TPi March 2016

business & market news

BSR wins international safety management award

improve overall working environment and quality performance.

The awards seek to celebrate and promote the success of its entrants in maintaining a safe and healthy working environment for staff, and are open to businesses, public and third sector bodies in all industries. Winners are recognised for proactive commitment to drive change, engage employees and

BSR Pipeline Services Ltd, a joint venture between Tata Steel UK Ltd and Ramco Pipeline Services Ltd, has won an International Safety Management Award from the International Safety Quality Environment Management Association (ISQEM), a UK-based professional association.

BSR Pipeline Services was personally commended by Wayne Taylor, president of the ISQEM, for reflecting the importance of high standards of health and safety in the workplace. John Harwood, general manager at BSR commented, “It is a huge honour to have won such a highly regarded award for our continued efforts in health and safety. At BSR health, safety, environment and quality are critical in any project we work on. I would like to thank all BSR employees for their continued enthusiasm and teamwork in achieving this prestigious award.” Established in 1988, BSR Pipeline Services offers a range of internal and external pipe coating services from its facilities in Hartlepool, UK. Following significant investment, BSR secured UKAS accreditation for laboratory and testing services at its facility, and can now offer a wide range of independent testing services to the coating industry.

BSR Pipeline Services Ltd – UK www.bsrcoatings.com

SABIC’s strain hardening test method becomes ISO 18488

The test was developed, in part, to help suppliers meet increasingly demanding requirements as set out by the Publicly Accessible Standard 1075, which necessitates higher resistance to slow crack growth than expected in the PE100 specification. The method requires a tensile test at 80°C, and is based on fundamental pos- tulates of crack propagation. ISO 18488 analyses the basic polymer properties that cause stress crack resistance – a different way of obtaining information on the behavioural properties of plastics than traditional testing methods.

test, can take months, if not years, to complete, SABIC’s development reduces this test time to just a few days. The strain hardening test method requires neither notched specimens nor detergents, further reducing the costs associated with the assessment of long- term behaviour in HDPE. Hans Pierik, SABIC’s senior manager for HDPE, commented, “SABIC is delighted that the strain hardening test method has been laid down in ISO 18488. For suppliers of pressure pipes this brings significant positive benefits. Obtaining reliable data on the long-term behaviour of plastics has always been difficult, and this innovation is an important development for the market.”

An innovative way of ranking the long- term behavioural properties of plastics has become ISO 18488 standard. The method, which was developed by petrochemicals company SABIC, reduces the time taken to test the slow crack growth (SCG) resistance of high density polyethylene (HDPE), with particular relevance for pressure pipes. The strain hardening test method, which reduces the time and cost associated with getting material for plastic pressure pipes to market, was first launched in 2010. While traditional methods to evaluate environmental stress crack resistance (ESCR) in pressure pipe materials, such as the full notch creep

SABIC – Saudi Arabia www.sabic.com

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Tube Products International March 2016

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