Croda

Managing the relocation of hazardous items for Croda Europe Limited

The Situation

Croda Europe Limited is a leading global manufacturer and supplier of specialty chemicals.

The Company offers raw materials for personal, home, healthcare, and crop care industries, as well as providing lubricants, coatings, polymers, and polymer additive products.

In January 2020, the company identified the need to relocate its laboratory from Ditton to XXX.

Due to the specialist nature of the laboratory items and equipment – including a -80 degrees freezer containing biohazard level 1 & 2 freezer contents, scissor-lifting tables, pallet trucks, non-slip wheeled sack trucks, and skates – the project required a high degree of specialist knowledge and experience.

The Solution

At the start of the project, we assigned a dedicated Laboratory Move Manager to undertake the project – completing all the necessary planning tasks, and ensuring all aspects of the project were completed safely and correctly.

Prior to relocation, he:

• Measured up all larger items requiring bespoke wooden crates;
• Agreed logistics with Croder’s Laboratory Manager;
• Confirmed the relocation requirements for the fridges/freezers and ensured we had all the required information to safely and legally relocate the contents;
• Validated all requirements/items to be relocated;
• Supplied packing and labelling advice;
• Ensured all necessary risk assessments and method statements were in place.

To transport the freezer contents, we supplied UN compliant/standard thermal shippers with dry ice/gel packs.

To relocate the freezer, we supplied a 185-litre capacity TC10 thermal-shipper – a high-quality thermal control unit made with polystyrene and fibreboard and specially designed to relocate frozen material with dry ice being used as a coolant.

It has a dry ice loss rate of 457.5 grams per hour (based on an average outside temperature of 30 degrees) – ensuring that any freezer contents would have sufficient coolant to cover the relocation requirement with an adequate amount of contingency time being incorporated.

In addition to the physical transportation of the freezer, it provided an extra level of contingency should the freezer have had any issues and didn’t power at the new address.

We used special shock and tilt monitors on the delicate/high-value items that we packed and relocated – ensuring they could be checked at the delivery end, with an auditable trail to confirm we used careful, safe, and correct handling techniques.

Furthermore, throughout the relocation process we:

• Employed our DGSA (Dangerous Goods & Safety Advisor) to support and provide the legally required transportation documentation;
• Supplied experienced/trained/uniformed team members;
• Supplied ADR-compliant vehicles and certified ADR drivers as required;
• Packed/unpacked heavy laboratory items using bespoke wooden crates and pallets;
• Supplied six bespoke built wooden crates with insulated foam lining (for larger/delicate equipment), as well as crates, bubble wrap, and labels.
• Supplied polyboxes and chilled gel packs to relocate loose items which couldn’t be secured in the fridge during transportation;
• Built protection for all main doorways/walkways/lifts as required;
• Provided ‘goods in transit’ insurance of up to £1m total value as standard.

The Outcome

The relocation project was completed on time and to budget, with minimum disruption to day-to-day staff workload and activities.

Client Quote

A spokesperson from Croda Europe said:

“Due to the hazardous nature of many laboratory items, and the bulkiness of equipment this was an extremely delicate project which needed careful monitoring throughout.”

“From the very start of the process, we were extremely impressed with Johnsons’ knowledge and experience, and we quite simply couldn’t have handled the relocation without them. I’d like to express my sincere appreciation to the entire team.”