A recent success by HI Fraser’s engineering consulting group to win a very specialised RAN tender (in association with Chemistry Centre WA) has taken the company into even more diverse areas.

We have just commenced delivery of services on an Australia-wide contract to test the quality of air from every breathing air compressor used by the Royal Australian Navy for the next five years. The contract covers over 140 breathing air compressor units and we anticipate testing over 300 samples every year.

Regardless of whether this compressor is on a ship, in a submarine or even at a base on dry land; it is required to undergo third-party testing every three to six months, depending on the application.

We have the responsibility to check for contamination on each and every compressor. This is a highly important role in ensuring the occupational health and safety of diving and damage control personnel within the navy.

Our role as project manager is to ensure that all air samples are dispatched to a NATA-accredited laboratory in Perth where the testing is performed and that test certificates are issued within a four-day turnaround time.

Air samples are collected in a 300bar cylinder then transported to the laboratory in specially designed, dangerous-goods-packaging for standard testing, including the oxygen level and traces of carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, moisture and oil. Other contaminants such as total hydrocarbons, sulfur dioxide and halogenated compounds may also be tested.

Even if a ship is deployed overseas, we will do everything we need to get it back to the testing lab expediently.