Proforma Safety Blog

Scott Arnold Named President of Proforma Safety International

Posted by proforma on January 14, 2010  |  No Comments

Proforma Safety International announced the promotion of Scott Arnold from Vice President of Operations to President of Proforma Safety Services – Worldwide. Arnold will remain in Houston at corporate headquarters in Kingwood, Texas. He will oversee both onshore and offshore safety service assignments for the U.S. and overseas business operations.

Arnold has been with Proforma Safety for 18 years, 11 as vice president of operations. He served as HSE Lead for BP’s Thunder Horse Project’s Subsea Installation Team for nine years under the leadership of BP’s Senior Project Manager, John Bednar. During this time, the Thunder Horse Project achieved an unprecedented safety record of 15,637,839 million man hours worked without a loss time incident, giving BP a TRIR achievement of .23 that broke all previous records worldwide.

Arnold has participated in, directed and managed Proforma’s HSE services to clients across a range of industries worldwide. In particular, he has hands-on experience with oil and gas related operations including drilling, geophysical/seismic, production, offshore operations, subsea installation safety, fire fighting and heavy transport. His leadership and performance have earned him recognition in the safety advisory and consulting service industry.

Arnold is a graduate of Texas A&M University, a state-certified fire fighter, a trained safety medic and a veteran aircraft fire and rescue specialist with the United States Air Force. Before joining Proforma Safety, he served as fireman and paramedic in Mexia, Texas; a Hazmat specialist with Environmental Management Corporation in San Antonio, Texas; operations manager for Industrial Fire Team and HSE instructor with Boots and Coots in Houston.

Arnold joins the executive management team of Proforma Safety, headed by Mike Arnold, CEO. Together they are guiding the company into the future with a renewed dedication toward providing world class safety services to Proforma’s varied clients.

Take Time to Investigate Odors

Posted by proforma on January 12, 2010  |  No Comments

Here’s a situation where alarm bells should have sounded at the first sniff. Operations personnel at an offshore Gulf of Mexico location occasionally smelled a gas/condensate odor in the motor control center (MCC) building but did not investigate the source of the odor. Subsequently a fire occurred inside one of the air conditioner evaporator enclosures located on top of the building. Minerals Management Service (MMS) investigated and found that gas had migrated through the AC evaporator enclosure’s drain line and accumulated inside the AC evaporator. Read MMS’s recommendations here.

Do You Know Where Your Headrest Should Be Positioned?

Posted by proforma on January 12, 2010  |  No Comments

Failing to set your headrest correctly is as bad as not having one. If they’re correctly positioned, headrests can help prevent whiplash injuries, which cause long-term health problems and possibly, death. (See related story.) Hyperextension over the top of the headrest can occur if the headrest is positioned too low.

To correctly position your headrest, first adjust your seat to a comfortable position without angling too far back or leaning forward. Position your headrest no more than 2-3 inches behind your head. Make sure the headrest is no lower than the top of your head.

Text This: Get Off the Phone

Posted by proforma on January 12, 2010  |  No Comments

More people in the U.S. have died in ONE year from accidents due to texting than those that have died in the Middle East conflict since 2003.

A study published by The University of Utah, “Text Messaging During Simulated Driving,” based on simulated driving situations, reports that drivers who text are six times more likely to have a vehicle incident than those using a cell phone.

Good Image Source for Construction Industry

Posted by proforma on January 11, 2010  |  No Comments

Looking for workplace safety-related images for your presentations or safety talks? The Center for Construction Research and Training is offering free, high quality images on its new Web site at http://www.elcosh.org/images.

Don’t Do It Yourself By These Books

Posted by proforma on January 9, 2010  |  No Comments

Many of us have a Sunset book in our home library for wiring or other home repairs. Now it appears that nine books — produced for Sunset, Loews and Amerispec — have been recalled because of erroneous technical diagrams and instructions that can pose an electrical shock or fire hazard. The publisher, Oxmoor House, Inc., of Birmingham, AL, is offering a full refund. The list of titles is available here.

Useful Tool to Emulate Harmful Sound Levels

Posted by proforma on January 9, 2010  |  No Comments

When you’re trying to educate personnel about potential hearing loss and decibels, it’s useful to have this tool produced by NIOSH that identifies common sounds — and correlates them to decibel level. The noise meter actually emits the sounds, so make sure to turn down the volume on your computer.

Remember:
110 Decibels — Regular exposure of more than 1 minute risks permanent hearing loss.
100 Decibels — No more than 15 minutes of unprotected exposure recommended.
85 Decibels — Prolonged exposure to any noise at or above 85 decibels can cause gradual hearing loss.

The EPA is revising the Noise Reduction Ratings (NRR) to better align with real-world use of hearing protection. Sign up at http://www.NRRUpdate.com to keep apprised of the latest regulatory changes.

13 Things a Burglar Won’t Tell You

Posted by proforma on January 4, 2010  |  No Comments

“Yes, I really do look for newspapers piled up on the driveway. And I might leave a pizza flyer in your front door to see how long it takes you to remove it.”

Learn some of the ways in which your family might be exposed in this Reader’s Digest article. The 13 things were compiled by two experts from convicted burglars.