The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) recently issued a new rule, effective September 2013, which updates OSHA’s 1971 workplace safety sign and tag formats with today’s best practice safety signage designs as defined by the latest American National Standards Institute (ANSI) Z535 standards. The OSHA signage change means that, over time, as employers adopt the newer ANSI Z535 best practice safety tag and sign formats, the United States will increasingly have a single, national uniform system of hazard recognition. Safety signs installed in facilities and public areas, temporary safety tags placed on equipment, and safety labels placed on products will all be designed using the same formatting principles. The outcome of such consistency is expected to be significantly more effective communication in the workplace. That, in turn, should help achieve the objective of fewer accidents and more lives saved from tragedy.

When it comes to LOTO procedures, how does your program compare? In early January 2017, we launched our Lockout/Tagout survey to see what (EHS) professionals had to say about their insights into the state of LOTO at their companies. The results were astonishing! We found the answers to some of the most important LOTO questions, such as: • The 6 top types of energy sources used within facilities. • What the most important LOTO device is in facilities today. • Top 5 titles most likely to primarily perform LOTO. • How LOTO training methods are ranked. • And more! Let’s turn the page and see what else our respondents had to say. Download the summary now!

Combustible dusts are a recognized hazard for industrial facilities everywhere, and performing a hazard analysis is the best way to evaluate your risk of an explosion. This white paper focuses on smaller factories and examines why performing a hazard analysis is the best way to evaluate your risk of an explosion from combustible dusts.

Marking pipes in industrial, commercial, and institutional facilities can help make a workplace safer and more efficient. When pipes are clearly labeled, fewer accidents involving injuries and damage to property occur. This pipe marking guide will explain the best practices for creating a visual pipe marking system to increase safety and efficiency in your workplace.

Federal safety regulations set forth by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and The American National Standards Institute (ANSI) make the importance of safety equipment in potentially dangerous working environments clear. The stringent guidelines for emergency showers and eyewashes, however, don’t extend to the inclusion of mandatory alarm and electronic monitoring systems on this equipment. Implementing best practices with the addition of both alarm and wireless monitoring systems is the best way for workplaces to exceed normal expectations by creating superior emergency response procedures. From initiating an emergency response as soon as safety equipment is engaged to maintaining detailed records of when stations are used, tested, and maintained, these wireless systems can create safer, more responsive working environments. Not only will this help ensure employee safety, it can make it easier for facilities to stay in compliance with OSHA and ANSI standards.

The Occupational Safety & Health Administration (OSHA), 29 CFR 1910.151, requires that “Where the eyes or body of any person may be exposed to injurious corrosive materials, suitable facilities for quick drenching or flushing of the eyes and body shall be provided within the work area for immediate emergency use.” Proper emergency equipment selection is a function of knowing your risks, the characteristics of the materials you work with, and logical consideration of the variety of products and design configurations available. Download this white paper to help determine whether a portable or plumbed emergency eyewash/shower product is appropriate for your facility.

The key to chemical and safety data sheet (SDS) compliance is not just having the right document, but also having the right chemical inventory. Knowing the what, when and where of chemical inventory across numerous facilities and thousands of chemicals can be daunting. The good news is that innovation in mobile technology is making that compliance challenge easier, resulting in more efficient and reliable OSHA HazCom compliance throughout multiple facilities. In this case study from SafeTec Compliance Systems, an HSI company, learn how Cayuga Health System worked with SafeTec to streamline its chemical inventory process, which resulted in a more accurate chemical inventory, cost-effective HazCom compliance and peace of mind.

HVAC concerns in an industrial facility like a warehouse or manufacturing plant can be complicated. Not only are these spaces usually larger than traditional commercial areas, but they often have equipment or products that need to maintain a specific temperature. MacroAir’s large industrial ceiling fans provide optimal airflow for industrial facilities and are an affordable alternative to HVAC systems. MacroAir’s big industrial fans deliver a cooling effect for occupants, help control the effects of humidity, and can also help conserve heat in colder months by pushing warm air that is trapped at the ceiling toward the walls and down to the floor at occupant level. MacroAir’s big ceiling fans provide an efficient airflow solution and a sustainable alternative to relying on HVAC alone to cool large spaces.

Large industrial facilities such as warehouses and manufacturing plants present a huge operational challenge because of their size. With extremely tall ceilings and a lot of square footage to cool or heat, keeping occupants comfortable is difficult. The solution: MacroAir big industrial ceiling fans. MacroAir large industrial fans create a more comfortable climate and reduce energy costs for large industrial facilities. MacroAir invented the large industrial ceiling fan in 1998 to deliver a cost-effective climate control solution by generating large amounts of airflow. MacroAir’s big industrial fans produce a cooling effect, help control the effects of humidity, and can also help conserve heat in colder months by pushing warm air that is trapped at the ceiling toward the walls and down to the floor at occupant level. MacroAir big industrial ceiling fans create an environment where employee’s feel comfortable, which results in increased productivity and improved industrial operations.

In the broadening data center cost-saving and energy efficiency discussion, data center physical infrastructure preventive maintenance (PM) is sometimes neglected as an important tool for controlling TCO and downtime. PM is performed specifically to prevent faults from occurring. IT and facilities managers can improve systems uptime through a better understanding of PM best practices.

Are you asking the right questions about your data center? • Would you like your IT infrastructure to be faster and more agile? • Would you like to improve your cost structure? • Do you plan to adopt a hybrid IT infrastructure and become a service provider for your business? To adapt to and compete in our ultra-connected, data-driven, and digital world, you need to effectively plan, build, integrate, and manage your facilities, platforms, and systems to efficiently align your infrastructure resources.

Video collaboration opens up opportunities for greater interaction and innovation, regardless of industry. Everyone benefits. For example, in healthcare, video is dramatically changing the way institutions interact with customers and professionals. In recent years, a number of hospitals across the United States have been subscribing to video and voice call centers that enable them to share language interpretation services, psychiatric care services and other developing capabilities. In the process, video collaboration is affecting business outcomes, changing business processes and helping healthcare facilities achieve scale, cost and efficiency not seen before.

The Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) is flooding today’s industrial sector with data. Information is streaming in from many sources — equipment on production lines, sensors at customer facilities, sales data, and much more. Harvesting insights means filtering out the noise to arrive at actionable intelligence. This report shows how to craft a strategy to gain a competitive edge. It explains how to evaluate IIoT solutions, including what to look for in end-to-end analytics solutions. Finally, it shows how SAS has combined its analytics expertise with Intel’s leadership in IIoT information architecture to create solutions that turn raw data into valuable insights.

Involved, informed patients are better able to manage their own care. Today’s technology plays a big role in helping patients to take ownership of their health and collaborate more closely with providers to achieve better outcomes. Here are 10 tips from Lenovo Health for putting technology to work to reach your patient engagement goals: • Mobile devices, tablets, and interactive technology improve the patient experience • Healthcare facilities can remotely monitor patient progress and health post-discharge • Providers can leverage patient portals and other tools to promote population health • Ensuring patient engagement success requires effective measurement • And more... Lenovo Health provides the solutions and expertise to help healthcare organizations engage patients and achieve the vision of customized care anywhere, from hospital to home. Are you meeting your patient engagement goals? Download this checklist now.

Our industry has made numerous technological advances designed to protect homeowners, businesses and electrical workers. That makes every fatal electrocution in the home all the more distressing. Between 2010 and 2013, the U.S. saw an estimated average of 48 electrocution fatalities associated with consumer products per year, with large and small electric appliances chief among them1. Tragedies like these can be avoided, especially when the ground fault circuit interrupter (GFCI) technologies needed to prevent dangerous events are readily available. As the principle NEMA representative at the National Electrical Code (NEC) Code-Making Panel Two, I saw public input asking for increased GFCI protection for the home during the 2017 code cycle. The code panel expanded the GFCI requirement for facilities other than dwelling units as part of section NEC 210.8(B). However, residential standards improvements were sidelined.

SingleHop was interested in adding capacity to its data centers while at the same time achieving a predictable cost structure using an outsourcing strategy for the development and management of these mission critical facilities. Find out why they turned to Digital Realty.

While there are significant potential benefits to migrating to a hyper-converged system, true cost and real life experience are critical decision factors. To accurately establish a case for going to one platform or another, you need a strong fact-based analytical methodology and approach. Download this Edison Group white paper to better understand the cost and measureable effort benefits of hyper-converged appliances. Dive into the details for the VCE VxRail Appliance from Dell EMC, including total cost of ownership, total cost of acquisition and relative work efforts to install, initialize and maintain as compared to building your own system.

There are obviously a variety of choices open to you: a spreadsheet plug-in may be appropriate if you are only focused on general ledger reporting and do not have concerns over security or compliance. You might also suppose that this is a low-cost option, though we would argue that the remediation required, the additional audit fees and the lack of repeatability means that this is a false economy and that this approach will end up costing you more in the long term. A second use case would be where you already have a financial reporting solution installed, when the add-on facilities for purposes such as business intelligence are likely to be your major focus. In this case an Oracle based solution is likely to be as good as anything else.

This white paper will show how factors other than initial purchase price work together to generate a TCO for medium voltage VFDs. Although this paper is specific to medium voltage VFDs, many of the concepts covered are applicable to other long-lived assets that fulfill critical roles in industrial manufacturing facilities.

While both IT and facilities organizations have invested heavily in technology resources (people, processes and tools) to manage the data center infrastructure, they have failed to achieve the promise and potential due to critical gaps between their data center facilities and IT infrastructure components. A new perspective on managing the critical infrastructure gaps is emerging. Read on for more.

In a changing business climate, you're only productive as the technology that supports you. In fact, having the right services can mean the difference between one more happy sale or one less customer. Don’t settle for "one less" - get the right solution for your business with RCN Business Services. RCN Business Services offers a full suite of communications products and services to businesses of all sizes, including Internet, voice, video and network solutions. We are a facilities-based provider that offers extensive fiber density with redundancy and superior performance. Spanning over 6,000 miles, the advanced fiber-rich network is completely diverse from other communications providers, enabling businesses to experience exceptional customer service, quicker installation and issue resolution. RCN Business operates on three fundamental tenets: Partnership, Choice and Technology. These fundamental tenets guide how RCN Business approaches the sales process, addresses its customers, and supports its products and services. Partnership: The process starts with a dedicated RCN Business account representative actively listening and learning the needs, goals and challenges of a business. The trained and experienced RCN Business staff then delivers a customized solution. Choice: RCN Business understands that one size does not fit all. The goal is to create a reliable, customized technology solution that contributes to a business’s success and growth. Technology: Technology and customer support are critical to any business. With RCN Business owning and having full control of its network, businesses get local U.S. based operations, faster response times and a continuous monitoring for superior uptime.

Rising costs, declining reimbursements and the mandate to improve quality: these are key challenges that surgery centers face every day. For years, costs have continued to climb, while reimbursements have declined or, at best, remained stable. To address these issues and succeed in the future, surgery centers need to develop comprehensive plans that leverage both supply chain and clinical expertise. For many facilities, the next step is to conduct a clinical assessment that identifies new ways to improve inventory management and clinical practices. The heart of this approach from Cardinal Health is a clinical team that leverages OR and supply chain expertise to understand, prioritize and pursue opportunities for improving the health of patient and your practice alike. To learn more, read this case study and find out how two surgery centers have used a clinical assessment from Cardinal Health to improve performance.

Previous best practices for cleaning healthcare facilities centered on sanitizing frequently touched objects, such as bed rails or call buttons, because these objects were believed to be major sources of contagion. However, this new study finds that floors are the largest potential source of pathogens after reviewing five participating Cleveland-area hospitals. Specifically, the following findings are highlighted in the study: • Patient room floors in five hospitals were found to be contaminated with healthcare-associated pathogens. • High-touch objects often came to be in direct contact with the floor. • Touching objects on the floor frequently resulted in transfer of pathogens to hands. • Floors in hospital rooms are overlooked as a source for pathogen dissemination, with potentially dangerous results.

The explosion in IT demand has intensified pressure on data center resources, making it difficult to respond to business needs, especially while budgets remain flat. As capacity demands become increasingly unpredictable, calculating the future needs of the data center becomes ever more difficult. The challenge is to build a data center that will be functional, highly efficient and cost-effective to operate over its 10-to-20-year lifespan. Facilities that succeed are focusing on optimization, flexibility and planning—infusing agility through a modular data center design.

Sometimes all you need to save time and money is a fresh set of eyes on your facility management processes and products.