Cunningham Covers Safezone Hot Work Habitat
Our Safezone Hot Work Habitat from Cunningham Covers stands as a pioneering solution for conducting secure hot work activities, ensuring safety is at the forefront of every operation.
Safety remains paramount, especially when dealing with hot work tasks. Cunningham Covers is dedicated to minimising the risks associated with such activities, and we’re well established in key regions like the UAE, Australia, Nigeria, Kazakhstan, Holland, and Trinidad & Tobago.
Our Pressurised Habitat Material is meticulously engineered from top-tier fire-resistant material, making it exceptionally durable. Certified and tested up to 1000oC (1832.0 F), our panels stand strong against the extreme heat of molten metal and slag. We offer a comprehensive service range encompassing sales, rental, training, service, and equipment re-certification.
The Cunningham Safezone hot work habitat, tailored for regions like the UAE, Australia, Nigeria, Kazakhstan, Holland, and Trinidad & Tobago, serves as a portable, reusable, and pressurised system prioritising employee safety. This habitat system is designed to support welding, grinding, and torching in environments like the oil & gas industry, and where flammable or toxic gases are present.
Our uniquely designed panels ensure absolute pressure containment within the habitat system, a feature distinguishing us from others. Unlike systems using fibreglass, our weatherproof design ensures endurance in the harshest North Sea conditions and the intense heat of regions like the Middle East.
Benefits of a Cunningham Covers Safezone
- Minimises risk of hot work
- Eliminates the need for costly shutdowns
- Portable and reusable
- Contains sparks
- Flame retardant panels
- ATEX certified
- Built-in gas detection system
- Flexible and modular design
Why choose a Cunningham Safezone for your company?
A Cunningham Safezone enclosure allows hot work to be carried out in a clean, safe and hazard-free manner, which alleviates the expense and hassle of shutting down your operations. We are able to offer the complete service from cradle to grave from sales to rental, training, service and re certification of equipment.
Using only the highest quality, durable materials, the pressurised system includes flame retardant panels that will protect your workforce from the risk of fire. The Safezone enclosure also has a built-in gas detection system that prompts an automatic shut down if hydrocarbons are present.
The hot work habitat system is a modular solution, making it is easy to transport when necessary. We can build around any obstacle including seal pipes, valves and beams to ensure your enclosure is the perfect fit for your area. Our Safezone enclosures are smaller and lighter than any other system on the market, allowing them to be easily shipped worldwide.
At Cunningham Covers, we have over 50 years of experience in creating bespoke industrial covers for a variety of industries. We offer a tailored experience for each of our customers, ensuring we can support you from the initial enquiry stage right through to set up.
Safezone - Fully ATEX Certified
Cunningham’s Safezone was awarded ATEX certification in 2015, making it fully certified for use as a hot work-controlled enclosure. The Safezone is suitable for zone 1 and zone 2 hazardous areas both offshore and onshore.
Cunningham Covers exclusively manufactures and makes the equipment in our purpose built factory to IEC60079-13 – Which is the legal standard required for Pressurised Habitats to be operated in Zone 1 & Zone 2 Areas. Our system is designed and developed to II 2 G Ex px IIB T4 Gb
Made-to-Order Habitats
Our Safezone hot work covers can be made to suit your specific industry needs. Safety is paramount to your business and a Safezone enables you to carry out repair and maintenance rapidly and safely. We can provide either 110v or 440v (50hz and 60hz) versions of our system and can accommodate all the way up to 600v. Our system is rated up to 50oC ambient temperature being one of the only systems certified and tested to this temperature rating.
An ATEX and IECEX certified SafeZone can be built around any obstacles and configured to any shape or size with the smallest footprint of all the systems available on the market today. We can ensure that we can get into the most tight and congested areas.
Get a quotation for your Cunningham Safezone
Call us now on +44 (0)28 7964 2638 and talk to our skilled and experienced staff. We’d be delighted to hear from you and will do our best to help. If you want a price quickly just request a quote below with the details of the item you want to cover and we’ll get back to you.
A Pressurised Habitat, Hotwork Habitats or Welding Enclosure (as they are all commonly known) is an apparatus that could be used to conduct welding in potentially hazardous environments. There are many companies on the market that are available to hire pressurised habitats and Cunningham is such a company with their Product offering SafeZone Habitats.
SafeZone is an Engineered control measure that is used to segregate hotwork ignition sources and non-Ex Electrical Equipment from potentially hazardous environments. This means that the system is creating an non-hazardous area in Zone 1 or Zone 2 classified area. This is the equivalent to creating a gas-free zone and removing the risk of explosion.
In order to understand how SafeZone works, you first need to understand and appreciate how explosions and fire are started. In order for a fire to start, you must have 3 main components. Fuel, Some Heat and Oxygen.
Containment ( Containing Sparks) – A sealed, flame retardent Room is created that ensures the ignition sources (Welding, Burning and Griding) are contained within the sealed Habitat.
Pressurisation (Keeping Fuel Out) – The SafeZone is overpressurised with a ventilation system that creates a positively pressurised environment. This air is ducted through antistatic ducting from a Safe Area. This creates a pressurised barrier and ensures that the SafeZone Habitat stays gas-free, even during an unplanned release from surrounding plant and equipment.
Gas Detection and Automatic Shutdown -The Cunningham SafeZone Habitat System is fitted with fully automatic shutdown and gas detection system that triggers on the presence of hazardous gas within the vicinity of the enclosure or within the air stream being ducted into the enclosure. If the Pressure Control System picks up hydrocarbons then the system will automatically shutdown welding equipment, sound an audible and visual alarm and automatically disconnect and shut down the welding equipment and making the area safe.
Traditionally Oil and Gas Companies would be the biggest user of habitats (Downstream, Mid Stream and Up Stream) that would use pressurised habitats. This is due to legislation within Europe (DSEAR) which stands for the Dangerous Substances and Explosive Atmospheres Regulations 2002. The name given to the legal requirements in Europe is ATEX and around the world IECEX. However, more recently the Marine Industry has also identified that there could be cost savings of conducting hot work without bringing ships out of commission and into port.
Yes, SafeZone can be built around objects, cable trays, pipe racks or any very congested area that you would typically find within facilities. The habitat can be used to seal around bulkheads, vessels or even used weld areas of the floor. The system is made from completely flexible flame-retardant panels. These panels are able to be assembled in a infinitive amount of configurations to construct a habitat of any shape, size or design.
SafeZone is one of the only fully ATEX and IECEX certified systems that are certified to the latest standards. There are many companies out there that claim to have certification for their complete system. However, unlike the SafeZone System, they may only have 1-2 certified items within their design. This does not make the full system certified, just like buying items for a car and constructing them does not make it safe and certified. Other companies have outdated certification, now although this does not mean that the system cant be used, it means that the system would not meet current requirements should it be retested today. Sticking with the car analogy this is the same as passing your test in the 1930s and going to sit your driving test today.
Removing Risk to ALARP (As Low as Reasonably Practicable) – By using a Cunningham SafeZone Hotwork Habitat System you’re using an engineered control that is specifically designed and developed for the hazardous associated with Hot Work. This will mean that the SafeZone system will meet all risk assessment requirements, permit requirements and safety case requirements and mitigate any risks associated with hotwork. Cunningham will provide all supporting documentation and Safety Information and will work with your team to ensure compliance with your requirements.
Saving Costs – No client wants to shut down their facilities and lose production by using SafeZone you can perform urgent repairs whilst avoiding a costly shutdown. This allows you as the client to be able to conduct work outwith shutdown periods, for urgent repairs, or after shutdowns outwith normal scopes.
Protecting People, Plant and Facilities – The SafeZone system allows you to protect people, plant and facilities. Removing the risks associated with Hot work. No company in the world would like to have an explosion on their facilities, lose a member of staff or have damage to their facility.
Talk to David Today: +44 (0)28 7964 2638
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Interested in Safezone Hot Work Habitat?
Get in contact with our team to discuss your bespoke requirements and application.
Tell us your specifications below and if you have any queries, call us on:
028 7964 2638 (within the UK) or 004428 7964 2638 (from the Republic of Ireland).
