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Congress hears testimony on EPA water rule
Memphis Stone & Gravel Co. Vice President Alan Parks testified before a Congressional hearing on the small business impacts of a rule proposed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency that would broaden the scope of waters subject to federal jurisdiction under the Clean Water Act. The hearing, which was held by the House Committee on Small Business and entitled "Will EPA‘s 'Waters of the United States' Rule Drown Small Businesses?," focused on the jurisdictional overreach of the EPA's proposed rule and its effect on small businesses. Parks, a Pit & Quarry Roundtable & Conference participant, testified on behalf of NSSGA, sharing his company’s experiences with water permitting regulations. He discussed the difficulties a small aggregate operator faces under the current system and how this regulatory burden will become even more onerous under this proposed rule. “Under the proposed rule, the aggregates industry will need more permits," Parks testified. "The delay caused by multiple surveys, reports and additional authorizations will add significant new costs during the permitting process, which could lead to… Keep Reading
MSHA to conduct on-site discussions to help prevent fatalities
MSHA says it will conduct on-site safety discussions with miners and mine operators across the country in an effort to halt fatal mining accidents. Twenty miners -- including six supervisors – died in metal and nonmetal mining accidents since October 2013. MSHA recently held two mine stakeholder safety summits in less than a month to address the issue. Enforcement personnel from MSHA’s coal and metal and nonmetal programs, as well as field staff from its Educational Policy and Development division, will visit mines to conduct safety “walk and talks.” These discussions will be designed to increase awareness of recent fatalities and encourage miners and mine operators to use their safety training and watch for unsafe conditions. Topics will include task training, mine examinations, causes of mining fatalities and best practices to prevent mine accidents. MSHA says inspectors will continue to look for the types of conditions that led to recent mining deaths and exercise their enforcement authority. “MSHA is using all of its tools – education and outreach, training and… Keep Reading
IMT adds Florida distributor for its hydraulic loaders
Iowa Mold Tooling Co. Inc. (IMT), an Oshkosh Corp. company, added to its distributor network Equipment Repair Solutions Inc., which now offers IMT hydraulic loader sales, parts and service to customers throughout Florida. Equipment Repair Solutions is located in Tampa, Fla., and services boom trucks and cranes, including IMT hydraulic loaders. The company has extended its product offering to include the IMT 16000, 24562 and 28562 hydraulic loaders, which are ideal for handling stacked or palletized material in the building supply and construction industries. “We’re pleased to welcome Equipment Repair Solutions as our newest distributor partner,” says John Field, product manager of material handling at IMT. “The company is well-respected in the local hydraulic loader market and their staff shares our commitment to customer success.” Equipment Repair Solutions also offers a complete range of on-site and in-shop maintenance and repair services, along with OSHA crane inspections and fabrication. Keep Reading
NSSGA seeks input for inspector trainees
NSSGA is asking for help in its efforts to improve the ways in which the MSHA inspectors evaluate conditions at aggregates workplaces. The MSHA-NSSGA Alliance’s Technical Task Force is developing a program whereby aggregates safety and production personnel will use a panel discussion for MSHA Academy inspector trainees to present an operator's perspective of MSHA standards compliance. NSSGA is looking for senior production officials to serve on the panel. Specifically, the organization is looking for people who are able to speak compellingly about compliance and safety from the vantage point of a senior production professional. So far, members have suggested instructing inspector trainees on: promoting zero fatalities as a real, and achievable, number; encouraging observations and reviews of near-miss accidents; promoting best practices gathered from inspections of other operations; conducting small group safety meetings on every inspection; and realizing the lengths that many operators go to in order to implement safety and health practices to benefit workers that go far beyond what the standard requires. Those interested should contact Joseph… Keep Reading
AZFAB
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4uEUjLidesk&feature=youtu.be Pit & Quarry magazine visited the AZFAB booth at ConExpo-Con/Agg 2014. Check out a model of the company’s dewatering module and learn how it works. Keep Reading
Safety leadership
Aggregate site superintendents can coach supervisors and managers into promoting better safety practices. From the senior-most level to the front lines, people in the mining industry share a great value for safety. Despite this common ground, safety results don’t always match intention. As in all industries, production pressures and competing priorities in everyday work can push good intentions to the margins. This is why organizations committed to safety have increasingly focused on strengthening the middle of the organization, where intention meets everyday work. In mining terms, this means strengthening the role of the superintendent in driving safety objectives. When superintendents are well engaged, they help translate objectives into action, remove barriers and enable safe work. When they are not, these leaders can send mixed signals and, in the worst cases, inadvertently encourage risk-taking that leads to serious injuries or worse. So how can mining organizations leverage this powerful position for safety improvement? Superintendents are called upon to communicate management’s direction, implement new initiatives, take on special projects, and keep the… Keep Reading
Accident and injury reports
MSHA is under pressure to audit mine operator reports of accidents, injuries and illnesses. The inspector general of the U.S. Department of Labor issued a report in March that notes while MSHA has taken steps to detect and deter underreporting, more action is needed. The upshot of the report is this: “MSHA is expected to do everything it can to find and prosecute underreporting to ensure the agency has accurate statistics for safety evaluation and enforcement purposes.” Accident reporting Operators must remember that if an event falls within MSHA’s official definition of “accident,” the operator must report the accident within 15 minutes of discovery. The report must be made by telephone to MSHA at 800-746-1553. No other reporting to MSHA by any other means, or to any other location, will satisfy the immediate reporting requirement. Failure to report within 15 minutes may cause a $5,000 fine that cannot be reduced even if contested. The maximum fine in this case is $60,000. There are 12 categories of events in which MSHA… Keep Reading
Idea from space inspires new way to reduce carbon emissions, fuel
Less carbon emissions means a more environmentally friendly way to drill, and less fuel use means cost savings. You’re kicked back in your favorite recliner, watching a documentary on the Space Shuttle and suddenly they’re talking about on-board pneumatic systems. Who wouldn’t be excited? A certain engineer was not only excited, he was inspired: “A compressor hasn’t got any air to compress in the vacuum of space, and I thought how much power does it take to rotate the compressor in a vacuum?” The answer? “Only enough power to overcome the frictional forces inside the compressor, such as bearings and rotor mesh friction.” He was on to something. Now our engineer may sound like someone who needs to stop taking work home, but fortunately for his employer he hasn’t yet. Grant Field, automation engineering manager for Sandvik Mining, recognized that operating in a vacuum could reduce engine load. Sandvik doesn’t operate on the moon, however. Field needed a way of creating a vacuum inside a compressor or, you might say,… Keep Reading
Command Alkon offers mobile commerce solution
Command Alkon releases MobileCommerce, the first offering in its MobileConnect line that is geared to provide producers with mobile computing options. MobileCommerce gives construction materials producers and their customers a mobile toolset for submitting orders, monitoring deliveries, viewing account balances, reprinting tickets, and receiving notifications when new orders are placed or trucks are loaded. The product relies on proprietary technology to receive project, order, and ticket updates as they happen, meaning no delays for staying informed in the field and no performance issues in dispatch, the company says. This cloud-based technology integrates with existing Command Alkon systems and is compatible with any mobile device. The company says it features an easy-to-use interface that requires minimal training. Keep Reading
