Portable Gas Detector For the Safety of Manhole Scavengers

The Monsoon has arrived all over India and soon, we will see water logging on roads. Municipal corporations deploy manual scavengers to clean clogged manholes to allow flood water to drain away, ensuring the safety of passing pedestrians and motorists. 

As we all know, these manholes are very dangerous. They contain a mixture of inorganic gases created by the action of anaerobic (needing no oxygen) bacteria on sewage and sludge. These gases mainly compose of hydrogen sulfide, ammonia, carbon dioxide, methane, nitrogen, and pockets of hydrogen, which in turn leads to decreased levels of oxygen supply. 

And these gases are highly toxic, depend on their concentration level, and cause extreme fire hazards, health hazards such as convulsions, respiratory arrest, and death.

Hence to protect the manual scavenger’s, safety gear must be provided by their employers. 

How do we solve this?

Ambetronics Portable Gas detectors play a major role in this arena, as it can be operated by any unskilled worker, with some minimum training. This is highly cost effective and requires, minimum maintenance.

A ‘Pocket’ Gas Detector basically is a small, handheld device that could be used by workers (skilled, as well as unskilled) as personalized safety equipment for localized monitoring and alert, so as to take necessary precautions before entering inside the manhole.

There are two major types of Gas detection methods: Diffusion Type & Suction Type.

However, in-case of sewage manhole cleaning, the suction type detection method is more suitable, as the probe is directly inserted by the workers inside the manhole and the instruments sucks a sample of gas present in the sewer/manhole chamber and analyses these gases. The detector/monitor unit is outside on a safe area (outside the sewer/chamber), held by a worker.

Ambetronics has its manufacturing units in India and provide support 24/7.