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Take a seat for a fresh approach

This year Clansman Dynamics is celebrating 25 years of producing the world’s leading and largest ranges of handling manipulators. The company has built a worldwide reputation for continued investment in R&D to manufacture the most robust equipment to satisfy the industry’s ongoing material handling and semi-automated finishing tasks.

Operating in harsh environments and often with very heavy duty demands, Clansman’s range of equipment has met with widespread praise and the significant growth in the company is proof of its expanding global reputation.

However, it is not just about speed, accuracy and durability, employee welfare is very much at the heart of equipment development at this world-leading company, most notably in terms of providing protection from exposure to harmful crystalline silica dust.

In response to concern over health dangers encountered during exposure to harmful substances, Clansman is now building pressurised cabs with filters to accommodate new legislative requirements and create a ‘silica free’ cab. Speaking about the move, managing director Andrew Sparrow told Foundry Trade Journal: “Of course performance and a robust construction have always been at the forefront of our range of products but employee comfort is something that is equally important. We are all fully aware of the need to protect our people in terms of safety issues but health and wellbeing is also of great importance and our cabs are designed to ensure that the working conditions are both safe and comfortable.”

A first class experience

Much has been developed to ensure that the cabs are comfortable for people to spend long periods of time in, and for many years there has been ongoing development in terms of seating technology. Akin to flying ‘first class’, the need to provide good support to avoid musculoskeletal problems has long been recognised by Clansman. Consequently, the seats in Clansman cabs can be fitted with head rests and lumber supports. However, the company is now going further by ensuring an even cleaner and more fresh environment thanks to guidelines stipulated by silica dust legislation.

Crystalline silica is a common material that is found in materials such as stone, artificial stone, and sand. When workers use and manipulate these materials, dusts of fine particles are produced. The tiny particles, known as respirable particles, can penetrate deeply into the lungs and cause diseases such as silicosis, lung cancer, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and other respiratory diseases. Workers can be exposed to crystalline silica in foundries and Sparrow and the team at Clansman have embraced the need to design equipment that recognises the hazards and addresses the issue.

“For us it is about helping companies to achieve their objectives not just in terms of production output but with regards their duty of care to their workforce,” Sparrow says. “Foundry work can of course be tough but using the correct equipment, designed with the user in mind, takes the pressure off.”

Visitors to GIFA will get the opportunity to appreciate the level of design expertise involved in manufacturing the vast range of material handling equipment Clansman has been providing for the past quarter of a century. From huge 20t machines to those at the other end of the spectrum, 150kg machines, Clansman can offer a variety of improved handling capabilities. The exhibition will enable Clansman to further showcase the new technology available and highlight the significant efforts made in terms of health and safety and employee protection.

With equipment in all parts of the world, the experts at Clansman are well versed in the legislative requirements and with a good customer base in the United States, the new crystalline silica standards in the US have been on their radar for some time. “It is a logical progression to ensure wellbeing is part of the design of industrial equipment,” Sparrow tells us. “We have been expecting this in the motor vehicles we drive for decades!”

Visit Clansman Dynamics at GIFA in hall 16, stand 16C24.

Contact: Andrew Sparrow, Clansman Dynamics, Tel: +44 (0) 1355 579900, email: [email protected] web: www.clansmandynamics.com