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1989: 'Crucial year for the workplace'
Page 111
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• New EEC directives require equipment manufacturers to involve themselves in actually improving the quality of the working environment, says UK general manager of IngersollRand Dave Thompson. He believes that this year is crucial to the development of the workplace as we know it. The workplace is changing — whether in manufacture or servicing, and there has been rapid development of products in recent years. "But even these changes will be superseded by the processes involved with the Single European Market as we move towards 1992," he says.
"Already activity in 1989 suggests that EEC standards committees are beginning to excell themselves. New lists of proposed standards seem to be appearing every week as part of the 300 or so directives issued for the shaping of the Single European Market."
Ingersoll-Rand has been working to produce designs and procedures to meet the impending changes. It has an on-going challenge that all equipment manufacturers must face as we move into the 1990s.
The safety of air tools is an increasingly important part of purchasing decisions — even the most important, believes Dave Hardy, general manager, sales and marketing (Europe, Middle East and Africa). He cites an obvious example as his range of portable air grinders for metal removal.
On the larger machines a motor control device prevents over-speeding.
And a permanent steel guard will allow the grinder to operate only if it is in place.
A safety throttle which is self-locking prevents accidental operation while allowing for one-hand operation, The origins of such safety throttles go back to 1916. Later this design ethic grew into a company philosophy called biomechanics. In the early 1960s wrist pain of workers using pneumatic screwdrivers was investigated.
"Our latest tools and those we are yet to introduce as we move towards the 1990s are based on the same project team approach combining biomechanical design specialists and outside consultants with our in-house design teams."
Further developments are shown by Series 3 screwdrivers and drills, he says. They incorporate "tilt" throttles which allow precise speed control with minimal finger pressure. The patented muffler design in the handle uses a twopiece Delrin housing and is filled with Scotch Brite to absorb a wide spectrum of sound.
The company's Swan Lane plant in Lancashire produces 45,000 tools a year, says operations manager Brian Kenwright. They are distributed — in the UK through an outlet at Horwich, and include a large range of hand-held rotary and percussive tools. Small Impactools are used in the automotive industry; breakers for trucks maintenance; and hoists, in all industries.