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SAFETY & COMPLIANCE NEWS Acetylene Comments End September 10 • A revision to OSHA's Acetylene Standard requires that employers ensure that in-plant transfer, handling, storage and use of acetylene cylinders comply with CGA Pamphlet G-1-2003, Acetylene. Piping systems, facilities and equipment used to generate acetylene or to fill acetylene cylinders are required to comply with National Fire Protection Standard NFPA 51A, Standard for Acetylene Charging Plants. If the agency receives significant adverse comments within 30 days of publication, the accompanying Notice of Proposed Rulemaking will allow the agency to continue the rulemaking as a "Notice and Comment" rulemaking. If no significant adverse comments are received, the Direct Final Rule will take effect November 9, 2009. The agency will accept public comments on the Direct Final Rule and Notice of Proposed Rulemaking until September 10, 2009. Risky DOT Permits • In an internal advisory, DOT's inspector general found that at least eight of the 83 companies granted special permits to truck dangerous combinations of high explosives over U.S. roads have histories of serious accidents and multiple violations of safety rules regarding hazardous materials. The memo urges "immediate action" to put more controls on the permits, which allow about 1,600 bulk explosives trucks nationwide to carry high-risk mixes of blasting caps, explosives and combustible or corrosive chemicals. The eight permit holders of greatest concern to the inspector general have been involved in 169 spills or accidents since 1999, including rollovers and 22 major incidents that caused evacuations or significant releases of hazardous materials, but no deaths. Those companies, not identified by name in the advisory, also incurred 86 violations of hazmat shipping rules.
NEW MEMBERS GAWDA is pleased to welcome new Distributor member Carbonic Systems Inc. of Grand Rapids, MI and Supplier members SBI-Imports of Canton, TX; Techniweld (USA) of Atlanta, GA and Witt Gas Controls of Atlanta, GA.
INDUSTRY BEAT Lincoln Changes Management (Cleveland, OH) • Lincoln Electric realigned its structure into two major geographic sections and has made four management changes. David LeBlanc was named to the newly created position of senior vice president, president of Lincoln Electric International, and is now responsible for all of Lincoln's welding businesses outside North America. LeBlanc has been president of Lincoln Electric Europe since 2005. George Blankenship was promoted to senior vice president and president, Lincoln Electric North America, and is responsible for Lincoln Electric's North American welding business. Previously, Blankenship was president of Lincoln Cleveland and senior vice president of global engineering. Richard Seif was named senior vice president, global marketing and automation and will help develop Lincoln's global automation strategy and the coordination of three product lines: flexible automation, hard automation systems and environmental/fume extraction. Gretchen Farrell was named senior vice president, human resources and compliance.
President Appoints OSHA and DOT Chiefs (Washington, D.C.) • President Obama picked David Michaels, Ph.D., an epidemiologist at the George Washington University School of Public Health, to head up the Occupational Safety and Health Administration. Known as a "fierce advocate for worker safety," Michaels told an NPR interviewer in 2008, "We need a lot more transparency, and I'm hoping that all of these decisions around how we regulate chemicals are done in a way that’s transparent."
Cynthia L. Quarterman, a Washington, D.C. attorney with a regulatory and litigation practice in the areas of transportation and natural resources, was appointed administrator of the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration of the Department of Transportation. Quarterman served as a past director of the Minerals Management Service at the Department of the Interior, which oversees the leasing, exploration and resource development on the Nation's outer continental
shelf, including the transportation of hazardous materials by pipeline. Chart Expands LNG Opportunities (Cleveland, OH) • Chart Energy & Chemicals, a wholly owned subsidiary of Chart Industries signed a cooperation agreement with Toyo Engineering Corporation of Japan to jointly pursue certain mid-scale liquefied natural gas (LNG) opportunities. Chart E&C will provide the LNG liquefaction process technology, including integrated natural gas liquids and nitrogen rejection technology as appropriate, together with equipment including brazed aluminum heat exchangers, cold boxes and air cooled heat exchangers. Toyo will provide overall engineering, procurement and construction services and project management.
GAWDA NEWS GAWDA Clearinghouse • The GAWDA Clearinghouse has been updated for the month. Free Resources • Do you have your copy of the newly updated HR Reference Materials? What about the FDA/Medical Gases? If not, then contact GAWDA for a request form to receive the USB drives containing these materials. DOT, OSHA and EPA coming soon. HR Report Available • The September 2009 HR Manager's Legal Reporter is now available for download at www.gawda.org.
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