Author Archives: George Deligiannis

About George Deligiannis

Current editor of the Camford Chemical Report, a weekly publication on Canada's chemical industry.

2017 Canadian Chemical Directory now available #chemicalsinCanada

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2017 Canadian Chemical Directory
Whether you buy or sell chemicals, the 2017 Canadian Chemical Directory will put the industry at your fingertips. The latest edition of the Canadian Chemical Directory lists 605 chemical suppliers, 1,020 principal companies, more than 3,490 chemical products and 3,865 trade names. Feedstocks, chemicals, minerals, metals, resins, and drugs all in one volume.

Published by Camford Information Services – the leading provider of market information on Canada’s chemical industry.

Directory Orders:

Please call (416) 291-3215 or (905) 877-2073, email at directory@camfordinfo.com or print out the order form, Fax to (416) 291-3406

Price: $190.00, VISA, MASTERCARD, AMERICAN EXPRESS accepted. ($160.00 for the second book, $140.00 for each additional book)

The High Cost of Exposing Workers to Chemicals at Point of Use and solutions from www.goatthroat.com

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The High Cost of Exposing Workers to Chemicals at Point of Use

The tip-and-pour method, as well as poorly designed pumps, can expose workers to injury and companies to significant financial losses

In the manufacturing of plastics, workers often transfer potentially hazardous liquid additives such as plasticizers, colorants, dyes, lubricants, antimicrobials, and flame retardants into smaller containers, vessels, or directly into tanks or machinery.  At times, liquid solvents and cleaner used for maintenance may be transferred as well.

Chemicals such as acetone are also used in plastics machining and for 3D printed parts for vapor polishing, which when applied to the surface of plastic alters the finish to a high gloss.

However, this transfer of chemicals at the point of use, whether it’s done in plastics manufacturing, fabricating or machining, can have serious consequences when manual “tip-and-pour” techniques or poorly designed pumps are used.

These chemicals are toxic, corrosive, reactive, flammable, emit volatile organic compounds (VOCs), or are even potentially explosive and the danger of accidental contact, even for short periods, can pose a severe hazard to workers.

In addition to the potential for injury, there can also be serious financial ramifications for the facility involved.  The risks include the cost to treat injuries or perform cleanup, as well as workers’ compensation claims, potential liability, OSHA fines, loss of expensive chemicals and even facility/production shutdown.

“It can be catastrophic to a company if toxic or highly flammable material is accidentally released at the point of use,” says Deborah Grubbe, PE, CEng, and founder of Operations and Safety Solutions, a consulting firm specializing in industrial safety.  “Companies have to assume that if something can go wrong during chemical transfer, it will, and take appropriate precautions to prevent what could be significant consequences.”

Spiraling Costs of Loss of Containment

Grubbe, who has 40 years of experience working in the chemical, oil and gas industries, including at DuPont, NASA, and for the U.S. military, says “Any time you lose containment; you have an issue that can spiral out of control.”

Corrosive chemicals, for example, can burn skin or flesh.  Some chemicals are toxic when touched or inhaled.  Cyanotic agents, for instance, can be particularly dangerous or even fatal, since they rob the body of oxygen.

Many chemicals are flammable as well and can be ignited by even the smallest spark from nearby motors or other mechanical equipment.  “There is no such thing as a small fire in my business,” says Grubbe.

In addition to cost of cleanup or treating injuries, there are also indirect costs that can be incurred.  These include supervisors’ time to document the incident and respond to any added government inspection or scrutiny, as well as the potential for temporary shutdown of the facility.

“The indirect costs can be as much as 2-4 times the direct costs,” says Grubbe.  “Not to mention potential liability, workers’ compensation issues, regulatory fines or potential actions from OSHA or the EPA.”

Chemical Transfer Techniques

Traditional practices of transferring liquid chemicals suffer from a number of drawbacks.

Manual techniques, such as the tip-and-pour method, are still common today.  Tipping heavy barrels, however, can lead to overpouring or the barrel toppling.

“Some companies choose to transfer of chemicals manually, but it is extremely difficult to control heavy drums,” cautions Grubbe.  “I’d recommend against it because of the probability of a spill is so high.”

Although a number of pump types exist for chemical transfer (rotary, siphon, lever-action, piston and electric), most are not engineered as a sealed, contained system.  In addition, these pumps can have seals that leak, are known to wear out quickly, and can be difficult to operate, making precise volume control and dispensing difficult.

In contrast, sealed pump systems can dramatically improve the safety and efficiency of chemical transfer.

“A sealed, contained system is ideal when dealing with a toxic, flammable, or corrosive liquid,” says Grubbe.  “With sealed devices, like GoatThroat pumps, you can maintain a controlled containment from one vessel to another.”

Small, versatile, hand-operated pressure pumps, such as those manufactured by GoatThroat Pumps, are engineered to work as a sealed system.  The pumps can be used for the safe transfer of over 1400 industrial chemicals, including the most aggressive acids, caustics and solvents.

These pumps function essentially like a beer tap.  The operator attaches the pump, presses the plunger several times to build up a low amount of internal pressure, and then dispenses the liquid.  The tap is configured to provide precise control over the fluid delivery, from slow (1ML/ 1 oz.) up to 4.5 gallons per minute, depending on viscosity.

Because such pumps use very low pressure (<6 PSI) to transfer fluids through the line and contain automatic pressure relief valves, they are safe to use with virtually any container from 2-gallon jugs to 55-gallon drums.

Adoption of Sealed Pump Systems

East Coast Precision Manufacturing is a precision plastic part fabricator that machines many types of plastics such as acetal, abs, acrylic, nylon, PVC, PTFE, phenolics, and polycarbonate.

To improve the safety and efficiency of one of its processes, the Chester, Connecticut-based company sought to upgrade from a manual tip and pour method of transferring chemicals from a 5-gallon drum into a designated vessel.

“We wanted to avoid the potential strain or spillage of pouring from a 5-gallon drum,” says Chris Marchand, an East Coast Precision Manufacturing engineer.  “We needed a pump that was able to safely contain and resist aggressive chemicals.”

As part of his online research, Marchand decided to utilize a sealed chemical pump system from GoatThroat.

“Because the GoatThroat pump system is sealed and uses low pressure to transfer chemicals, it prevents overpouring, spills, leaks, and keeps any potential VOCs contained,” says Marchand.  “We have found that it minimizes clean up and eliminates wasted inventory and content evaporation.”

Marchand appreciates that an available version of the pump is safe to use around flammables because it is static conductive, and another version is explosion proof, though those capabilities are not required for his process.

He notes that the sealed pump system is easy to use, since operators only need to pump the plunger a few times and then open a tap.

“It is a much safer, more controlled approach than trying to lift and pour chemicals from a heavy 5-gallon drum,” concludes Marchand.  “We expect to get many years of use from our labor-efficient, flow engineered system.”

For more info:  call 866-639-4628 toll free; Fax: 212-243-6070; E-mail info@goatthroat.com; Visit www.goatthroat.com; or write to Westcott Distribution, Inc. 60 Shell Avenue Milford, CT 06460.

New Ashland brand signals acceleration of corporate mission, organizational transformation and separation from Valvoline

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Ashland took another important step in its plan for the future, furthering its competitive strategy following its eventual separation from Valvoline, revealing its new “Always Solving™” corporate identity and unveiling the organizational culture that will continue to differentiate the company as it continues its mission to become the premier specialty chemical company in the world.

“We’ve been on a thoughtful and determined journey since announcing plans to separate Valvoline and Ashland into two great standalone companies,” said Bill Wulfsohn, Ashland chairman and chief executive officer. “Today, we’re both strong, independent, industry-leading companies positioned for bright futures.”

Along with his global leadership team, Wulfsohn developed a competitive strategy which empowers each of Ashland’s chemical businesses to develop its own comprehensive strategic approach as to where to compete and how to win in their marketplace. Each will employ its own core competencies in specialized problem-solving that brings real and consistent value to customers. Together as one global team, Ashland will build a high-performance organization focused on innovation, commercial excellence, world-class operations, and disciplined capital deployment. Its foundation will continue to be built on safe, compliant and responsible operations, its winning strategy, and operating as a high-performance organization. Ashland will continue fostering growth through a pipeline of innovations and sales opportunities, and continue capturing value delivered to customers while driving its cost competitiveness.

The most public facing element of the evolution of Ashland, is its new corporate identity – Always Solving™ – which reflects the company’s positioning and people across diverse industries as broad as pharmaceuticals to automotive, personal care to paints, adhesives to biofunctionals, and more.

“Now is the time for Ashland to strongly communicate the nature of who we are and what sets our employees apart. We’re a company of passionate, tenacious solvers who thrive on developing practical, innovative and elegant solutions to complex problems in applied chemistry, always pushing the boundaries of what’s possible, and advancing the competitiveness of our customers across diverse industries,” said Carolmarie Brown, Ashland director global marketing and business communications.

The positioning illustrates how Ashland acts as a true partner to its customers, providing customized solutions that bring tremendous value to its business partners. In particular, the company is focused on innovations for growing strong market positions in segments such as pharmaceuticals, personal care and paints and coatings.

Moving forward, Ashland embodies how its people are distinguished by their ability to apply specialized chemistry with a disciplined approach that amplifies the efficacy, refines the usability, adds to the allure, ensures the integrity, and improves the profitability of their customers’ products and applications.  Each of these five qualities are manifested in different ways for different industries, and together, its people around the globe are always solving, to improve customers’ products in every possible dimension. “In Ashland we bring together different backgrounds, different disciplines, different points of view, and we operate as one team with a clear and collective sense of purpose,” said Luis Fernandez-Moreno, senior vice president of Ashland and president of the Chemicals Group.

Along with its strategy and identity is the articulation and implementation of a collective Ashland Way, its corporate culture, which is “to respect, protect, and advance the people we work with, companies we serve, shareholders who invest in our future, communities we’re a part of, and the planet we share.”

The Ashland Way will drive business growth and shape an organization of which every employee – and future employees – will want to be a part. Values of safety, integrity, partnership and passion will inspire and guide behavior each day.

“We have a common understanding of how we operate, think, manage, encourage and act in order to build a stronger organization and make a better world through creative solutions based on the application of specialty ingredients and materials,” Wulfsohn said.

Ashland has a fundamental focus on safe, compliant and responsible operations and has been committed to doing business with integrity and respect for all people and the world.  The company has made formal commitments to improve the environmental, health, safety and security performance for facilities, processes and products throughout the entire operating system. Forty-six Ashland sites have received Responsible Care certification, including three facilities earlier this year.

 

Toxicity concerns results in move to cut releases, exposure to #boric acid in Canada

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Results of the federal government of Canada’s draft screening assessment indicate that boric acid, its salts and its precursors have raised concerns on its toxicity and it potential to have adverse effects on the environment.
A proposed risk management scope document for boric acid was published on July 23. This will be followed by a 60-day public comment period ending on September 21. If the proposed conclusion is confirmed in the final screening assessment, the government will consider options to manage releases of these substances to water to address ecological concerns, as appropriate, and address the exposure to boric acid from certain products available to consumers.
Health Canada will review the current listing for boric acid and its salts on the cosmetic ingredient hotlist which indicates concentration limits for use in cosmetic products. For commercially available children’s toys, compliance and enforcement of the existing prohibition on boron will continue as part of the regular enforcement of the toys regulations under the Canada Consumer Product Safety Act.
The Pest Management Regulatory Agency (PMRA) of Health Canada published a re-evaluation decision on the uses of pesticides containing boron on July 22. Certain commercial and domestic pesticide uses of boron are being cancelled due to potential health risks. More information can be found in the re-evaluation decision document.
In Canada, boric acid, its salts and its precursors are used in a wide variety of products and applications. These include fibreglass and cellulose insulation, fertilizers, metallurgical, oil and gas extraction and surface finishing. They are also found in pesticides, cleaning products, cosmetics, drugs and natural health products, swimming pool and spa chemicals, gypsum boards and engineered wood products.

Tips for making the transition in #GHS compliance as June 1 deadline approaches.

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Tips for making the transition in GHS compliance as June 1 deadline approaches.

Industrial end users – from plant, operations, and maintenance managers to janitorial and sanitation supervisors to environmental health and safety (EHS) compliance officers – must now ask if their chemical labels are GHS compliant.

According to OSHA, the new standard covers over 43 million workers who produce or handle hazardous chemicals in more than five million workplaces across the country.
GHS compliance is even required for chemical formulations purchased in bulk containers for cost savings, such as barrels of industrial cleaner, that are transferred to smaller “down-packed” containers, such as spray bottles, for portable use.

In the U.S., OSHA set a June 1, 2016 deadline for end users to update their workplace labels. If compliance is lacking, industrial end users must be prepared to document for OSHA their good faith efforts to become compliant, including an expected timeline for achieving it.

In Canada, a multi-year transition plan has been announced for the implementation of GHS. From now until May 31, 2017 suppliers (manufacturers and importers) can use WHMIS 1988 or WHMIS 2015 to classify and communicate the hazards of their products (suppliers must use one system or the other). Beginning June 1, 2017 to May 31, 2018, distributors and suppliers importing for their own use can continue to use WHMIS 1988 or WHMIS 2015.

The “Globally Harmonized System” (GHS) was established by the United Nations to create a unified system for identifying and communicating hazardous chemicals. According to OSHA, the new standard covers over 43 million workers who produce or handle hazardous chemicals in more than five million workplaces across the country.

GHS compliance is even required for chemical formulations purchased in bulk containers for cost savings, such as barrels of industrial cleaner, that are transferred to smaller “down-packed” containers, such as spray bottles, for portable use. Container sizes requiring GHS-compliant labeling generally range from 55-gallon drums down to spray bottles and even small samples or test vials.

In an industrial setting, chemical formulations that could require GHS labeling range from industrial primers, coatings, and sealants to lubricants, greases, cutting oils, and rust removers to acid, alkaline, and solvent based cleaners to degreasers, surfactants, disinfectants, and sanitizers.

With a GHS deadline looming for industrial end users, here are six tips to quickly get up to speed on GHS regulation and ensure compliance for even smaller “down-packed” chemical container labeling.

1) Have GHS-compliant safety data sheets and labels and train workers to handle hazardous chemicals properly. On each GHS label, six items of data are required: Product Name or Identifier; Hazard Statement; Signal Word; GHS Pictogram symbols; Precautionary Statement; and Supplier Information.

Instead of the familiar black and white pictogram symbols previously used in safety labeling, GHS labels now require pictogram symbols that convey hazard information with a red diamond border.

2) Label all secondary containers. If a chemical is supplied to the workplace with a GHS label, it must be maintained. If the chemical is transferred to a secondary container, such as a tank or spray bottle that stays in the workplace, employers may label it with information from the original GHS shipping label or safety data sheet.

However, employers may choose to use an alternate system such as the National Fire Protection Association’s (NFPA) Standard 704 or the American Coatings Association (ACA)’s Hazardous Materials Identification System (HMIS). If using an alternate system, the employer must ensure the information is consistent with GHS and that workers understand specific physical and health hazards.

If a chemical is transferred to a “portable” secondary container, such as a dropper bottle, for use only by the person who transferred it during the same work shift, a label is not required because it is considered “immediate use.”

3) Save on printing with durable label options on demand. For those currently using HMIS or NFPA labels for in-plant containers, related written documentation, and training, the question is how to achieve GHS compliance and integrate it with HMIS or NFPA, which have been used for decades.

Though differences exist in GHS, HMIS and NFPA, such as opposite numbering for GHS level of hazard, OSHA allows employers to use HMIS and NFPA in the workplace as long as they are consistent with GHS (HCS 2012) and workers are properly trained for GHS.

Implementing GHS labeling can seem daunting to industrial end users, but does not have to be. Many are turning to flexible, lower cost options, such as industrial-grade labels from Avery that allow printing durable GHS, HMIS, or hybrid labels on demand with existing laser printers and certain inkjet printers.

While Avery has been a leading office label brand for decades, it has recently expanded into the industrial market with industrial-grade labels for GHS compliance, such as its UltraDuty GHS Chemical Labels. Unlike standard labels, industrial labels are used in harsh environments like warehouses, manufacturing facilities, and in the field so must be very durable and able to withstand exposure to chemicals, abrasion, tearing, moisture, sunlight, and extreme temperatures.

4) Meet rugged GHS industrial requirements to stay compliant. The challenge is that to be GHS compliant, labels must stay reliably affixed without fading or becoming unreadable despite harsh indoor or outdoor conditions including exposure to chemicals, moisture, and spills.

Some industrial label companies have designed their labels to meet rigorous GHS requirements. For instance, Avery’s UltraDuty GHS Chemical Labels are chemical resistant, tear resistant, abrasion resistant, and constructed with a marine-grade adhesive that is waterproof and passes a 90-day seawater submersion adhesion test.

Unlike typical labels, which crack and harden in harsh conditions, the GHS labels are UV resistant with 2+ years of outdoor UV life. They are also temperature resistant, can be applied as low as 10° F, and used between -20° F to 220° F when printed from color laser printers or -40° F to 300° F when printed from pigment-based inkjet printers.

“Staying GHS compliant will not only help industrial end users avoid OSHA fines, sanctions, or auditing, but also position them ahead of the curve if other industry standards are allowed to sunset,” says Glenn Hallett, President of RightAnswer.com, Inc., a chemical compliance and information specialist.

Hallett notes that remaining GHS label compliant depends on the durability of the appropriate label substrate, getting the label content right, and effective document management.

“Companies in industrial settings that have long used HMIS labels will now also want the ability to print GHS labels, HMIS labels, NFPA labels or some alternative that will accommodate their requirements,” says Hallett. “Such flexibility will help ease the industry’s transition to GHS labeling and minimize any operational disruption.”

5) Take advantage of free label-printing software. Avery, for instance, provides such GHS, HMIS, and NFPA-compliant label software at no cost. The company’s Design & Print GHS Wizard allows employees to create and print their own GHS and HMIS labels from pre-designed templates. They can create on demand labels step-by-step at their desk, as well as create GHS and HMIS hybrid labels capable of satisfying both systems. Most employees find such a process intuitive, since it resembles creating an office document from pre-designed templates.

The software includes the pictograms and GHS compliant statements needed for GHS labeling; allows customizable text; insertion of company logo or other images; generation of 18 types of barcodes; and a sequential numbering feature to add lot numbers or other variable data.

No download is required since the software operates from Avery’s website, and GHS, HMIS, and NFPA labels can be securely saved online or to a computer. The software is also capable of printing other safety labels such as OSHA, ANSI, and DOT labels.

6) Choose GHS labels that work with the full range of container sizes and container surface types. GHS and HMIS labels such as Avery’s are available in a range of sizes to fit drums, totes, pails, cans, jugs, containers, and even small bottles. They can be applied to a variety of surfaces such as metal, plastic, glass, ceramic, polycarbonate, painted surfaces, and more. Similar to the company’s office labels, the GHS and HMIS labels offer Easy Peel, smudge-free, and jam-free capability.

For labeling that requires the durability of extra lamination, the company also offers Easy Align Self-Laminating ID Labels, which come with a clear laminate so no lamination machine or additional layer of tape is needed. The material is UV and water resistant, and resists scuffing, tearing and smudging, making the labels suitable in production, warehouse, maintenance and repair areas, as well as other industrial worksites.

To help companies stay compliant for GHS, HMIS, and other regulatory situations, including OSHA safety communication, Avery has partnered with RightAnswer. Through a portal in Avery’s website, RightAnswer offers comprehensive online access to over 100 proprietary, government, and EHS data sources with over 11 million documents covering more than 400,000 chemical substances, all integrated and available through a single interface.

“For industrial companies that keep asking EHS managers to do more with less, Avery’s partnering with RightAnswer can help them stay not only GHS, HMIS, and NFPA label compliant, but also up to date on the chemical issues they’re concerned about,” says Hallett. “It’s an online one-stop chemical compliance and information solution that’s offered at a discount through the Avery website portal.”

For more info, visit www.avery.com/GHS.
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By Del Williams

Del Williams is a technical writer based in Torrance, California. Avery - GHS labels - janitorial

Avery - GHS labels - man filling container

Avery - GHS labels - small bottles

Avery - GHS labels - small

Avery - GHS labels - very small

Avery - GHS labels inside freezer

IUPAC announces the verification of the discoveries of four new chemical elements: The 7th period of the periodic table of elements is complete. #newelements

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The fourth IUPAC/IUPAP Joint Working Party (JWP) on the priority of claims to the discovery of new elements has reviewed the relevant literature for elements 113, 115, 117, and 118 and has determined that the claims for discovery of these elements have been fulfilled, in accordance with the criteria for the discovery of elements of the IUPAP/IUPAC Transfermium Working Group (TWG) 1991 discovery criteria. These elements complete the 7th row of the periodic table of the elements, and the discoverers from Japan, Russia and the USA will now be invited to suggest permanent names and symbols.

Simplifying Safety During Planned #Shutdowns from DXP

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Simplifying Safety During Planned Shutdowns
Single source for safety-related product and services can reduce complexity, cost of STOs

Planned STOs (shutdowns, turnarounds and outages) are often scheduled for preventative maintenance and new equipment installation that must be performed to keep a plant running and in regulatory compliance. To minimize production downtime, this work must be completed within a very tight time frame. As such, STOs are often feats of engineering, planning and coordination – work that begins many months, even years, before the event.

At the top of the list during any planned shutdown is safety. To prevent injury or loss of life, reduce liability, and keep insurance rates in check, safety departments must provide the required safety training, products and services that will ensure that all on-site personnel and company assets are protected throughout the scope of the operation.

Managing all that encompasses “safety” for an STO, however, is often a feat of its own.

During an STO, a typical facility can see its ranks swell from 50 to perhaps 200-300 additional workers that the safety department must properly equip, train, and provide rescue and standby emergency services. This often requires managing multiple vendors of safety products and services as well as dealing direct with workers that are not familiar with the facility or its processes and are performing challenging, even high-risk, tasks.

Now, in a move designed to eliminate a point of complexity and coordination in an already complicated process, some facility safety departments are outsourcing to a single combined safety service provider that can deliver the entire gamut of safety-related products and services.

The benefit of this one-stop-shop approach for a planned shutdown is the single point of coordination, reduction in facility personnel required to manage the safety effort, access to extensive safety expertise and technical knowledge, potential cost savings on basic and more advanced PPE (personal protective equipment), and ability to respond quickly to unexpected situations or emergencies.

Safety First
Despite the focus on speedy return-to-service, those that have participated in planned shutdowns will attest that the primary emphasis is not how “fast” the work is completed, but rather ensuring the safety of all involved. This is not mere lip service, but the prime directive, even if that means going over budget or delaying the project.

“Safety is number one,” says Kevin Nadolski, Safety Director at Duke & Duke Services. “Well before any of the work starts, the project managers are holding safety meetings and orienting employees on safety. This occurs both before and during the project, with managers reviewing daily reports about how many personnel are working, what they are doing, and if any are hurt they want to know exactly what happened.”

As Safety Director, Nadolski has utilized a number of PPE providers and safety service companies over the course of his career. Duke & Duke Services provides installation and maintenance of conveyor systems, bulk handling equipment, presses, cranes, robotics and other automated machinery, often during STOs.

He admits that the concept of a single, combined safety service provider is a novel concept in an industry where suppliers generally keep to well-defined market segments with minimal overlap. Large PPE providers, for example, offer catalogues with thousands of products, but rarely offer safety services – and vice versa.

Outsourcing Safety
Nadolski first began outsourcing to a company that was later acquired by DXP Safety Services while working at a prior job, and has continued to use the company throughout the five years he has been employed as safety director at Duke & Duke.

DXP Services is a multinational company that has grown significantly while aggressively pursuing new acquisitions. The company now operates as a single provider of combined safety (products + services) for plant turnarounds.

In addition to an extensive catalogue of PPE items, the company maintains a large asset base of equipment including powered air trailers, supplied air trailers, emergency showers, eye wash equipment, MROP (Maintenance, Repair, Operations, and Production) trailers, fire trucks and ambulances.

DXP also offers a comprehensive list of services, including safety training and supervision, confined space attendants and rescue teams, high angle rescue teams, rope rescue, gas detection, respiratory fit testing, audiometric testing, industrial hygiene, industrial medical services, fall protection, and repair services.

In 2015, Nadolski estimates he has already used DXP a dozen times for onsite safety supervision, emergency response, confined space attendants, and supplied air trailers. He also utilizes DXP to train employees that most complete annual confined space training.

“What I appreciate most is that when they send their guys out for rescue work, I know they are well-trained,” says Nadolski. “I still spot check them and ask them ‘what do you do if this happens?’ questions, but they know it right off the bat. I don’t always get that with other safety services.”

Single-Source Benefits
The benefits of a one-stop-shop approach to safety begins well before the STO. As part of the pre-planning, a safety advisor from a combined service provider meets with facility safety and maintenance personnel to learn about their existing procedures and processes. For shorter projects this can be 2-4 weeks beforehand, or for a more complex project 12-18 months in advance.

The safety advisor then evaluates and monitors safety hazards, and control strategies to ensure compliance with the facility’s safety rules, policies, programs, criteria and procedures as well as all governmental regulations.

Given the unique requirements of each facility, there are no one-size-fits-all safety plans so each project is client-specific. In addition, the scope of involvement can be scaled from a single worker to a complete program for the entire scope of the STO.

Another benefit to this approach is the ability to react to unexpected situations or emergencies. Although a tremendous amount of planning goes into a planned shutdown there are inevitably situations, requirements for specialized equipment, unexpected air quality issues, and even injuries that can leave safety personnel scrambling. With the breadth and scope of its expertise, a combined safety services company can tap into its resources quickly to resolve the situation.

In this regard, Nadolski says he relies on DXP to serve as an extra pair of “eyes” on the ground when he is not at the site. “We have been in situations where we have needed something safety-related on the spot and DXP was able to take care of it for us.”

For More Information, contact DXP Safety Services at 7272 Pinemont
Houston, Texas 77040; phone 713-996-4700, email Chris.mckinnon@dxpe.com
or on the internet at www.DXPE.com

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Intratec Improves its Chemical Plant Construction Index Interface

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Intratec Improves its Chemical Plant Construction Index Interface —
Intratec Solutions LLC, the leading source for chemical markets and process economics information, is pleased to offer, since September 2015, its free chemical plant construction index –IC index – in an improved online interface (www.intratec.us/ic).

www.intratec.us/ic