In his latest article, Bill Lape reviews IIAR safety compliance and provides best practices. Eyewash/shower units should be within 55 feet, but that can feel like a long way if there are obstacles or hurdles to reach it.
Read his article, and review your plant or machine shop.
Look, I get it. If a regulator walks in the front door, send your maintenance folks out the back door with a bucket of paint. We want to make the system look shiny and as new as we can get so that the regulator might cut us some slack. However, the issue is what happens when we don’t remove the lipstick, so to speak, and clean up the dirt (in this case, corrosion) underneath. Imagine what a celebrity would look like if they never washed off the makeup that they applied each day. Now take a look around your system. Do any of your pipes or valves, or even vessels, look like …
Keeping reading Lipstick on a Pig, Bill Lape’s latest article in the Epic Fail section of the RETA Breeze, to meet IIAR6 requirements before the regulator arrives.
Bill Lape is a Certified Industrial Refrigeration Operator, a Certified Refrigeration Service Technician, and a member of the National Board of Directors of the Refrigerating Engineers and Technicians Association. He writes regularly to guide businesses and workers using industrial refrigeration.
SCS Tracer Environmental has a diverse staff of instructors who provide practical, cost-effective ammonia refrigeration training and certification review courses. Training can be provided on-site, at our new training classroom in Oakdale, Minnesota, or at one of our nationwide sessions. Our training programs incorporate RETA, IIAR, manufacturers, field materials, facility-specific standard operating procedures, and/or piping and instrumentation diagrams.
Ammonia Refrigeration Operator Training Programs use the applicable RETA Industrial Refrigeration (IR) 1 & 2 manuals, which participants keep at the conclusion of the classes. These intensive four-day classes are provided in locations across the nation (convenient for attendees to participate locally) or in our new Minnesota classroom.
Operator I: This course is based on the materials in RETA IR-1 Course and is designed as an entry-level training program for a refrigeration operator, manager, and/or safety personnel with limited refrigeration training, or experienced operators who have never received the basic fundamentals of refrigeration principles. Operator I training is also offered in Spanish.
Operator II: This course is based on the material in RETA IR-2 Course and is designed for a refrigeration operator, manager, and/or safety personnel who have successfully completed the Operator I class and have a desire to further their knowledge in industrial refrigeration systems and principles using ammonia as a refrigerant.
PSM/RMP Introduction Training Class uses ammonia refrigeration-focused material specific to your PSM/RMP program and facility, RETA, IIAR, manufacturers, and field materials, as well as facility-specific standard operating procedures. We highlight the responsibilities of the various PSM/RMP Team Members that may include, but not be limited to, maintenance, safety, management, environmental, and/or facilities personnel:
PSM/RMP Advanced Training Class is geared for experienced PSM Program Managers, Plant Managers, ammonia refrigeration facility compliance personnel, and safety-EHS staff who want a detailed review of the more complex regulatory requirements included in the PSM and RMP regulations. The class focuses on the complex details of the following elements: Process Safety Information (RAGAGEP), Standard Operating Procedures, Management of Change (Project planning through Pre Startup Safety Review (PSSR)), and Mechanical Integrity.
RETA CARO/CIRO Review Classes are intensive training designed for operators who are pursuing their RETA CARO or CIRO certification. Each course includes a review of the pertinent materials. During Day 2, participants receive a voucher to take the RETA Practice Test, a $60 value. Our instructors use the practice test results to customize the curriculum on Day 3 to focus on the more difficult concepts.
SCS Engineers is pleased to announce the opening of our newest location in Oakdale, Minnesota. Located approximately 15 miles from the Minneapolis-Saint Paul International Airport, this SCS office also boasts a training facility dedicated to specialized compliance training related to risk and process safety-based EPA and OSHA regulations. The new location is:
SCS Engineers
7300 Hudson Boulevard North, Suite 135
Oakdale, MN 55128
1 (800) 767-4727
SCS Tracer Environmental, a specialty practice of SCS Engineers, will continue to offer custom onsite training and nationwide training sessions, in addition to ammonia refrigeration operator training, CIRO review classes, CARO review classes, and Process Safety Management and Risk Management Plan (PSM/RMP) training in our new classroom.
To better serve the unique needs of their clients, SCS employs experienced staff with backgrounds in oil, petrochemical/chemical industries, aerospace, and manufacturing companies. Tracer’s service professionals are strategically located across the nation to meet the environmental needs in a wide range of industries using ammonia refrigeration such as dairy, food, and beverages; ice arenas and ice manufacturing; cold storage warehouses; and for facilities using ammonia for metal/tooling heat treating, and fossil fuel plants with NOx systems.
As an added service, SCS provides consultation on ammonia detection systems based on the IIAR 2-2014 Standard and Recognized and Generally Accepted Good Engineering Practices (RAGAGEP).
Click here for more details regarding training.
Refrigeration Training and Certification ProgramsSCS has a diverse staff of certified engineers, scientists, and technicians who provide practical, cost-effective training on-site or in one of our nationwide sessions. We use training materials from RETA, IIAR, manufacturers, and field experience, as well as facility-specific standard operating procedures. See our training schedule and complete information here.
SCS’s Refrigeration Operator I & II Training Programs use the applicable RETA Industrial Refrigeration (IR) 1 & 2 manuals which are included for the duration of the classes. These intensive four-day classes are provided in locations across the nation; convenient for attendees to participate locally.
Operator I: Designed for the beginning refrigeration operator, manager, and/or safety personnel with limited refrigeration training.
Operator II: Designed for the refrigeration operator, manager, and safety personnel who have passed the Operator I class and have a higher level of experience and knowledge in industrial refrigeration systems using ammonia as a refrigerant.
PSM/RMP Introduction Class: Training course using ammonia refrigeration-focused material specific to your PSM/RMP program and facility using RETA, IIAR, manufacturers, and field materials as well as facility-specific standard operating procedures. We highlight the responsibilities of the various PSM/RMP Team Members that may include, but not be limited to, maintenance, safety, management, environmental, and/or facilities personnel:
PSM/RMP Advanced Class: Training course for experienced PSM Program Managers, Plant Managers, facility compliance personnel, and safety-EHS staff who want a detailed review of the more complex regulatory requirements included in the PSM and RMP regulations. The class focuses on the complex details of the following elements: Process Safety Information (RAGAGEP), Standard Operating Procedures, Management of Change (Project planning through PSSR), and Mechanical Integrity.
RETA CARO/CIRO Review: This intensive training is designed for operators who are pursuing their RETA CARO or CIRO certification. Each course includes a review of the pertinent materials. During Day 2, participants receive a voucher to take the RETA Practice Test. Our instructor reviews the test results and customizes Day 3 to incorporate material that was found to be deficient within the testing.
See our training schedule and complete information here.
SCS Engineers recently added ammonia refrigeration Process Safety Management and Risk Management Program (PSM/RMP) Project Director William Lape to their professional team working with industrial clients. Mr. Lape joins the SCS Tracer Environmental team in the firm’s Minneapolis–St. Paul, Minnesota office.
Lape brings his expertise and established reputation as a plant engineering manager, senior environmental health and safety manager, and as the director of environmental health and safety – Process Safety, at Dean Foods (NYSE: DF). Dean Foods is a multi-billion dollar American food and beverage company, and the largest dairy company in the United States.
Ammonia refrigeration is a well-proven and effective refrigerant. It does require special programs and safety precautions called PSM/RMP. Lape’s education, expertise, and experience qualify him for the SCS team who hold safety and efficiency paramount. His experience includes senior positions in the food processing industry, direct management of facility operations and environmental compliance programs. Lape will support SCS clients with refrigeration and food industry changes and energy conservation initiatives while helping to keep their employees and facilities safe from potential toxicity and flammability events.
Lape is also a regulatory lobbyist for the Ammonia Refrigeration industry and is expert in developing and conducting technical and safety training classes. His process safety expertise includes Management of Change, Mechanical Integrity, Compliance Auditing, Process Hazard Analysis facilitation, and writing Operating Procedures. His experience also includes: developing release scenarios and preparing RMP submissions; operating and maintaining large industrial ammonia refrigeration systems; project management with scope and specification generation, cost estimating, scheduling, project oversight and commissioning.
He is formally educated and degreed from Purdue University, an active member in the Refrigerating Engineers and Technicians Association (RETA), sitting on their Board of Directors, and in the International Institute of Ammonia Refrigeration (IIAR) on both the Code and Standards Committees. He has multiple RETA and IIAR certifications; is CVI Certified for U.S Dept. of Homeland Security CFATS, and trained in RCRA & DOT Hazardous Materials Reporting.
“Bill is supporting SCS’s rapid growth in the Upper Midwest and Central U.S. industrial operations by providing increased safety and efficiencies to our private and government clients,” stated Thomas Rappolt, a vice president at SCS Engineers, and office director of SCS Tracer Environmental. “Our customers in the region and nationally will benefit from his valuable expertise managing the staff and protocol for safe and efficient multi-facility and multi-disciplinary facility needs.”
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