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What brand of tools helps Iron Man save the world? Snap-on — a manufacturer and marketer of tools, diagnostics and equipment solutions for professional users. Snap-on roll cabs, roll carts and the EPIQ tool storage unit are featured prominently in the blockbuster movie Iron Man 2, now in theatres worldwide.

“What an honor it is to have Tony Stark use Snap-on products to help protect mankind from the forces of evil,” said Alicia Smales, vice-president of marketing for Snap-on Tools. “We are thrilled to be associated with such a great and fun movie as Iron Man 2. We had such phenomenal feedback from our tool storage units appearing in the original Iron Man that we could not wait to get involved with the sequel. We have always said that Snap-on products are the best in the world and if Iron Man is using them, then you know that statement is true.”

Snap-on tool storage units appear on three major sets in the film: Tony Stark's state-of-the-art workshop, the Monaco Race Track and the Edwards Air Force base hangar.  At the beginning of the story, in Tony Stark’s workshop, a Snap-on EPIQ can be seen on the left of the screen with a laptop plugged into the power source as Stark walks in conversation with his assistant Pepper Potts. In addition, a blue roll cart can also be clearly seen to his right in this shot.
 
On the Monaco race set, as Tony Stark steps onto the race track for the first time, a red Snap-on roll cab can be seen and, when the camera cuts back to this shot again as Tony gets into his racecar, the red roll cab is visible again. Snap-on storage units are also displayed in various other scenes throughout the

Mississauga, Ont.-based NSK Canada today announced the launch of a learning program focusing on the oil, gas and mining industries in Alberta and Saskatchewan to support and improve the productivity of critical production equipment. The first part of this learning program is a new online game, entitled NSK Bearing Match, available at www.nskbearingmatch.com. The game features exciting 3D action that puts players to the test. Players must fix critical machinery with the correct NSK bearing to avoid machine failures.

Each piece of machinery featured in NSK Bearing Match is used within many industries including oil, gas and mining, which are key segments served by NSK Canada. The company has very specific bearings and engineering expertise to address machine performance, which results in improved productivity and associated cost savings related to enhanced machinery reliability.

Oswaldo Almeida, aftermarket sales manager, says, "This fun, interactive game experience is a reflection of the creative thinking that goes into the development of our products and the crafting of unique customer solutions. We feel it is important that our customers and the market understand how innovative we are as a company. It is a key priority for NSK to develop innovative value-added initiatives aimed at enhancing customer support."

Players of NSK Bearing Match will learn about NSK's world-class products available for the oil, gas and mining industries in a fun, educational, and competitive way. Players from Alberta and Saskatchewan will be eligible to win prizes, which include Apple iPads and Visa gift cards, and will be subscribed to receive value-added technical information distributed by NSK that will promote maximum productivity and uptime.
www.nskbearingmatch.com

In September and October, the Ministry of Labour will focus on musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs). This means businesses may be visited by a ministry inspector looking for hazards that put your employees at risk for sprains and strains.

According to the IAPA, "Inspectors will pay particular attention to tasks requiring workers to use their muscles to exert force to lift, push or carry items. Many of these tasks will already have been identified through an analysis of types of workplaces with a high frequency of MSD injuries and hazards."

Here are some statistics from the Ministry of Labour:

• direct claim costs, from 2003 to 2007, of over $640 million and 6 million days of lost time
• 43% of total lost-time injury (LTI) costs in 2008, up from 41% in 2003
• 43% of total LTIs in 2008, up 40% from 2003
• 15% drop in the MSD-related LTI rate from 2003 to 2008, while the total LTI rate dropped 22%

Many jobs have MSD risks, whether you work at a desk or in a manufacturing plant. You have to ensure that the work environment fits the worker.

The IAPA continues: "For example, applying ergonomic principles — reducing repetitive movements, forceful movements, and fixed or awkward positioning — early in the design phase of a new process or task adds little cost, and can prevent many MSDs. In fact, preventing MSD-related compensation claims will save you money.

The blitz goals are threefold: enhance MSD enforcement efforts, raise awareness of the importance of addressing MSDs, and identify prevention resources available to workplaces through their safe workplace association.
www.iapa.ca

ABB Reliability Services has teamed up with tracermedia interactive to develop a serious game that will entertain and educate plant professional. The goal of the ABB Reliability Challenge is for players to have fun and experience firsthand how reliability decisions impact overall business performance.

As a member of a failing company, players are taken through a series of dilemmas that require real-life reliability solutions in order to win the ABB Reliability Challenge. (For a PDF guide of how to master the challenge, click here.)

To play the online game, click here.

The virtual manufacturing world in the ABB Reliability Challenge gives a sample of some of the dynamics facilities face in the real world. Whether your facility produces coffee grind bricks, anti-biotics, gasoline, or orange juice, there are several fundamental tenets and universal rules to increase production profitability. We will reveal several of these elements and provide you with real-life examples that confirm our reliability rules.
www.abb.com/reliabilitychallenge

Abitibi Consolidated Company of Canada, owner and operator of a paper mill in Fort Frances, Ont., was fined $125,000 on July 9, 2010, for a violation of the Occupational Health and Safety Act that caused arc-flash injuries to two workers and a student.

On Aug. 20, 2008, two electricians at the paper mill were changing the power box for part of a paper machine. The power to the box was locked out. The power to the cabinet containing the box was not shut off or locked out. As the electricians removed the power box, they noticed a cable inside the cabinet that needed to be moved. One of them reached into the cabinet with a tool to remove a clamp holding the cable in place. The tool made electrical contact with a live conductor inside the cabinet and this created an arc flash. This caused another arc flash from the live conductors overhead.

The two electricians suffered first, second and third degree burns. A student who was watching them suffered first degree burns.

Abitibi pleaded guilty to failing to ensure that a tool was not used near a live electrical installation to prevent electrical contact with a live conductor.

The fine was imposed by Justice of the Peace Patricia Clydesdale-Cornell. In addition to the fine, the court imposed a 25-per-cent victim fine surcharge, as required by the Provincial Offences Act. The surcharge is credited to a special provincial government fund to assist victims of crime.

Abitibi Consolidated Company of Canada is currently under the protection of the Companies Creditors Arrangement Act. The fine was stayed pending the completion of that matter.
www.ontario.ca/labour

The KESA37 stainless steel gear reducer from Bramalea, Ont.-based SEW-Eurodrive provides motion in any place in which machines and systems must be cleaned intensively. Because of its special housing design and the use of high-quality stainless steel, the gear reducer is ideally designed to satisfy production conditions in the food and beverage industry, in the pharmaceutical industry and in constantly wet environments.

System operators are always on the safe side when they use stainless steel gear reducers from the KESA37 series. That applies equally to applications in the fields of materials handling, intra-logistics and hygienic applications. The hygienic properties, long service life, and ease of maintenance allow stainless steel gearing to be used in a wide range of applications, for example, in:

• Food industry
• Dairies and milk processing operations
• Pharmaceutical industry
• Cosmetics industry
• Meat processing industry
• Bottling and beverage industry
• Laboratory applications
• Water supply
• All applications in extremely wet conditions

The stainless steel gear reducers from SEW-Eurodrive are easy-to-clean surfaces combined with a high-grade resistance to acid and alkaline. Recesses that can collect dirt and liquid have been eliminated as much as possible. All seals and connections are available with a degree of protection of up to IP 69K. The reducers are entirely use stainless steel housings and fittings, effectively preventing any type of corrosion.
www.sew-eurodrive.ca

Beginning Aug. 3, 2010, industry guru Terry Wireman — author of 21 maintenance and reliability textbooks and frequent guest speaker — will be writing the content for a monthly PEM e-newsletter entitled Wireman's Wire. Click here to subscribe.

For a sneak peek at what's to come, he will begin with an overview of a maintenance strategy, followed by the various components (preventive maintenance, inventory, planning and scheduling, predictive maintenance, etc.) that a maintenance manager would need to consider when developing a strategy for their company.

"For each strategy component, I will discuss what comprises the strategy component and then how the strategy component can solve some of the common problems facing maintenance managers," Wireman explains.
 
He is looking forward to communicating with readers and tailoring the content to their needs. "Any points they would like to see addressed will be topics that will be dealt with in later newsletters," he adds.

To contact Terry Wireman, email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

The Ontario Power Authority today officially launched a new energy-efficiency program to reduce electricity use and increase competitiveness for large industrial companies that are directly connected to the electricity transmission system.

The Industrial Accelerator is a five-year program that provides attractive financial incentives to speed up investment in electricity-saving projects. Participating companies will contractually commit to achieve specific conservation targets within a set period of time and to maintain them over the term of the contract.

Electricity conservation is one of the best ways to manage energy costs, creating lasting operational savings and reducing companies' draw on the electricity system. The Industrial Accelerator program is designed to deliver bottom-line results for participating companies:

• Financial incentives will cover up to 70% of eligible capital costs.
• Energy-efficiency projects offer potential electricity cost savings as high as 30%.
• Support is offered for high-performance industrial installations that improve productivity and competitiveness.
• The program could significantly reduce the demand on the electricity system from some of Ontario's largest electricity
• The program will also help drive the development of green technology and jobs in the province. Over seven years, this program will create an estimated 5,500 net jobs.

"For Ontario to thrive, Ontario businesses must thrive," said Brad Duguid, Minister of Energy and Infrastructure. "Partnering with our largest energy consumers to reduce their energy use will enhance their long-term competitiveness and is part of Ontario's transformation from being a leader in consumption to a leader in conservation."

Ontario's industrial sector is made up of more than 20,000 small, medium and large companies that account for approximately one-third of all electricity use in Ontario. Within the sector, 45 large industrial companies directly connected to the

The Ontario Power Authority today officially launched a new energy-efficiency program to reduce electricity use and increase competitiveness for large industrial companies that are directly connected to the electricity transmission system.

The Industrial Accelerator is a five-year program that provides attractive financial incentives to speed up investment in electricity-saving projects. Participating companies will contractually commit to achieve specific conservation targets within a set period of time and to maintain them over the term of the contract.

Electricity conservation is one of the best ways to manage energy costs, creating lasting operational savings and reducing companies' draw on the electricity system. The Industrial Accelerator program is designed to deliver bottom-line results for participating companies:

• Financial incentives will cover up to 70% of eligible capital costs.
• Energy-efficiency projects offer potential electricity cost savings as high as 30%.
• Support is offered for high-performance industrial installations that improve productivity and competitiveness.
• The program could significantly reduce the demand on the electricity system from some of Ontario's largest electricity
• The program will also help drive the development of green technology and jobs in the province. Over seven years, this program will create an estimated 5,500 net jobs.

"For Ontario to thrive, Ontario businesses must thrive," said Brad Duguid, Minister of Energy and Infrastructure. "Partnering with our largest energy consumers to reduce their energy use will enhance their long-term competitiveness and is part of Ontario's transformation from being a leader in consumption to a leader in conservation."

Ontario's industrial sector is made up of more than 20,000 small, medium and large companies that account for approximately one-third of all electricity use in Ontario. Within the sector, 45 large industrial companies directly connected to the

With Ontario in the grips of a record heat wave, workers who stay outdoors for long periods of time during the day run the risk of succumbing to heat-related illnesses. Sister publication Canadian Occupational Safety recently explained how recognizing the signs and symptoms of heat-related illnesses is important in ensuring your workers' safety at work. St. John Ambulance offers the following guidelines for administering first-aid for people suffering from heat stress.

Heat Cramps
Painful muscle cramps primarily in the legs and abdomen and excessive sweating. This is usually caused by losing too much water and salt through sweating, usually this is related to excessive physical activity in hot weather. They are not serious and can be reversed with some basic first aid. 
 


First Aid

Ensure the person is put at rest in a cool place and given as much water as possible in small amounts so as not to cause nausea. If the cramps do subside seek medical help. 
 


Heat Exhaustion

More serious than heat cramps, the symptoms include: excessive sweating, dilated pupils, complaints of dizziness, blurred vision, headaches, and cramps. The casualty may also have cool, clammy skin, a weak rapid pulse, rapid shallow breathing, vomiting and may go unconscious. 



First Aid

Give the casualty water to drink, as much as they will take. If they vomit, do not give them anything by mouth and seek medical attention right away. Place them at rest in the shock position in a cool place and remove any excessive clothing and loosen clothing around the neck and waist. If they go unconscious put them in the recovery position and get medical help, continue monitoring their condition. 
 


Heatstroke (Sunstroke)
This is a life-threatening condition, without immediate action heatstroke can result in permanent brain