us, once the group has seen the E-Cal system in action, they immediately begin planning where to place their own.” |
|
| Another product used by Con Edison is an internal software package, unique to the Dräger Miniwarn referred to as ‘Cinderella Software’ because it locks the unit down at midnight on the calibration expiration date. In fact, the instrument won’t work at all if it isn’t calibrated within the period set by the Con Edison’s EH&S department. This type of software eliminates the potential for error, as well as providing other benefits. It tracks the instruments, keeps a record of what gases the workers have been exposed to, and it can tell the user how well the monitors have been performing. It also centralizes all the instrument maintenance records from the various Con Edison locations onto a main computer that may be accessed at any time by management. This demonstrated the very low cost of ownership and serves as a major cost saving to Con Edison. |
|
| Selecting Dräger’s MiniWarn monitor was a very involved process. Con Edison performed highly technical lab tests and extensive field trials on the Dräger Miniwarn and three similar units from other manufacturers as part of the instruments evaluation process. Con Edison had developed a detailed specification for gas detector performance, reliability, endurance, and accuracy. |
|
| The Miniwarn’s excellent reputation, its size, plus its dependability, and quality of the Dräger Sensors are all reasons why Con Edison decided to use this particular instrument. However the major determining factor was savings as a result of using Dräger Sensors and the unparalleled technology of the E-Cal calibration system coupled with its software solutions. With Dräger’s Miniwarn, Con Edison realized the durability and accuracy of the Dräger sensors. Most of them have a 5-year life which results in a significant cost savings. |
|
| Con Edison also uses Dräger gas detection tubes as well as Dräger’s Chip Measurement System – CMS, to detect hazardous gases and vapors under and above the ground. |
|
| Draeger Safety, Inc. is involved in evaluations with other Con Edison divisions for the X-am 7000, Miniwarns and E-cals. These groups include the Liquefied Natural Gas Group, LNG, Pressure Group (in gas-line pressure) and Tunnel Group, which operates utility tunnels under the rivers within the city. “Being the world’s largest utility, Con Edison is a major customer for us,” said Wes Kenneweg, President of Draeger Safety, Inc. “Our relationship as their partner in occupational safety protection continues to grow on a daily basis through sales, service and technical support. We look forward to working with these other important groups of Con Edison in 2007.” Kenneweg added. |
|
|
|
