Imagine someone six metres up in the air, on a scaffold or platform, trying to hold a pipe up while fiddling with the bolts of a clamp that they’re using to secure it all. You can understand how a trade person’s job can be a bit tricky and a definite safety risk.

This is how the industry have installed things, like fire sprinklers, for years.

But now there’s a better way, according to Stainless Design CEO Peter Pooran.

Stainless Design designer Derek Mitchell pulled an idea out of scrap metal that looks set to make this tricky process a lot less tricky. But how did this all get started?

“Originally we came up with it because we do laser cutting out of sheet metal and we were looking for something that we could make from that to minimise our wasted material.

“We tried a few things like brackets, but it was all very low volume. And then one of our designers had an idea around how to make the hanging of these pipes safer and, based on the need to use the scrap material, he came up with the new clamp.

“Most of our business is making parts and machines for other people, so we aren’t really in control of our own destiny in having our own product. So, we are looking to build up a range of products so we can sell those and be more in control of our own destiny,” Peter said.

He said other than a prop guard that goes around the propellers on lifeguard boats that “stops people’s limbs being chopped off”, this will be their first product.

“When we were first thinking about this we were in the dairy recession in 2015 and weren’t really having the work come in like we were before, so we thought this would be a good idea. It ticked the boxes in a number of areas: scrap reduction, having our own product and giving us more control over our own growth.”

So how does this brilliant idea work?

“You slide in the pipe and the clamp shuts on it and you don’t have to hold the pipe while you tighten the bolts. It saves a bunch of health and safety incidents. When the pipes get quite big, they can be quite heavy and there have been incidents in the past that have done damage.

“And if you need to do maintenance it’s also easy to reopen it.”

It’s called a CJ clamp, because of how it looks. The clamp is shaped like a water drop and the two connecting parts look like a C and a J. The letters don’t actually stand for anything, but Peter said the water drop was fitting simply because it would mostly be used for water pipes, like sprinklers.

He said they had to pass a bunch of tests in the building code and it aced everything.

“There are two different metal grades we can make it out of, so if it’s going to be in a coastal building or a dairy factory or wherever there is a design for every application.

“It’s been through a few iterations. But we’ve worked through them and they’re ready to go. We’ve just patented the product range.”

Peter said you had to be super secretive when you come up with ideas like this until you could patent it, otherwise someone else might steal it.

But now that they’ve tested the strength, made sure it complies with the industry standards and had it bounced off the experts who believe there is a market for it, they’re ready and raring to go.

“We have listed possible distributers who will sell it for us. We’re within weeks of it finally going on the market - it’s a very exciting time.”