July 2012

July Issue of DuraNews

When not well documented, wire and cable is not always easy to identify. Single-line diagrams are often used to reference most terminations, but these drawings aren´t always available – leaving the details to the devil. Clearly marking wires to indicate wire terminations and function eliminates confusion. DuraLabel offers industrial grade wire and cable labeling supplies to make even the most complex installations a snap to understand.

Wire and cable harmony

Globally, wire and cable identification standards have always been somewhat of a snarl. Setting standards for color-coding and tag marking in the field have historically been left to regional organizations. The U.S. and Canada share many of the same standards, but still have differences and few field wiring standards are used uniformly around the world. The NFPA/NEC, NEMA, ANSI and the Telecommunication Industry Association (TIA) are the most popularly used standards for industrial building installation wiring in the U.S. and provide a wide range of useful guidelines.

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Discipline without punishment

Progressive discipline, when used properly, lifts an enormous load off of a facility manager's back. This straightforward system for managing unacceptable employee behavior uses increasingly serious discipline for repeated infractions. If you're a facility manager who hasn't yet implemented the system of progressive discipline, your management responsibilities are about to become a whole lot easier!

Top 10 motivations for practicing safety survey results

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Commercial service-drop labeling

As most electrical professionals recognize, labeling has become an ever-increasing part of the daily job. Standards for electrical work now require greater visual communication than ever to convey a wider range of electrical information. The goal, of course, is to inform potentially exposed workers and others so they may prepare for exposure and/or avoid exposure.

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Industrial applications for robots

There's a new ally in the push to eliminate unnecessary risk to workers. Scientists are now developing robots to safely carry testing equipment into hazardous locations such as confined spaces – eliminating the need for unnecessary exposures.

Just imagine the benefits of having a robot at the jobsite or in your facility. Instead of sending a worker into dangerous locations, you could remotely inspect hazards from the safety of your office chair.

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Maintaining fire-water sprinkler standards

The objective of NFPA 25 is to eliminate failures caused by lack of maintenance. Every year there are fire losses as a result of closed control valves. Though not high on a maintenance manager's list of things to worry about, failing to regularly test and maintain your industrial fire sprinkler system can have significant and unexpected consequences. If, for example, a painter tapes up a sprinkler head and then forgets to remove the painted tape, the performance of that sprinkler head could be in jeopardy.

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Industrial smart phones

What do you do when you're caught out in the field without your tools and you need to convert standard to metric? Or have you ever needed a ballpark figure for a distance and a tape measure was nowhere to be found?
Now there's a killer new smart phone app that can give you a whole new level of efficiency when working in remote facility locations. Home Depot has created an app that has tools for measuring, converting, estimating materials and even knowing exactly the right nut and bolt size for projects.Here's a sampling of what this sweet app can do: Under the tools menu, you'll find a caliper to measure the length or width of objects. You just position small objects on the screen of your smart phone and slide the caliper jaws to match the width.

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Canadian wiring standards change

The Canadian Standards Association (CSA) recently released changes to wiring standards. These changes may affect your next project. Don´t get caught out in the cold without these new standards. (And yes, Canada can be cold.)

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OSHA - GHS Guide

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