QUORN PRINCIPAL DESIGNER

Planning, managing and co-ordinating works to replace ammonia evaporators in the site chillers at Quorn Foods Ltd in Middlesbrough.

Hunter Consultancy Services were appointed as Principal Designer for this project, giving expert advice to Quorn Foods on the health and safety risks involved in planning, managing and co-ordinating the replacement of a series of ammonia evaporators in the site chillers.  

Additional controls at the design and implementation phase provided the client and Principal Contractor with best practice solutions, alongside capturing the residual risk strategy that was left, which needed to be managed through Quorn’s engineering team.

Hunter Safety Solutions also assisted with site management on the project by appointing a Safety Manager to ensure CDM 2015 regulations were met.

This included implementing a bespoke management system, creating a strong safety culture and promoting best practice, whilst carrying out complex high risk activities, such as the removal of the outer wall of the ammonia chiller at a height of 20 metres, to allow the new chiller pack (weighing in at 7 tonnes), to be installed within the current structure.

It was vital to ensure that the removal of the old evaporators was carried out safely, to prevent damage to personnel, property, or equipment. This involved the systems being purged to minimise risk of chemical build up before installing the new evaporators to comply with current British Standards.

The project from planning and design, through to implementation was a success. The client was able to future proof their operations and ensure the safety of others would be taken into consideration during operations, maintenance, and future dismantlement of cooling systems.

Hunter Safety Solutions also assisted in implementing several changes to the site safe operating procedures as government guidelines were updated, such as social distancing, improved levels of hygiene and the wearing of face masks.

All this was achieved during the COVID 19 pandemic through strong leadership and high standards of supervision by the Hunter Safety team.