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Potential Problems of Indoor Use of Gas-powered Combusion Engines Alarming but true!
In a similar case, an office employee in a warehouse had become concerned about CO poisoning after several deaths occurred in a local apartment complex. The news media hype had prompted her to buy an alarm to check her own living quarters. Just for kicks, she took it to work and plugged it in one day. And the alarm began blaring! It was reading 80 ppm, when 9 ppm is the maximum safe level in an office environment. The forklifts in the attached warehouse were identified as the source, and a ventilation strategy was put in place to address the problem. In the third case, the owner of a production facility griped about horrible worker absenteeism to a friend who happened to be an HVAC contractor. The contractor, operating on a whim that there might be a sick building involved, stopped by and found alarming levels when he took out his CO meter. Today the facility uses only electric forklifts, and absenteeism has dropped. While no lives were lost in these three cases, the frequency of these and other reports suggests a “raised eyebrow” approach wherever gas-powered combustion engines are in use. Recently, mental alarms sounded for Davis when he entered a local grocery store and saw a gas-powered floor polisher in use. He alerted the management team to the potential problem before leaving the store. Many businesses simply don't realize that gas-powered machinery made for indoor use can create a CO health hazard — much like running a car in a closed garage — unless a reliable ventilation strategy is in place. For More Information Contact Advanced Energy at (919) 857-9000 or moreinfo@advancedenergy.org. |
Next time you see a gas-powered forklift or floor polisher, you might want to run for the nearest exit. At least that's how Advanced Energy's Bruce Davis sees it. The three anecdotal reports that follow are among several that have sensitized Davis to potential problems with indoor use of gas-powered combustion engines. In one case, a friend borrowed a carbon monoxide (CO) meter from Davis to check out CO levels in his home. The friend stopped by his workplace on his way home, casually setting the device down on his desk. When the alarm sounded, the exasperated friend called the CO meter manufacturer to report their malfunctioning equipment. The manufacturer screamed back, “Get out, get out now!” As it turned out, there was a very serious problem in the offices where the man worked. Adjoining the offices was a large warehouse equipped with gas-powered forklifts. This alarming situation was soon corrected with a proper ventilation. strategy.