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

  • Portugal's road safety initiative
    February 14, 2012
    The Portuguese experience with road safety has proved that planning, development, introduction, and hard work do pay off in the end. Paulo Marques Augusto, president of the National Road Safety Authority (ANSR), explained that in the last 10 years a decrease of over 50% has been achieved in the number of fatalities on the road network despite a continuing growth in traffic demand (there are five million vehicles in Portugal), and a similar reduction in travel time on most of the connections between Lisbon a
  • Portugal's road safety initiative
    April 12, 2012
    The Portuguese experience with road safety has proved that planning, development, introduction, and hard work do pay off in the end. Paulo Marques Augusto, president of the National Road Safety Authority (ANSR), explained that in the last 10 years a decrease of over 50% has been achieved in the number of fatalities on the road network despite a continuing growth in traffic demand (there are five million vehicles in Portugal), and a similar reduction in travel time on most of the connections between Lisbon a
  • Innovative testing boosts pavement quality
    February 16, 2012
    Innovative materials testing technology will allow the road sector to boost pavement quality, Mike Woof and Patrick Smith report. With billions being spent on highway construction worldwide, governments are looking to make sure their investments last as long as possible.
  • New version of world’s longest floating bridge
    August 12, 2014
    The creation of a new version of the world’s longest floating bridge in Seattle, in the US state of Washington, is among the world’s most eye-catching current bridge engineering projects. It is an impressive example of the health of the bridge replacement sector, particularly in the US, leaving it well placed for growth. Guy Woodford reports Already the world’s longest floating bridge at over 2,310m long, the Governor Albert D Rosellini-Evergreen Point Floating Bridge in Seattle in the United States is g