It might appear that your Dry Ice Cleaning provider is just coming in with some conventional-looking equipment, spraying a substance on your surfaces and packing up to leave. We assure you that there is considerably more involved than that! Planning and executing a cryogenic cleaning job safely entails utilizing what is actually a highly complex substance (frozen CO₂) that is potentially hazardous to humans. Here are a couple of the things that could happen from a safety perspective if the cleaning technician doesn’t cover all his/her bases:

Carbon dioxide freezes at an extremely low temperature: 110 degrees below zero. The frozen CO₂ pellets can actually burn the skin if it comes in contact with it, so dry ice cleaning requires that the technician completely cover his body with personal protective equipment (PPE).

Because the CO₂ is so cold, any water that contacts it will freeze instantly. If moisture is allowed to get into the reservoir or rapidly plug off the pressurized blast line, it can damage the equipment or create a safety issue. Technicians must use specialized equipment to remove any moisture from the compressed air that propels the dry ice onto the surface to be cleaned.

That’s right—cryogenic Cleaning Services create a risk of suffocation for the technician. When carbon dioxide rapidly changes from a solid to a gas, it displaces the oxygen in the air. In a confined space with limited air or ventilation, that means that the necessary oxygen content could quickly drop and the technician could lose the ability to breathe. The supervisor planning the operation must predetermine when it will be necessary to use supplied air respiratory equipment to protect the technician against this risk.

The last thing your facility needs is a disaster during a dry ice cleaning job. Thompson Industrial Services offers cryogenic cleaning services executed by experts that understand the risks and how to adequately protect themselves—and your employees—from them.