Working with or around any pressure containing pipe component or vessel requires informed common sense and heightened safety. Where circumstances of severe service, extremes of temperature, or high pressure are encountered, all personnel must use suitable protective equipment and follow all safety procedures and policies. Complete and proper make-up of union components and end connections is required to attain rated working pressure. Installers of these products are responsible for their safe installation and use. Failure to observe these precautions regarding Kemper hammer lug unions could result in property damage, personal injury or death.

When making or breaking hammer lug unions, personnel must always wear safety glasses and appropriate protective equipment.

When making up hammer lug unions, personnel must not use excessive hammering force.

When unions are pressurized, personnel must not hammer, strike or impact unions in any way.

When pressurized, union / piping systems must not exceed the rated working pressure of the union or pipe.

When ambient temperatures are below freezing, personnel must practice extra care making or breaking union connections. Low temperatures lessen the ductility and impact strength of iron and steel.

When using Kemper unions prepped for sour gas service and exposed to sour fluids, personnel should never interchange standard service union components. Kemper sour gas service hammer union components are marked "SG" or "Sour Gas".

When prepped for sour gas service, Kemper hammer unions use fluoroelastomer or optional highly-saturated nitrile elastomer seal materials. However, Kemper can not guaranty the performance of any elastomer in sour gas service.

When installing union / piping systems in overhead applications, appropriate piping supports and methods must be employed with sufficient factors of safety to bear the combined weight of piping and contained fluids.

When disassembling union connections, personnel must assure that piping systems are completely de-pressurized, and that residual fluids are properly purged with any subsequent leakage isolated and cleaned. Residual fluids should be treated as hazardous waste.

When making up pipe end union assemblies, personnel should never interchange Kemper components of different Figure Numbers or pressure ratings.

• Never connect products or piping with hammer union ends unless those end connections can be positively identified to be identical union size, figure number and pressure rating.
• Never assemble any combination of hammer union components, including hammer lug nut, segmented rings, male, and female unless the union size, figure number and pressure rating are identical.

Products must be removed from service and disposed of when positive identification of product or component size, figure number or pressure rating cannot be made certain due to deterioration of markings or any other damage.

Should any leakage be evident during use of hammer union end products, these products should be immediately removed from service, inspected for renewal, or otherwise permanently disposed of.

When making up pipe end union assemblies, personnel should never interchange Kemper components with non-Kemper union components. Substitution of non-Kemper manufactured components voids all stated union assembly pressure ratings.