Workers in Minnesota who use electronic gas detectors often use devices with pumps. When to use a pump is a common question, and the decision whether to utilize one of these devices can have serious impacts on the safety of workers on the job. The use of a pump on a gas monitor can add a significant level of safety to gas detection tasks. These devices allow workers to collect air from an atmosphere with unclear properties and bring it to a gas monitor location, allowing individuals to view the results of the monitor in a location where the air is known to be safe.
Pumps can prevent workers from being exposed to combustible sites and toxic or contaminated air. Assessing the results using the monitor can indicate that an area is clear of dangerous or flammable gases and allow the workers to safely begin their jobs. Confined spaces that span large distances can be important places for the use of a pump. Workers can enter the area slowly and keep their probes ahead of their paths as they enter, ensuring they are moving in a safe direction.
Even though pumps increase workplace safety, they do not help the monitor to be more effective or increase its sensitivity to gas. There are some downsides to the use of pumped monitors. They are heavier and larger models, and workers who wear monitors typically have to wear them consistently for a work day of up to 12 hours.
Gas monitoring can be involved in a number of potentially hazardous jobs, including water treatment and refinery work. People who have suffered on-the-job injuries and accidents, including through exposure to hazardous gases, smoke or fire, have the right to compensation. A lawyer can help an injured worker pursue that compensation and potential further damages when workplace safety rules have been violated.