At the Hazardex 2020 Awards for Excellence on February 26, the award for Technical Innovation (Sponsored by CSA Group) went to… HAWKE INTERNATIONAL for its cable gland conversion kit & tightening guide.
The Technical Innovation category goes to an innovative product or system for use in hazardous area environments. Voting for the awards was open to all Hazardex journal and website readers. Voters were not allowed to vote for their own company/organisation.
Over the last decade, the Hazardex Awards programme has become a benchmark for those supplying products, services and systems within hazardous areas. You can play your part in raising awareness and standards across the sector by nominating a company, product or service for the 2021 awards, entering your vote and encouraging your colleagues to do likewise. Nominations will open later in the year. For details about the 2021 event, please contact Russell Goater (details at the bottom of this page).
Thank you to our Event & Awards Sponsor, CSA Group!

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Technical Innovation - Sponsored by CSA Group
**WINNER** - Hawke InternationalConversion kitHawke International developed a special conversion kit for its Universal 501/453 cold flow compliant cable gland. The kit enables the Universal to be easily converted into a barrier gland. Essentially this means that Hawke has created a ‘one gland, two applications’ proposition, allowing customers to purchase one gland for both their standard and barrier gland needs. Given that these glands typically make up 10-15 percent of the stock held by companies, it means major cost savings, stock flexibility and greater peace of mind.
The conversion kit is available in two forms. The first is a quick, two-part hand mix putty, which is easy to use and has a cure time of 30 minutes. This is particularly useful where termination space for the gland is limited, or in situations where cables are running horizontally to the installation area. The second conversion kit uses a liquid, fast curing resin, which is injected into a unique clear compound chamber, allowing full visibility of the flameproof seal during installation and inspection.
Tightening guideHawke also has a patented tightening guide which is integrated into all its glands, as standard. The guide reduces the chance of glands being over or under tightened – a major health and safety issue for companies within harsh and hazardous environments. A gland that has been under tightened may allow water or dust into equipment, or the gland may become loose creating an electric shock risk. If a gland is over-tightened, the cable’s properties will be compromised, and the equipment may fail, or the cable may become damaged, which can then lead to explosion risk. The guide gives the installer and inspector a simple visual indicator, to show the cable gland has been tightened to the corresponding outside diameter (OD) of the cable being fitted.
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Highly commended runners-up The highly commended runners-up in the Technical Innovation category were:
BEKA associates for its new alternative to Ex d indicatorsThe two less expensive alternatives for flameproof Ex d loop powered indicators featuring large easy to read displays. The new IECEx and ATEX certified Ex eb instruments can be installed in Zones 1 and 2 in exactly the same way as a conventional flameproof Ex d 4/20mA loop powered indicator. They do not have entity parameters and do not require a Zener barrier or galvanic isolator.
Eaton for the MTL SUM5MTL SUM5 offers a single cabinet design, with ‘plug and play’ configurable modules for the five key marshalling functions. This eliminates the need for intricate wiring to interconnect the components, ultimately improving uptime and reducing the cost of wiring, installation and maintenance
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A total of 25 nominations were shortlisted across five categories for the Hazardex 2020 Awards, designed to recognise excellence in the hazardous area sector. The winners were announced at the Hazardex 2020 Gala Awards dinner on February 26, 2020. The categories were Technical Innovation, Best User Application, Best Customer Service, Contribution to Safety, plus the Delegates' Award which was voted for on the day by event attendees.
Click here to see a full list of the winners and runners-up from the awards. CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL WINNERS AND HIGHLY COMMENDED RUNNER-UPS!
Voting rules* The competition is open to all Hazardex journal and website readers and users
* Voters register their votes by sending an email to the organisers and must identify themselves and their company.
* Voters are limited to one vote per category
* Nominees are not permitted to vote for their own company/organisation
* All votes remain confidential
Contact Russell Goater on +44 (0) 1732 359990 or russell.goater@imlgroup.co.uk for further details on attendance, exhibiting or sponsoring this must-attend event in 2021.