Latest News

Ontario is making workplaces safer by focusing on the safe operation of conveyor systems.

Conveyor systems are used in industrial workplaces to move goods from one spot to another. Ministry of Labour inspectors will visit industrial workplaces during increased enforcement in November and December to ensure that:

• Conveyors have proper guarding devices;
• Conveyors are being locked out when needed; and
• Conveyor workers are protected from developing musculoskeletal disorders, such as repetitive strain injuries.

“We want everyone to be aware of the guarding and lockout hazards involving conveyor systems, and need to make sure all measures are in place to prevent injuries. At the end of the day, workers should return home safe and sound to their families," says Peter Fonseca, Minister of Labour.

Quick facts about this particular hazard:
• Ontario employs 430 full-time occupational health and safety inspectors.
• Between 2005 and 2008 two workers died and 48 workers were seriously injured in conveyor incidents.
• Between 2005 and 2008, workers missed an average of about 68 days due to a conveyor injury, according to WSIB lost-time injury data. The total number of workdays lost was 74,459.

The blitz is a part of the government’s Safe At Work Ontario strategy. Safe workplaces offer reassurance to workers, increased productivity for businesses and less strain on the health care system.
www.labour.gov.on.ca/english/hs/sawo/about.php

Ontario has launched a new toll-free number – 1-877-202-0008 – to report workplace health and safety incidents or unsafe work practices, or for general inquiries.
 
On Nov. 1, 2010, the Ministry of Labour launched a Health & Safety Contact Centre, which allows anyone, anywhere in Ontario to call one number to report a workplace health and safety incident, critical injury, fatality or work refusal. The public can also call that number if they suspect unsafe work practices or for general inquiries.
 
The number operates 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
 
Before the launch, separate numbers existed for each provincial region. With one number, Ontario is creating a more efficient and streamlined phone system for workplaces and the public to contact the ministry, they government says.

In the past two decades, counterfeiting in general has grown by 10,000 percent, globally. While there has been much reporting about consumers being taken advantage of by counterfeits in music, film, home electronics and designer clothing, a far greater risk lies in industrial counterfeiting of items such as tires, seals and bearings. All these products are safety-critical and fake versions pose a real threat.

As a result, the U.S.-based World Bearing Association (WBA) has launched an awareness campaign to inform about safety hazards arising from counterfeit bearings.

“Our initiative is aimed at sensitizing the public on the dangers associated with counterfeits,” says James W. Griffith, WBA president and president and chief executive officer of The Timken Company. “The WBA is thus intensifying its anti-counterfeiting initiatives – that means information for customers on the one hand and consistent prosecution of offenders through the competent authorities on the other.”

The WBA anti-counterfeiting information campaign will reach out to various audiences over the next three years through e-mails, Web banners, social media and the campaign site, www.stopfakebearings.com. At www.stopfakebearings.com, interested consumers can learn more about counterfeiting and what branded-bearing manufacturers are doing to stop it.

“Everyone who buys, sells, mounts and uses bearings can be adversely affected by counterfeits, so it is in their best interest to be on the lookout for them,” Griffith says. “Manufacturers of products containing industrial bearings may be held responsible for damages. We want purchasers to realize that counterfeiting is a widespread and serious problem.”

Counterfeiting also violates intellectual property, such as patents and trademarks. Because counterfeits look like and are marketed like genuine, premium-brand products, it usually takes a trained expert to identify them. The competent authorities and the concerned brand manufacturer may be contacted.

Premium manufacturers

How does a company like SKF organize and market a century of knowledge?

It builds the SKF Solution Factory Edmonton — only this particular plant has no assembly lines and no heavy machinery. It doesn’t need them. Its main purpose is to deliver solutions: ideas that will help its customers become more efficient, more profitable and more competitive.

PEM was at the facility’s grand opening last month in Edmonton, and the company says the it can now provide customers in Canada access to unique process and application knowledge — all under one roof. The factory will offer solutions based on bearing remanufacturing service, lubrication systems engineering and service, remote diagnostics, customized sealing solutions, application engineering and many other solution offerings.

At the opening, João Ricciarelli, president of SKF Canada, says the factory is a concentration of the company’s knowledge resources. “For example, a customer who has previously just purchased bearings and seals from SKF can now raise the bar and ask us to help cut operational costs or improve availability and reliability or just about anything else to make their plants run more efficiently.”

As well, SKF has several customers on hand, including Norm Kowalchuk, maintenance services coordinator with Cenovus, a Calgary-based oil company formerly with Encana. In February 2009, SKF did an analysis of the company’s needs, resulting in $6 million in “soft savings,” he says.

During a tour of the many solution areas, Matt Yeknik, a senior specialist with SKF focused on the mining and mineral processing sectors, says his industries share some of the world’s harshest operating conditions and that “it takes good equipment, it takes tough equipment” to keep production running smoothly. From the company’s bearings, seals and housing to condition monitoring and shaft alignment tools, “all

A new line of large bore couplings that feature axial and annular keyways for use with pumps and mixers driven by unsupported shafts is being introduced by Stafford Manufacturing Corp. out of Wilmington, Mass.

Stafford dual-keyed couplings feature axial and annular keyways to transmit torque while restraining lateral motion in pumps and mixers that are driven by unsupported shafts. Offered in one to five-inch I.D sizes, the keyways are machined to customer specifications.

Available in steel, stainless steel, or aluminum, these couplings come with straight- or stepped bores to join dissimilar shafts. They are priced according to material, size, and quantity. Price quotations are provided upon request.
www.staffordmfg.com

SMGlobal has released FastMaint CMMS v. 5.3, a powerful software application that makes it easy to manage plant maintenance, facility and building maintenance, resort and restaurant maintenance, and fleet maintenance. Solutions are available for use on a single Windows computer and on a LAN, as well as a web edition that need not be installed on each computer in the company because it can be accessed using a standard web browser.

FastMaint CMMS reduces the expenses associated with equipment and facility downtime. When an unexpected situation arises, the software makes it easy to create a work order, allocate resources, assign it to the proper person, and track progress. In addition, it’s simple to set up a preventive maintenance schedule for all of your equipment, vehicles, and facilities. By moving your support staff from fire-fighting mode to maintenance management mode, FastMaint CMMS saves time and money.

Version 5.3 introduces major enhancements to the reporting system. Bar charts and line charts are easier to read, and new work order analysis reports make it simpler to manage breakdowns versus planned maintenance activities. It’s even easier to clone equipment, parts, people, vendors, and other maintenance-related entities, allowing users to speed their way through data-entry.

The software turns maintenance chaos into order. Each time there is a maintenance problem, FastMaint CMMS turns the maintenance task into a template for a work order. You can identify and classify a set of standard maintenance practices for all of your equipment and buildings.

FastMaint CMMS Basic Edition lets you create templates for unplanned and scheduled maintenance work orders. All maintenance tasks can be scheduled automatically. There is a complete work order database system, with custom fields to fit every business, status tracking,

TEST NDT International has developed a reputation as the specialist NDT consulting and training company for the wind energy industry.

The British Institute of NDT presented a further three apprenticeship certificates at the 49th Annual Conference held at St David’s Hotel, Cardiff.

TWI has applied its direct assessment service to a network of 250 km of buried, non-pigable, gas and condensate pipelines in the South of Iran. The project provided a complete service to plan and perform inspection and also assessed the inspection results in terms of the pipeline fitness for continued service.

SPI NDT Limited of Immingham, North East Lincolnshire, has joined forces with IRISNDT. From 1 October 2010, SPI operates with IRISNDT’s existing specialist NDT services company, Matrix Inspection (UK).