Skip to main content

Safety covered

Saint-Gobain PAM UK says it has developed the Opt-Emax, a range of one-man operable access covers, in response to health and safety concerns over a perceived increase in accidents occurring from drainage operatives lifting heavy access covers. Through an innovative design, each triangular cover section is independently hinged, said to considerably reduce required effort when lifting compared with traditional access covers. Once opened, the hinge blocks at 900, preventing accidental closure. Paul Thompson, m
December 20, 2012 Read time: 2 mins
5475 Saint-Gobain PAM UK says it has developed the Opt-Emax, a range of one-man operable access covers, in response to health and safety concerns over a perceived increase in accidents occurring from drainage operatives lifting heavy access covers.

Through an innovative design, each triangular cover section is independently hinged, said to considerably reduce required effort when lifting compared with traditional access covers. Once opened, the hinge blocks at 900, preventing accidental closure.

Paul Thompson, marketing manager of municipal castings at Saint-Gobain PAM UK, said: “Our high performance Opt-Emax product provides an assured level of safety for those who need to gain access to below ground services for inspection or maintenance purposes. Our ongoing commitment to delivering assured levels of safety has led to the development of a product that is able to cope with the day-to-day operations that personnel have to undertake, delivering a solution that has the operator at the heart of its design.”

Thompson said Opt-Emax is kitemarked to EN124 and fully compliant with the additional requirements of HA 104/09, SFA and CESWI.

“The product also includes enhanced security benefits, protecting against theft with an innovative locking system,” added Thompson. “Opt-Emax features a ‘master’ cover section that has to be unlocked before the remaining sections will open sequentially. It has also been developed so the entire unit can be protected with just one optional locking kit, which can be fitted retrospectively should additional security or anti-theft capability be required.

Saint-Gobain PAM UK is adding a further three new products to its current Opt-Emax range. The range includes clear opening options extending from 600x450 to 2250x750, plus GripTop anti-skid options for key sizes.

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Nortech’s newest range of VMS is European EN12966 compliant
    January 9, 2019
    Nortech says that its newest range of full colour LED variable message signs is fully compliant with the European VMS standard EN12966. The units are contained in a robust weatherproof IP65 aluminium housing and come either as a compact, single display sign or as a single/multilevel information sign complete with artwork. The multilevel signs are available with from two- to five-level counts as standard, with customers' specific count levels also available. The company says that this makes them ideal for
  • California bridge receiving constant attention
    May 29, 2012
    The MISTRAS Group is handling a US$3.4 million contract for continuous structural health monitoring on the San Francisco Oakland Bay Bridge. The client for this contract is the California Department of Transportation (CALTRANS) and MISTRAS will be responsible for installing and operating the package. The system is being installed on the bridge in response to a fatigue defect found on a structural steel beam in a regularly scheduled inspection during a holiday closure in 2009.
  • Permanent repairs at lower costs thanks to JCB’s revolutionary PotholePro machine
    December 15, 2021
    Shock figures from the AA reveal more than £11bn-worth of potholes need repairing across the UK and British digger maker JCB is on a mission to fix them.
  • Kuwait’s Sheikh Jaber al-Ahmad Al-Sabah Causeway opens
    August 27, 2019
    World Highways revisits the world’s fourth longest sea bridge - four years to construct and which has slashed travel time between Kuwait’s largest island and the capital city