Givaudan uses Cirrus doseBadges

Unknown to the general public despite the omnipresence of its creations in many consumer products, Givaudan creates and produces fragrance molecules, food flavours, perfume compositions and specialities, using natural or synthetic raw materials. Research laboratories are mainly located in Switzerland and the United States. However, the company has two sites in France, one on the Avenue Kléber in Paris, which creates flavours and houses the sales office, and the other in Argenteuil. The latter site is more specifically dedicated to the creation of functional perfumery products, i.e. those intended for cosmetics, detergents, soaps… excluding the fine perfumery favoured by the great fashion designers. The site also produces fragrance compositions in what is known as a blending room, a ‘cold’ process. It is in these application research laboratories that the ‘noses’, professionals with a subtle sense of smell, create new fragrances, usually at the request of client companies. Around a hundred people work in Paris and around 500 in Argenteuil (including around a hundred in production).

‘My role is to avoid accidents at work and occupational illnesses, but also to avoid pollution’, explains Jean-Pierre Maratrey, HSE (health, safety and environment) manager for Givaudan in France. The key to safety lies in prevention, and this involves information and training. In fact, the French Labour Code requires all employees to receive safety training at their workplace. I take part in this first session,’ explains Mr Maratrey, ’with the new employee’s manager, so that we can get to know each other, introduce ourselves and find out what is expected of us. This is followed by an hour-and-a-half training session detailing the role of safety within the company. Production and laboratory staff receive more extensive training than office staff, commensurate with the greater risks and dangers they may encounter.

Safety can always be improved. ‘Drawing up and maintaining a single document (DU) helps us to look to the future in a sustainable way and to take stock of the effectiveness of existing measures to ensure employee safety. And, above all, to identify possible areas for improvement. There is no such thing as zero risk, ‘but we must work to reduce accidents’. So even minor accidents are analysed, and the HSE department carries out regular, ongoing audits: ‘I go out and meet the staff to see how they themselves assess safety and their protection needs. And based on the observations made, we initiate new measures in a given work situation, in a given area, for example handling, or noise at the workstation, forklift safety or fire protection…’. Of course, among these areas for improvement in the field of safety, partnerships are being developed to involve external service providers and companies working within the company.

‘However important it may be, personal protective equipment should only be used as a last resort,’ says Mr Maratrey. ‘First of all, you have to use collective protective equipment, which is eminently preferable. For example, rather than wearing a mask when handling a product, it is preferable to work under a hood, which is ‘better protection from every point of view’.

Of course, PPE is still essential in some cases. Making a perfume composition involves mixing several hundred different products in strictly defined proportions, so you have to weigh these products and substances, open packaging and pour the contents into containers, with the risk of breathing, inhaling, getting splashed in the eyes or on the hands, which is why you need gloves, safety goggles, safety shoes, dust masks, and so on.

‘However, to homogenise our mixtures, we use agitators and pumps to transport the products, and we have robots, which means that we also have motors that generate noise. It should be remembered that the heads of public and private establishments, companies and local authorities must comply with the European directive on noise 2003/10/EC. To do this, they need to monitor employees’ exposure to noise in their working environment in order to determine the precise noise dose or Lex. The Lex corresponds to the average noise level measured and averaged over 8 hours (a noise measurement averaged over 8 hours). Action levels are specified by decree no. 2006-892 of 19 July 2006. For an average exposure (Lex) of more than 80dBA or a peak level (Lp,c) of more than 135dBC, the employer must inform workers of the risks of deafness and provide and advise them to wear suitable hearing protection. For an average exposure (Lex) greater than 85dBA or a peak level greater than 137dBC, the employer must provide and require workers to wear suitable hearing protection.

‘We carried out several measurement campaigns to determine the sources of noise and analyse the levels in relation to the regulations, which impose a maximum of 80 decibels,’ continues Mr Maratrey. ‘A few years ago, it was estimated that the ‘kärcher’ cleaning of the mixers was a noise factor, which, without exceeding the standards, was likely to affect the work of the employees who had to weigh the products with the greatest precision. Work was undertaken to reduce noise when cleaning these mixers: the bonnet, which would have been a nuisance and reduced accessibility, was not retained, but the pressure of the kärcher was reduced, the number of heads was increased, and sound-absorbing strips were placed all around the equipment. We were able to reduce about ten decibels in this way.

Another source of noise is construction work… The site is located in the heart of an area where the prefecture requires the noise environment to be respected. ‘We take noise measurements indoors to ensure that we comply with the Labour Code, and outside all the company’s perimeter walls to guarantee compliance with environmental protection regulations. The Argenteuil site is subject to declaration and authorisation by the prefecture as an ICPE (installation classée pour la protection de l’environnement, but not Seveso), notably because of the storage of flammable materials, the presence of generators, boiler rooms, combustion installations, etc. The decree stipulates obligations, notably in terms of noise emissions, compliance with which must be demonstrated. ‘That’s why I called on Cirrus France’s measurement equipment,’ explains Mr Maratrey, ’because even if measurements have to be taken periodically by approved laboratories, I want to know for myself.

Cirrus France, a specialist in the manufacture of sound level meters, has been based in Mirepoix (Ariège) since 2008, with a sales and technical support unit for its noise measurement instruments. The company has developed two types of easy-to-use instrumentation. The range of sound level meters makes it easy to check noise levels at a workstation (measurement of Leq, peak level (Lp,c), LMax, LMin), store measurements on a computer and analyse frequencies (octave bands) to help choose effective hearing protection.

The ‘doseBadge’ system consists of a small, lightweight, wireless noise dosimeter. It is worn on the shoulder without disturbing the wearer. The measured data is transmitted to an infra-red reader and then downloaded to a PC. This instrument can be used to collect data on average exposure (noise dose) (Lex) on a small or large scale. The new version of the doseBadge incorporates the ‘Dual Channel’ function, enabling noise dose to be measured simultaneously according to two different standards. Channel A follows the ISO standard, while channel B can be customised. In addition, the doseBadge, already ATEX – EEx certified (Group I and Group II), has also received IECEx and MSHA certification.

Cirrus France also offers new doseBadges specially designed for cleanrooms and even black doseBadges… at the request of orchestra musicians and police officers.