Metal working fluids health and safety

Why a Freddy is more than just a coolant vacuum

Many companies risk fines for CoSHH failings when it come to the correct control of metal working fluid. Several well-known companies have been fined for various shortcomings, many of which are easily preventable.

Poor coolant management can increase the risk of workers’ contracting dermatitis or having an allergic reaction.  Not only can it cause skin irritation in various degrees to workers’, but degraded coolant can result in premature machine tool wear, causing decreased performance. 

A Freddy can vacuum up coolant from sump at a rate of up to 230 litres per minute. Not only does it vacuum up the coolant, but also any sludge and residue that has built up at the bottom of a machine sump.  We have come across factories where a bucket and spade are being used to do this! Not only is this time consuming, but it is not very efficient.  Once a sump has been emptied, it can then be thoroughly cleaned if necessary.  By doing this with a Freddy vacuum, it removes the need to come into contact with the coolant, thus removing the likelihood of contracting a skin condition through prolonged contact.

Even if there were no other benefit, if you are not vacuuming your coolant out when replacing it, a Freddy will save you time, it will do the job more effectively and it will help protect your worker. 

But a Freddy does so much more….

When you are vacuuming out the coolant, the Freddy coolant vacuum filters it as you go.  Taking out fines, swarf, and any particulates larger than the filter rating of the filter bag – of which we offer a variety of sizes between 1um and 1000um. To put this into perspective, a human hair is 75um.  That is a significant amount of microscopic particles being removed from your coolant.

Then you can either dispose of it or re-use it.  If you choose to dispose of it, the Freddy has a return hose which can pump out the coolant under vacuum. And just as quickly as it can vacuum up, it can pump it out. Then you are left with a filter bag full of the removed particulates, which can easily be lifted out, disposed of or kept for reclamation.

If you re-use the coolant – and in terms of cost savings the benefits of doing so are enormous, Then you just pump the filtered coolant back into your machine sump, ready to be re-used.  Regularly filtering the coolant means that it degrades much slower, so you have to dispose of it less, you buy less and because it remains uncontaminated, the associated health and safety risk lessen, and your machine tools live longer.

A Freddy coolant vacuum also comes with a toolkit that allows it to be utilised in other areas, whether that be using the floor tool to vacuum up spills or using the crevice tool for getting into the machine beds. 

We are so sure of what our Freddy coolant recycling vacuums range can do, we will come and show you for free. 

So why not put us to the test and give us a call to arrange your free demonstration, and see how we can help you meet your health and safety requirements, while saving you money. Call 01386 561113 or email websales@freddy-products.co.uk.

To view the Freddy coolant recycling vacuum range visit www.freddy-products.co.uk