February 2013

A world of information can be stored in a series of lines. In this month's DuraNews, we pay homage to barcode inventor Norman Joseph Woodland, who died in December, with an article about some well-known and newer uses of barcodes in business. Speaking of barcodes, did you know that every DuraLabel printer has the ability to print them? They all have that in common, but there are differences too. Find the right DuraLabel device for your facility in our DuraLabel buyers' guide.

How about some explosive stories? For one thing, we’ve got a collection of some of the most-viewed online videos related to arc flash—some actual incidents captured on tape and staged ones for educational purposes. We’ve also got a story about arc flash PPE and other high-tech developments in electrical safety. One often overlooked PPE item is a pair of gloves. In an article entitled A Glove Story, we look at how all gloves are not created equal, so we help get you started figuring out the right glove for the job at hand.

Finally, we look at the importance of having clear, concise startup procedures. Labels that include instructions can be an important part of making an industrial process safer and easier to understand for anybody. 

Keeping track with barcodes

Norman Joseph Woodland, who with Bernard Silver invented the barcode, passed away in December of 2012. While there were many people involved in the perfection and adaptation of barcode technology, Woodland is credited as the first person with the idea to use parallel lines to communicate information automatically. His initial concept was a kind of optical Morse code. A famous anecdote recounts how, in 1948, he was at the beach, contemplating how automatic scanning might be accomplished, and he raked his fingers in vertical lines through the sand. This was his eureka moment, giving him the idea for the barcode pattern so familiar today.

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DuraLabel buyer's guide

So, you’ve done the calculations and you’ve figured out that it makes sense to purchase a thermal transfer label printer for your facility. You’ve taken into account the hundreds of different uses for a DuraLabel printer, including OSHA-compliant safety labels, arc flash labels, pipe-marking labels, shipping labels, sequenced barcodes, wayfinding signs, wire and cable wraps, and hundreds of other of organizational and productivity tasks that benefit from industrial-strength, high-quality labels that will stick to anything and withstand any kind of abuse.

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Arc flash protection—from high-touch to high-tech

What if you found that putting on a protective jacket would save your life? Would you take the time to put it on?

All it takes is a few minutes on YouTube to see how real a threat arc flash is to frontline electrical workers. (See our article in this month’s DuraNews for more about online arc flash videos.) It's critical to generate awareness about arc flash, and arc flash protection and training are good places to start.

“Our greatest concern is the risk of the employee getting burned or going temporarily blind from arc flash,” said Ron Massey, general foreman at Central Electric Cooperative in Redmond, Oregon. “Inhaling arc flash—I can’t imagine the pain,” he said.

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Videos show the deadly power of arc flash

With YouTube and other video-sharing websites, an unimaginable number of videos on just about any subject can be accessed by anyone. In this month’s DuraNews, we’ve gathered the most compelling and informative videos about arc flash and arc blast. We hope that you will find them useful for learning about the dangers of arc flash and teaching others. Please be advised that although these videos do not show close-up injuries, some viewers may find them disturbing.

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A glove story

There's much to love about gloves. They can truly be your hands' best friend. But when choosing this important personal protective equipment (PPE), there should be more to your decision than simply grabbing the nearest pair. Safety gloves are designed to protect you from every conceivable hazard, including cuts, arc flash, vibration, burns, frostbite, abrasion, punctures, chemical exposure and biohazards, to name just a few.

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Start-up procedures: Clarity is the key

My nine-year-old son Milo has built LEGO projects designed for 16-year-olds. Is he a genius? I doubt it, since he still hasn’t mastered eating with a fork. He’s just really good at following step-by-step, fully illustrated instructions.

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Duralabel Kits

DuraLabel Lean Labeling Kit

Transforming your facility to a 5S-based visual workplace has never been easier. Get started with the standalone DuraLabel Toro label printer, and all the supplies you need to make shelving labels, tool storage markers, red tag markers, work area checklists, work area tool color coding and other keys to an efficient workplace.