New HazCom website to focus on oil, coal & gas

When it comes to Earth Energy Industries, good information about HazCom labeling is always welcome.

A newly released website is now providing the industry with easy-to-access information about HazCom labeling in the Oil, Coal and Gas industries. Found at oilcoalgas.com, the site aims to aid managers of earth energy facilities and mines with labeling and signage information for their industry.

Many of the pages inside are dedicated to explaining how to meet specific HazCom sign rules established for these specific industries... and what labeling printers and supplies are best suited for these applications.

To ensure your earth industry facility or mine exceeds the required HazCom codes; use OSHA/MSHA approved RTK Labels from DuraLabel. You can find more information about these regulations and how to purchase the right printers and supplies at oilcoalgas.com.

New Oil, Coal & Gas site makes HazCom a snap
Visually communicate in the Oil, Coal & Gas Industries

Got Ammonia Pipes? Get 'em marked right!

When it comes to Ammonia Pipes, you want everyone who enters a plant to see and understand these hazards. That's why Ammonia Pipes require special "standardized" markings.

The International Institute of Ammonia Refrigeration (IIAR) published a set of standards for marking this specific pipe type. The goal is to help anyone who sees these pipe markings to rapidly understand what the pipe contains, what system it is attached to, how much pressure it contains and the flow direction.

All of this information is critical to anyone who must work around Ammonia Pipes.

Ammonia Pipe leaks are not an uncommon occurrence in many facilities and the results can be serious. In 2007, an explosion at an Oregon based AmeriCold facility released the toxic gas into their facility and surrounding neighborhood. Two employees, as well as a bicyclist who happened to be riding by when it happened, were sent to the hospital. Oregon OSHA investigated and issued 18 violations for the incident.

More recently, the same facility was fined $470,000 for 10 willful violations, four serious repeat violations and 22 other serious violations of the Oregon Safe Employment Act. Many of these violations were related to ammonia hazards.

Communicating the hazards of ammonia pipes is a critical step in helping reduce accidental ammonia releases.

Graphic Products has published a simple-to-use, one page guide to help make Ammonia Pipe Marking a snap. Call Graphic Products today at 1-888-326-9244 for your free copy, or visit them online to request a copy.

Ensure Ammonia Pipes are seen and understood
Don't let your Ammonia Pipes go unnoticed

Check-out the new DuraLabel Supplies Catalog!

Shopping online comes in handy when you have time to sit at your computer and do the research. Nothing is quicker.

Still, it's nice to have a paper catalog to refer to, when you really need to find something fast or are nowhere near your computer.

DuraLabel just released their printed version of the complete line of DuraLabel Supplies in a single printed catalog. That means you can thumb through the many supplies DuraLabel offers at your leisure - and without the aid of a computer.

Each supply is organized by printer and then grouped in color-coded tables to help you find the supplies your printer uses more easily. DuraLabel's new supply catalog is now available for FREE by calling 1-888-326-9244, or visiting DuraLabelSupplies.com where you can request a catalog online.

Color-coding you can rely on.

It's well known that efficiency in a facility is improved through proper color-coding. Colors are used to identify equipment, tools, hazards and procedures. Select colors are even standardized by OSHA and ANSI to add greater value and improve worker recognition rates.

The goal is to increase label and sign recognition times. When color standards are applied to all labels and signs, a facility becomes increasingly efficient. That's why colors must remain as sharp and brilliant as the day they were printed and do so for extended periods- even in the outdoors.

Unfortunately, most label and sign manufacturers print colors with inferior devices. The result is a label or sign with only a very limited life. Although these labels may be less expensive, they actually wind-up costing more in replacement costs.

DuraLabel believes colored labels should provide lasting service indoors as well as outdoors. That's because they understand the value lasting colors have in the industrial workplace.

To prove just how durable their colors are, DuraLabel performed a comparison test on four commonly used primary colors. The test focused on colors printed with a DuraLabel Printer and those printed by a leading competitor.

Using state-of-the-art testing equipment, researchers at DuraLabel documented some fairly dramatic differences. As the image above reveals, the red coloring printed by the competitor is absent after just two years of simulated exposure. All of the colors printed by DuraLabel still offer functional performance with little degradation.

These differences show how important it is to use an industrial label printer that's capable of providing this level of performance. The cost of using inferior labels and signs in the industrial workplace is often greater in less efficiency and replacement cost.

DuraLabel Testing Center Info
Just how important is color to a safety sign?
When it comes to safety... don't settle for second best.

Inspect your labels and signs regularly

Keeping a safety program functional isn't always easy. Often, it gets overlooked because it's a duty that gets passed from employee to employee.

If you've been handed the reigns of your facility's safety program, put your foot down and ensure your health and safety signs are inspected regularly. It very well could save a life, maybe even yours.

OSHA, ANSI, NFPA and the multitude of other required health and safety signs all demand regular inspections to maintain their upkeep. That means you need to check your signs, at the very least, every 6 months.

Some of the basic things to look for during your inspection, include:

• Readability from a distance
• Overall condition
• Location visibility
  
• Label or sign coverage (Would additional signs be beneficial?)
• Visit DuraLabelSupplies.com to download a free sample inspection checklist.
  

Lean health care is on it's way...

No one wants to hear their hospital is run like a factory, but some hospitals are finding methods used by industry also work in health care facilities and often help improve the care they provide.

Hospitals are not alone in this efficiency revolution. Many non-traditional Lean facilities are implementing these popular industrial methods and systems. One popular "Healthcare Lean" method that's being popularly used today, adopts many elements used in systems such as 5S and Kanban. One of these elements is "visual communication."

Medical facilities managers can help workers organize storage, see hazards and record inventories utilizing some very simple, but effective methods and techniques. Visual communication is generally improved with labeling and signage.

Application-specific labeling supplies are now available to display things like barcodes on unusual or textured surfaces or mark freezing pipes. Specialized labels and signs are also available to adhere directly onto surfaces such as cryogenic specimen containers or even emergency room records and equipment.

DuraLabel has unveiled a brand new label printer, targeted at helping improve efficiencies and safety in the health care industry. Clinics and laboratories can greatly improve their visual communication with the DuraLabel LabPRO. This new printer features over 20 "application-specific" labels and signs supplies- specially engineered for use in medical facilities.

Some of the more popular supplies include:

• Autoclavable Tape
• Cryogenic Label Tape (Poly)
• Cryogenic VialWRAP Tape
• Cryogenic VialWRAP Tape (Color-Coded)
• Electrostatic Dissipative Label Tape (ESD)
• Frozen Specimen Label Tape
• Glove-Peel Vinyl Tape
• Laboratory Tamper-Evident Tape
• Medical Inspection Label Tape
• MedTag Tape
• Slide Label Tape
• SlideChem Label Tape
• Universal Medical Label Tape
• Write-On Medical Label Tape

For more information, call a DuraLabel representative at 1-888-326-9244.

The DuraLabel LabPRO at DuraLabel.com
The DuraLabel LabPRO at GraphicProducts.com
DuraLabel Unveils new medical printer

Form-labels... made to last!

In Lean Manufacturing, inspection tagging is a critical function of a maintenance department. Equipment, utilities and other mechanical elements of a facility must all be regularly inspected to assure they provide optimum efficiency and performance.

Having a durable label is paramount to good inspection tagging. Labels must continue to show dates and signatures long after they are first applied. Embossable Poly Supply is popularly used to provide the necessary and long-lasting application inspection tagging demands.

Ideal for printing very durable labels, destined for years of service, Embossable Poly Supply is perfect for printing form-labels and other label formats where hand-written information is required. When written on with a ball-point pen, the supply's special surface "embosses" to leave a permanent impression- long after the ink has faded.

Engineered with a tough reflective top-coat, this popular supply is now available from DuraLabelSupplies.com and specially designed for use with the DuraLabel PRO and DuraLabel PRO 300 Printers.

Just design a form using the DuraLabel PRO or DuraLabel PRO 300's bundled software and your labels are ready for lasting written information.

Embossable Poly Supply (Metallized)
Two New Labeling Supplies!