Do You Need a Carbon Dioxide Detector in Your Convenience Store?
Do you have a soda machine in your convenience store? If yes, you may need to install a carbon dioxide detector/monitor within the store. This article discusses why you may need this device.
Carbon Dioxide and Soda
Carbonated drinks (such as soda) are made by passing carbon dioxide gas through water. This carbonation process is what makes soda fizzy. The carbon dioxide easily dissolves in the soda mixture. When you open the soda can or bottle, bubbles of the gas escape into the atmosphere.
Why You Need a Carbon Dioxide Detector
Carbon dioxide is heavier than oxygen. When carbon dioxide leaks from a hose transporting it into the soda-making machine, it occupies the lower part of the air within your convenience store. The carbon dioxide displaces any oxygen that is present in the air within the store. It will therefore become very difficult for your staff and customers to breathe. The victims will start developing symptoms of an elevated level of carbon dioxide in the blood such as muscle twitches and a racing pulse. You can asphyxiate (become deprived of oxygen) if you are not removed from the source of the poisoning.
The biggest challenge with carbon dioxide is that it has no smell. Consequently, your staff will be unable to get any warning that the gas is leaking from the soda machine. That is why you need a carbon dioxide monitor within the premises.
Different manufacturers make carbon dioxide sensors/monitors that operate differently. For instance, some of those detectors use infra red light to measure the frequency of gases present in the location where the detector/sensor has been placed. Once the machine detects a high level of carbon dioxide, it alerts the occupants of the room or store by sounding an alarm. The alarm enables your staff to evacuate the convenience store before anyone begins showing symptoms of carbon dioxide poisoning.
Thus, this detector/monitor will be very helpful in many ways. First, it will save your staff from suffering from the effects of carbon dioxide exposure (such as blurry vision). Secondly, the monitor can also help you to avoid major liability suits in case a customer dies due to exposure to carbon dioxide in your convenience store. You may also get affordable insurance assessments for your business if you institute risk reduction measures such as having a carbon dioxide monitor within your premises.
The importance of air quality can never be overemphasised. That is why you should contact an air quality consulting firm so that a comprehensive plan is developed to ensure that nothing compromises the air quality within your business premises.