Knauf Secrets: Putting Hospital Safety First
We may be known for our plasterboards, but we offer so much more in the way of specialist construction material. For areas such as hospitals and veterinary clinics, Knauf developed Knauf Safeboard - a lead-free, easy-install solution.
Knauf ‘Build for the World we Live in’ and this is a philosophy that the Company takes into consideration when developing new products and solutions for the buildings that shape our world. We consider the needs of all specialist projects that may require unique specification.
Knauf Safeboard is an X-ray shielding plasterboard with a barium sulphate core. It effectively and significantly reduces the amount of lead needed within X-ray shielding partitions, in many cases removing the need for lead altogether.
Knauf Safeboard brings X-ray protection together with fire and acoustic performance in one easy-to-install board. Knauf Safeboard is simple to install as it can be scored and snapped like a standard plasterboard. Knauf Safeboard Joint Filler is used to fill all joints on all layers to complete the radiation shield.
The flexibility to redesign interior layouts and to build in changes of use to rooms is increasingly important when considering modern, future-adaptable healthcare projects. Knauf X-Ray Partitions can be inexpensively designed to suit mobile X-ray apparatus, and can be retro-fitted or removed far more easily than traditional lead-lined partitions.
What’s in it?
The special ingredient is barium sulphate, a radio contrasting agent able to create a barrier for electromagnetic radiation of specific frequencies.
How does it work?
As with a barium meal, where the X-rays hit the barium and the image shown gives a silhouette of the specific area of interest, Knauf Safeboard is filled with enough of this material to effectively block X-rays across its entire area.
How consistent is it?
Due to significant investment in manufacturing techniques, every single square metre of Knauf Safeboard is tested thoroughly to ensure that the stated level of X-ray shielding will be achieved. There is no degradation of performance during the lifetime of the product, so you can be confident it will shield these potentially harmful rays first time and every time.
See Knauf Safeboard in action at The Whiteley Clinic, Harley Street London.
