Protect your plants finest assets with the Jerguson® SafeView™ Shield
- Apr 1, 2022
- 3 min read
Updated: Aug 6
There's one thing that's never a joke: the safety of plants, equipment, and plant personnel. Clark-Reliance offers a range of products that protect a plant's most critical assets, and one of the most effective is the Jerguson® SafeView™ Shield.
What SafeView Shields Protect Against
SafeView Shields protect operators from potential flat glass gage high-pressure leaks. Although armored glass liquid level gages are extremely reliable, leaks can still occur due to deferred maintenance or the ongoing rigors of continuous operation under high pressure.
The Hidden Risk: Invisible Erosion
Erosion of armored gage glass is often invisible without inspecting the disassembled gage. An operator looking at an intact-appearing gage from outside has no way to know whether internal erosion has progressed to the point of failure risk. This is precisely the kind of hazard a protective shield is designed to guard against — not preventing the erosion itself, but protecting personnel if a failure does occur.
How SafeView Shields Work
A SafeView Shield is a protective barrier installed over the gage glass assembly. If the glass fails under pressure, the shield contains the release and prevents direct exposure to escaping high-pressure fluid, protecting nearby operators from injury.
This is a passive safety layer — it doesn't rely on sensors, power, or operator action to function. It's simply in place, ready to contain a failure event if one occurs.
Fast, Universal Installation
Installation of a SafeView Shield takes just a few minutes, making it practical to retrofit an entire facility without significant downtime or engineering effort. The shields fit Jerguson glass gages as well as other brand gages, so facilities don't need to replace existing gage glass installations to add this layer of protection — the shield retrofits onto what's already in place.
Why Facilities Choose SafeView Shields
A Project Engineer at a major chemical company shared their experience after installing SafeView Shields:
"We are pleased with the new SafeView Gage Glass Shields, especially as they help us comply with our Process Safety Management (PSM) initiatives as an extra layer of protection. I hear nothing but positive comments about the simple, but effective design."
This reflects a common driver for SafeView adoption: facilities operating under Process Safety Management programs need documented layers of protection against process hazards. A simple, effective, quickly-installed shield that directly addresses a known gage glass failure risk fits naturally into PSM compliance strategies.
SafeView Shields vs. Other Protection Approaches
Approach | What It Does | Limitation |
SafeView Shield | Contains failure if it occurs | Doesn't prevent erosion itself |
Regular Gage Inspection | Detects erosion before failure | Requires disassembly; erosion is often invisible externally |
Mica Protection | Reduces erosion rate | Doesn't eliminate failure risk entirely |
Gage Replacement Schedule | Proactive replacement before failure | Higher cost; doesn't protect against unexpected early failure |
The most robust approach combines multiple layers: mica protection to slow erosion, regular inspection to catch problems early, and a SafeView Shield as a final layer of protection against unexpected failure between inspections.
Why This Matters for Operator Safety
High-pressure gage glass failure can release pressurized steam or process fluid directly toward anyone standing near the gage — exactly where operators need to be to read the level. A shield addresses this specific exposure risk without requiring operators to change how or where they read the gage.
Applications
SafeView Shields are valuable wherever armored glass gages are in service:
Power Generation: Boiler gage glass protection
Chemical Processing: PSM-driven protective layer requirements
Refining: High-pressure process vessel level gages
Any Facility: Using flat or reflex glass gages in continuous high-pressure service
Learn More
For more information on retrofitting your facility with SafeView Shields, watch our product video or contact Clark-Reliance's technical team to discuss compatibility with your existing gage installations.
📧 sales@clark-reliance.com📞 +1 (440) 572-1500
