TPi March 2016

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business & market news
16 Tube Products International March 2016
BSR wins international safety
management award
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.
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
improve overall working environment
and quality performance.
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
SABIC’s strain hardening test method
becomes ISO 18488
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
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.”
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.
SABIC – Saudi Arabia