he pressurized foam would spray across the floor of the Akron factory, causing a slippery mess and exposing workers to chemicals.
“It created a large spill situation many times. ... It was always a bad situation,” said Paul Hunt, with Norton-based ICP Adhesives & Sealants, formerly known as Fomo Products Inc.
“It was a safety issue and was costly,” said Hunt, recalling the spills that would occur sometimes in the filling department where employees fill pressurized cylinders with insulating and adhesive polyurethane foam products used in the construction industry.
The reason: Employees, when they were done filling a cylinder, would forget to close a valve on the cylinder before removing a clamp attached to a filling line.
Hunt, a process improvement engineer who said he has a “knack for tinkering,” used spare parts in the plant’s maintenance department to come up with a solution to the problem.
Now, his innovation — an improved clamping system — is a finalist for a 2017 Safety Innovation Award bestowed by the Ohio Bureau of Workers’ Compensation.
The state agency receives Safety Innovation Award nominations from employers.
“Employees love the new clamping system. There haven’t been any spills” related to the new system, said Hunt, who used spare parts in the plant’s maintenance department to create a prototype of his new system.
He’s been with the local company for more than 11 years. The 1989 graduate of Field High School previously worked in heavy construction.
The state’s Safety Innovation competition began in 2012 as a way to recognize employers who go above and beyond typical efforts to improve workplace safety.
The awards also are designed to serve as inspiration to employers to address safety concerns, bureau spokeswoman Melissa Vince said.
Last year’s first-place winner was turkey and hog farm Cooper Farms Feed & Animal in Northwest and West Central Ohio. Cooper Farms designed and built a hog loader that helps with safety issues associated with loading hogs into a trailer. (See the accompanying story for a list of area winners of Safety Innovation Awards.)
Panel of judges
Hunt will attend the Ohio Bureau of Workers’ Compensation Safety Congress & Expo in Columbus to present his innovation. The event runs March 8-10, and a panel of judges will determine first through fifth places March 9. First place carries a prize of $6,000.
Hunt explained that his solution is a pneumatic cylinder clamp that cannot be released unless the valve on the cylinder — which looks like a small propane tank — is closed.
“It’s pneumatic and senses the pressure [left in the clamp]” Hunt said. “If the pressure is still there, it won’t allow you to release the clamp. You have to close the cylinder and then vent the [hose] line.”
Previously, Hunt recalled, the spills “were like shaving cream.”
“If you keep dispensing shaving cream out, it expands and expands,” he said. “And then, if you let it sit long enough, it will end up going flat and turn into liquid.”
New systems
There are now 14 of the new clamping systems being used by employees at the company’s plant on Romig Road in Akron.
ICP Group of Andover, Mass., acquired the company last year. Together, the Akron plant and an office/plant on Barber Road in Norton employ about 100 workers.
These local operations manufacture polyurethane foam sealants, adhesives, pour-in-place and spray foam in pressurized, disposable and refillable packaging.
Hunt first came up with a prototype of the new system, getting input from those on the factory floor to help him fine-tune it.
“I’m not the one using it every day,” he said.
Katie Byard can be reached at 330-996-3781 or kbyard@thebeaconjournal.com. You can follow her @KatieByardABJ on Twitter or on Facebook at www.facebook.com.