Blog Archives
Clow Valve Hosts Foundry Tour For Local Students
On Tuesday, March 27, our Clow Valve facility located in Oskaloosa, Iowa hosted a tour of the metal casting operation for local high school seniors enrolled in industrial technology courses. Maintenance mechanic B.J. Bowie conducted the tour. The students were particularly interested in learning more about careers, types of jobs and skills needed to work in advanced manufacturing as well as opportunities available in skilled trades.
Clow Valve welcomes any opportunities to show the future workforce our state-of-the-art facilities and educate them about the potential career opportunities that are available in manufacturing and skilled trades.
Pictured: MCF Maintenance Mechanic BJ Bowie and local high school seniors.
Tyler Coupling Holds Annual CPR/AED Training
Did you know that every year over 300,000 Americans die from heart disease and half of these victims die suddenly due to cardiac arrest? The American Heart Association reports that victims suffering from cardiac arrest have a few short minutes before brain damage, organ damage or even death occurs. Rescue breathing coupled with chest compressions, known as CPR, buys the victim the time that may be required to save their life.
Every year, Tyler Coupling in Marshfield, Missouri holds CPR/AED training for team members interested in becoming CPR certified or getting recertified. As part of this training, team members participated in demonstrations on the proper way to respond during a cardiac arrest. This year General Manager Bill Hoffman (pictured here) played the part of the heart attack victim.
If you haven’t participated in a CPR training class, consider it. You may find yourself in a position to save someone’s life.
Manchester Tank-Bedford Conducts Training on Causation of Incidents
As part of their ongoing continuous improvement initiative to reduce incidents at the Manchester Tank Bedford facility, the Manchester Tank team held a two-day training event on the Causation of Incidents and the newly implemented Accountability Program. Rex Blevins, Group Safety Director for the Manchester Tank group, conducted the training and provided all management personnel, members of the safety committee, and Union Leadership at the Bedford facility information on what causes accidents and the importance of pro-active initiatives to reduce the number of near misses and potential risks in the work environment and achieve a reduction in incident rates of up to 80%.
Those who attended the training found it to be very interesting and very beneficial. The facility will use the months of November and December to practice conducting team member observations, evaluating JSAs, and increasing management-team member contacts before their Accountability Program goes into full effect on January 1, 2016.
Safety department representatives from Manchester Tank Quincy, Elkhart, and Crossville also attended the event.
Did you know that stretching can prevent repetitive motion injuries?
A few years ago, Anaco researched how they could prevent injuries in jobs with the highest levels of repetitive motion. After much discussion about the best way to address the problem, they instituted a stretching program where team members stretch for 2 minutes at the top of the hour throughout their shift. We are happy to report that these stretching exercises have helped reduce and almost eliminate repetitive type injuries from these departments!
Anaco recently decided that it was time to “refresh” the stretching program. If you’ve ever tried to stick to an exercise program, you know that doing the same exercise every day can get boring, make you quickly lose interest, and even no longer challenge you as your body begins to adapt to the repetitiveness. To avoid this, Anaco brought in a physical therapist from a local clinic to observe how team members perform their tasks and recommend stretches that would best prevent injuries.
After the initial observations, the entire team came together in the training center in groups for a hands-on demonstration and practice of some new and improved stretches. Great job, Team Anaco! Way to be proactive!
Knowledge is Power at Tyler Pipe
If you happened to drive by Tyler Pipe on Wednesday, May 27, you may have noticed a very unnerving scene. No worries! Tyler Pipe’s EST Team Member, Troy Johnson, hosted a training day with the East Texas area local firefighters. Troy, one of the Engineering Specification Team (EST) members, invited the firefighters to come out to Tyler Pipe so they could be educated on the positives for installing cast iron pipe in our local and city buildings versus installing PVC.
There were a total of 15 firefighters from Lindale, Tyler, and Longview. The goal was to give them a voice whenever our local city officials are making decisions on the construction of our local schools and public facilities. By educating the firefighters on the positives for installing cast iron versus PVC, they will be able to make better choices.
The day included a demonstration from the Tyler Pipe Rope Rescue Team, a plant tour, and a catered lunch. All in all, the meeting was fantastic and very enlightening!
McWane Ductile Ohio Hosts OSHA SGE Classes
McWane Ductile Ohio recently hosted an OSHA Special Government Employee (SGE) training class. Individuals that are interested in becoming a SGE must be familiar with OSHA Regulations and VPP requirements and have experience in a leadership position. They must also have strong interpersonal skills. More importantly, management must support their decision to become an SGE. The three day course was conducted by Nancy Mugavero, OSHA Region V VPP Manager from Chicago, Illinois, and David Wilson, OSHA Assistant Area Director from Columbus, Ohio.
A total of seven students attending the training, two of which were McWane team members (Barb Wisniewski and Shawn McGarry).
McWane Ductile – Ohio now has three SGE’s!
McWane, Inc. 