Flangeguards is a specialist manufacturer of flange guards, safety shields and spray shields for industrial pipework applications.
For more than 25 years, our team has worked directly with industrial end users, engineering companies, EPC contractors, distributors and maintenance teams to help reduce the risks associated with leaks and spray releases from flanges and other pipe joints.
But our experience goes much further than simply manufacturing and supplying safety shields.
We have spent decades surveying industrial sites, measuring pipework, selecting shield materials, developing specifications, fitting shields, investigating application problems and working directly with the people responsible for process safety and plant reliability.
That practical experience has shaped the way we design every Flangeguards product today. We understand that a flange shield is a relatively simple component performing an important safety function. It needs to be correctly selected, correctly fitted and capable of performing when it is needed.
That is why our approach has always been based on three things:
Experience. Engineering. Evidence.
Flangeguards was built from hands-on experience.
Before developing our own product range, our team supplied and installed safety shields manufactured by other companies. Working directly on industrial sites gave us first-hand experience of both the strengths and the shortcomings of the products available at the time.
Our Managing Director and founder, Jeff Harwood, has been directly involved in the design, site surveying, supply and installation of flange shields for customers around the world.
That included large-scale projects involving thousands of pipe joints, difficult access conditions, hazardous process environments and applications where getting the specification and installation right first time was essential. One major chemical-site project involved surveying more than 5,000 pipe joints, providing valuable insight into the practical challenges associated with conventional safety shield designs.
Experiences like these ultimately changed the direction of our business.
Rather than accepting the limitations we encountered, we began developing our own solutions.
Traditional bag-style flange shields still have an important place within the market and remain part of the Flangeguards range.
But through years of supplying and fitting them ourselves, we repeatedly encountered practical issues around installation time, access, consistency of fitting, ageing components and the potential for human error.
We believed flange protection could be improved.
That thinking led to the development of SUREBAND.
SUREBAND Steel introduced a quick-connection design combined with internal multi-layer stainless-steel mesh to diffuse a pressure release rather than allowing a direct spray to escape.
Later, our experience fitting shields on corrosive process lines led to the development of SUREBAND Clear. The concept was created as an alternative approach for chemical applications, using corrosion-resistant materials together with the same fundamental principle of pressure diffusion and simple installation.
The prototype was developed and tested by Flangeguards before SUREBAND Clear was formally launched to the market at ACHEMA in 2018.
Today the SUREBAND family includes solutions developed for corrosive chemicals, high-pressure and high-temperature applications, and marine environments, alongside our comprehensive range of traditional PTFE, clear and PVC safety shields.
We continue to develop our products around one simple principle:
Flange shield solutions should be safe, simple and smart.
A safety product should not rely purely on appearance or assumption.
One of the challenges within the flange shield industry is that there is no single internationally recognised performance standard covering industrial safety spray shields.
Rather than treating that as an excuse not to test, Flangeguards took the opposite approach.
We designed and built our own hydrostatic pressure test facility so that we could simulate pipe-joint leakage and observe how our shield designs perform under pressure.
Our designs are pressure tested to assess their ability to diffuse the force of a release and reduce direct and lateral spray or mist formation. Test certificates can also be provided where applicable.
This testing has been central to the development of SUREBAND.
For example, SUREBAND Steel has been leak tested at various orifice sizes at pressures up to 335 bar, while using an internal 316 stainless-steel mesh designed to diffuse pressure into a controlled release.
Testing does not mean every product is suitable for every pressure, temperature or process medium. Correct shield selection still depends on the specific application.
That distinction matters to us.
Our role is not simply to sell a shield. It is to help customers identify a solution that is appropriate for the process conditions and intended purpose.
There is no single flange shield that is right for every application.
Chemical compatibility, process medium, concentration, operating temperature, pressure, flange standard, pressure class, pipe size, joint configuration and the purpose of the shield can all influence the correct product selection.
Our experience enables us to support applications involving:
corrosive chemicals and acids, oil and fuel systems, steam, LNG, hydrogen, hydraulic systems, thermal oils, marine and SOLAS applications, general industrial processes and non-standard pipe joints.
We regularly help customers determine not only which shield to use, but also where shielding is required and how a larger shielding project should be approached.
That can begin with an initial technical discussion and continue through application review, site surveying, specification, product selection, procurement and installation support.
Our international distributor network can also provide local support in many markets. Flangeguards currently has stockholding offices, partners and distributors across more than 30 countries.
Some requirements involve a handful of shields.
Others involve thousands.
Our experience enables us to support both.
For major projects, particularly new-build industrial and EPC projects, we can become involved during FEED, detailed engineering, procurement and project delivery, helping engineering teams consider flange protection before it becomes a late-stage requirement.
For existing operating facilities, we can assist with site reviews, surveys, replacement programmes and the standardisation of shields across different process areas.
We have supplied flange shield solutions for demanding projects and process sites around the world, working with major EPC contractors and end users across the chemical, petrochemical, oil & gas, LNG, energy, hydrogen, industrial and marine sectors.
This breadth of experience is important because flange shielding is rarely just about knowing the diameter of a flange.
Understanding the process and the risk being controlled is equally important.
Flangeguards is ISO 9001:2015 certified for the design and manufacture of pipe safety shields and thermal jackets.
The inclusion of design within that certified scope is particularly important to us because product development, material selection and engineering are fundamental to providing reliable safety solutions. The current ISO certificate runs through March 2029.
Flangeguards also holds ABS product and manufacturing approvals for specified marine safety shield products, with certification documentation available through our technical downloads section.
Our products are manufactured using carefully selected materials, and technical documentation is available covering product specifications, sizing, materials, chemical resistance, flange dimensions and testing.
Where material certification is relevant, supporting documentation such as EN 10204 3.1 certification can also be available for products such as SUREBAND Steel.
Manufacturing is only part of what our customers rely on us for.
Our team has spent decades speaking directly with engineers, plant operators, maintenance teams, safety professionals and procurement departments.
That means when somebody contacts Flangeguards with an unusual application, our first response is not simply to send a catalogue.
We ask questions.
What is the process medium?
What temperature and pressure are involved?
What type of joint needs protecting?
Why is the shield being specified?
Is visual leak indication important?
Is the requirement spray mitigation, oil-mist reduction, equipment protection or something else?
Those questions help us recommend the right solution rather than simply the easiest product to sell.
It is also why responsive technical support has always been an important part of the Flangeguards business.
Whether a customer needs one unusual shield or support specifying thousands across a major project, we want them to have direct access to people who understand the products and their applications.
There are many products described as flange guards, spray shields or safety shields.
From a distance, some of them can look very similar.
The differences become more important when you consider materials, construction, installation, testing, pressure diffusion, durability, chemical compatibility and the knowledge behind the recommendation.
That is why we encourage customers to look beyond appearance and price alone.
Flangeguards combines:
More than 25 years of specialist flange shield experience | Hands-on site surveying and installation knowledge | In-house product design and development | Hydrostatic pressure testing | ISO 9001:2015 certified design and manufacturing | ABS-approved products for specified marine applications | Global supply and distributor support in 30+ countries | SUREBAND engineered safety shield technology | Traditional and bespoke shielding solutions | Direct technical support from an experienced team
We believe that combination matters.
Because when safety equipment is being specified to reduce the consequences of a pipe-joint failure, the product has to be more than inexpensive.
It has to be fit for purpose.
The development of SUREBAND represents much of what Flangeguards stands for.
We encountered real problems while working in the field.
We questioned whether there was a better way.
We designed an alternative.
We tested it.
We improved it.
And we continue to develop it through feedback from industrial users and applications around the world.
The result is a range now used across demanding industrial environments for all types of application.
Our objective is not innovation for the sake of innovation.
It is practical engineering that makes flange protection safer, simpler and easier to use correctly.
Flangeguards is based in Essex, United Kingdom, where our specialist manufacturing and technical operations are centred.
From the UK, we support customers around the world directly and through our growing international network of distributors, stockists and technical partners.
This allows global organisations to access Flangeguards products while also benefiting from local market knowledge, stock availability and technical assistance.
But however large the network becomes, we want Flangeguards to remain easy to deal with.
Good technical products matter.
So do speed of response, knowledgeable advice, dependable delivery and people who take responsibility for helping solve the problem.
That is the kind of supplier we aim to be.
If you are specifying flange shields for a new project, reviewing existing plant protection, replacing older safety shields or dealing with an unusual application, speak to our team.
We can help with application review, product selection, sizing, specification, surveying, installation guidance and project supply.
Explore our SUREBAND range, download our technical datasheets and testing information, find your local Flangeguards distributor, or contact us directly to discuss your requirement.
