Maritime Advisory Committee Re-Established

Acting Secretary of Labor Seth D. Harris announces that he will re-establish the charter of the Maritime Advisory Committee for Occupational Safety and Health.

MACOSH was established to advise the secretary of labor on various issues including safety and health standards, injury and illness prevention, training, and enforcement initiatives to improve the safety and health of maritime workers.

What does this mean to you?  It means that OSHA is continuing to focus on safety and training within the maritime industry, and getting your people properly trained can help you avoid fines and potentially fatal accidents.  A common misconception is that NFPA 70E does not apply to the maritime industry, but that is false.  OSHA 29 regulations are enforced within the maritime industry and Shipyard Employment Tool Bag Directive CPL 02-00-142 incorporates NFPA 70E into 29 CFR 1915.  Being properly trained can help you avoid potentials fines related to these regulations.   OSHA doesn’t set up appointments to visit your facilities, so make sure to get trained before they show up.

Our Shipboard Electrical Awareness & NFPA 70E Electrical Safety course has been specifically designed for the maritime industry site standard and is built on the foundation of the OSHA enforced 1915 and NFPA 70E guidelines.  Contact us today to bring this course to your shipyard and get an on-site quote - (877) 832-5234. 

Tragedy in West, Texas

Our thoughts and prayers go out to West, Texas, and those who lost their lives or loved ones during the tragic explosion at the West Fertilizer Co.  The need to be vigilant in safety efforts and procedures was never clearer than witnessing the aftermath of an event like this.  14 people lost their lives in the blast, and a small town was both literally and figuratively torn apart.

During the investigation of the accident, information has come to light regarding the safety practices and inspections at the plant.  In 2006, the EPA cited the facility for not filing a risk management plan on time.  In fact, OSHA had not inspected the company for over 10 years.  That is an extremely surprising fact being that the ammonia nitrate at the facility was extremely volatile.  While we cannot bring back the people who were lost or take away the injuries and losses from the explosion, we can take away a valuable lesson to try and avoid a repeat incident, and that is to provide as safe an environment as possible in the workplace.

If your safety program is not up to par, or your employees are not properly trained in electrical safety procedures, contact us today to find out how we can help you get your safety program up to speed – (877) 832-5234, or info@avotraining.com.

OSHA Fines Dalton, GA carpet manufacturer for electrical safety violations

OSHA proposed $73,000 in penalties for a number of violations at Garland Sales Inc.  The company was cited for various violations found during a November 2012 inspection, including electrical shock hazards due to improperly marked and assembled electrical control panels, and failing to establish or implement a lockout/tagout program.

“Employers have the responsibility to identify and remove hazards from the workplace to protect workers,” said Christi Griffin, acting area director of OSHA’s Atlanta-West Area Office.  “They should not wait for OSHA to conduct an inspection to identify and correct workplace hazards.”

The best way to avoid potential fines related to electrical safety is to get trained by the experts in the industry.  Our NFPA 70E Electrical Safety, Electrical Safety for Industrial Facilities, and Electrical Safety for Utilities courses can get your safety program on the right track regardless of what industry you are in.  Contact us today to find out how to bring these courses to your site.  Call us at (877) 832-5234, or email us at info@avotraining.com.

May is National Electrical Safety Month

Electrical safety is extremely important in the electrical service and maintenance realm, but also plays a large part in the general public as well.  In order to spread the importance of electrical safety, the month of May has been named National Electrical Safety Month.

Take a moment to review your electrical safety procedures and current training regimen.  If your techs and employees are not up to speed on training, or if your electrical safety program is not up to par, contact us today and get safe – www.avotraining.com, or at
(877) 832-5234

 

Join us at the AFPM Reliability & Maintenance Conference!

AVO is hitting the road!  Come visit us from May 21-23 at booth 1028 in Orlando, Florida at the AFPM Reliability & Maintenance Conference. 

We’ll be at the Marriott Orlando Word Center Resort & Convention Center ready to answer your questions and inform you about our courses, on-site training, and Arc Flash Hazard Analysis services.  To set up an appointment with us while we are in Florida, contact us at (877) 832-5234, or at info@avotraining.com.  We look forward to seeing you!

Mining Issues for 2013 – Staying Safe

MSN Money recently released the top 10 issues the mining sector is expected to face in 2013.

Included on this list are the key areas of Skills Shortages, Analytics to Improve Safety Outcomes and Getting the Most Out of Emerging and Existing Technologies. AVO Training is introducing two new Mining Specific courses in 2013 that address these areas of concern.  Our new NFPA 70E – 2012 Electrical Safety with Standards for Mining is a variation of our existing NFPA 70E Electrical Safety Course with a concentration on mining standards and safety regulations.  This new course enables practitioners to correctly apply safety standards to mining environments

Our new Cable Splicing and Terminating for Mining course is a variation on our existing Cable Splicing with a specific focus on hands-on installation of taped, molded and heat shrink splices, and taped, cold shrink and molded elbow terminations on mining cables.  These skills are essential for repairing trailing cables in the harsh mining environment.

The AVO Training Institute is the only company in the electrical safety market that offers mining specific courses that deal with these areas of concern.  Our mining specific courses address electrical safety compliance with MEMSHA as well as with NFPA 70E regulations, something our competition does not offer.   For more information on these new courses, click on the listings below.

NFPA 70E – 2012 Electrical Safety with Standards for Mining will be available mid-January, 2013.  Contact your Account Executive today for scheduling, or call us at 1-877-594-3156.

Cable Splicing and Terminating for Mining will be available in April, 2013.  Contact us for details.

With an eye on the future, the AVO Training Institute is prepared to meet the electrical safety and training needs of the mining industry.  To read the entire list and original article, click here.

Make Sure Your Smart Grid Relays Work Flawlessly

Enhance your system reliability with Megger’s updated SMRT series.

As utilities and manufacturers get smarter equipment, a smarter grid and smarter system components, Megger continues to listen to the industry and evolve the company’s SMRT relay testing equipment to adapt to immediate needs.

Already a rugged, reliable tester, the SMRT system now includes firmware and software upgrades for an easier operator experience.

The SMRT system (SMRT1, SMRT36, and SMRT410) now offers overall adaptations as well as a devilish look at the firmware details, which make all the difference out in the field. In the all-important details category, Megger has adapted the SMRT36 current channels in a “push-push-push” series configuration that will provide up to 150 volts at four amps for testing high impedance loads, while improving general calibration at test currents down to 100 mA. And, Megger has added communications support for the SMRT410 double current generator (DIGEN) as well as the voltage-only generator (VGEN), making the SMRT series more interoperable and cost-effective.

Megger didn’t just polish the firmware in this update. The system’s integral interface also received a push up the evolutionary ladder.

The companion interface to our SMRT system received some requested upgrades as well, especially in the area of impedance relays. The revolutionary SMRT Smart Touch View Interface (STVI) now has improved click-on-fault functions for testing impedance relays. The operator can now import RIO files to the impedance relay selection screen. Another devilish detail is a sixth zone for impedance relays has been added within the selection window. The impedance-relay-setting screen, additionally, offers zone blinders within the updated STVI software. Megger’s modernized STVI also provides CT graphics for CT polarity connections, an ohms-per-loop and ohms-per-phase selection button, and separate zone timer settings for each fault type.

Listening to our users and industry insiders brought real change to the STVI with a new sequencer test screen with end-to-end dynamic test capabilities. All of these changes make the STVI one of the easiest-to-use interfaces available on the market today and adds to the functionality of the SMRT system.

Of course, even without these upgrades, the STVI offers a bevy of benefits to the operator of SMRT testers from its high-resolution color touch screen, which reduces errors, to its intuitive operation, which requires no special training for manual testing. The STVI is an essential component in the SMRT system, offering automatic ramp, pulse ramp and pulse ramp binary search options. More time curves from a larger variety of overcurrent relay manufacturers have been added to the hundreds of built-in time curves that are already provided. The STVI includes downloadable results that operators can transfer onto a thumb drive quickly and easily for NERC PRC-005-2 standard requirements.

For those times when you must have accurate readings, pinpoint accuracy and details, rely on SMRT relay testing with Megger.  Click here to learn more about these amazing products.