Cleaning Your Industrial Chimneys
Industrial chimneys, often called smokestacks, provided the impetus for modern chimney sweeping. It was during the Industrial Revolution that smokestacks appeared and smaller home chimneys began to spread. Small boys were sent up them to clean out the soot and creosote, and constant exposure to toxic materials caused cancers, serious injuries, and deaths.
Modern Chimney Inspection – Nashville TN – Ashbusters
Slowly – and thankfully – laws and codes were written to protect these vulnerable children. Comparatively quickly, the reason for those laws and codes changed from protection of little sweeps to the safeguarding of those beneath the chimney. The modern chimney sweep industry exists to facilitate the inspections necessary for confirmation that the chimney may be safely used.
Safety First
Since there are typically many more people to protect under an “industrial chimney” than one above a single-family home, the first needs much more attention. Smokestacks get far more use, and “scrubbers” and “screens” that protect the environment do it by allowing fewer by-products of combustion out of the chimney. The potential for an explosive chimney fire is definitely present, and the safety of the workplace should be paramount.
In the past, there was at least some excuse for not cleaning smokestacks frequently enough, since it required taking them out of use. That is no longer the case because chimney sweeps with CSIA certification can inspect your smokestack ‘remotely’ while it is “on line”. Fittingly called “hot camera inspections”, they allow properly trained chimney sweeps to conduct an informative check of the flue while it is in use.
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Combined with other technologies developed to facilitate less disruptive inspection of industrial chimneys, on-line assessments of smokestack conditions leave no excuse for compromising workplace safety. Your employees are counting on you for that, and your local governments are insisting on it. With the ease of having your industrial chimney inspected without a disruption to workflow, a certified chimney sweep can assist you making sure you are in compliance.