2017 RETA Breeze Nov-Dec

RETA REFRIGERATING ENGINEERS & TECHNICIANS ASSOCIATION NOVEMBER/ DECEMBER, 2017

BREEZE

Congratulations to the 2017 Conference Pit Master Challenge Winners

Safety Information Education Programs Industry Updates

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breeze

The RETA Breeze is the official publication of the Refrigerating

Engineers & Technicians Association (RETA). RETA is an international not- for-profit association whose mission is to enhance the professional development of industrial refrigeration operating and technical engineers. Don Chason Executive Editor 704-455-3551 Jim Barron Executive Director

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jim@reta.com Sara Louber Senior Director, Office Operations

INSIDE this issue Message from the President..............4 From the Executive Director............6 One of a Kind.....................................8 The high school program teaching the next generation of refrigeration technicians Corporate Anniversary Awards.....10 Congratulations for your years of membership

sara@reta.com Dan Reisinger Certification Manager dan@reta.com Mary Hendrickx

What Goes Around Comes Around.................................14 When what’s old becomes new again Epic Fail.............................................16 Where did my ammonia go? Dusty Books......................................18 Tips for implementing your RMP/PSM Program RETA’s Testing & ANSI Guru.........20 Earn your credentials Certification Honor Roll.................21 The Shade Tree Mechanic...............22 Zap!

Conference Manager mhendrickx@reta.com Dan Denton Chapter Relations Manager ddenton@reta.com Jim Price Education Manager jprice@reta.com

Conference Corner..........................12 Thank you for making the 2017 National Conference a Success

The information in this publication is based on the collective experience of industry engineers and technicians. Although the information is intended to be comprehensive and thorough, it is subject to change. The Refrigerating Engineers & Technicians Association expressly disclaims any warranty of fitness for a particular application, as well as all claims for compensatory, consequential or other damages arising out of or related to the uses of this publication. Publication of advertisements in Breeze , or any other RETA publication, does not constitute endorsement of any products, services or advertisers by RETA and shall not be considered or represented by advertiser as such. Copyright © 2017 Refrigerating Engineers & Technicians Association.

Refrigerating Engineers & Technicians Association 1035 2nd Avenue SE, Albany, OR 97321 Telephone: 541.497.2955 | Fax: 541.497.2966 RETA.com

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2017-18 Board of directors chairman Todd Metsker Parker Hannifin Corp. R/S Division president Eric Girven, CARO, CIRO, RAI Devault Refrigeration Executive Vice President Arlie Farley, CARO, CIRO Farley’s S.R.P., Inc. Treasurer Vern Sanderson, CIRO, RAI Wagner-Meinert, LLC Second vice president Eric Teale, CARO Cargill Directors Troy Baker Independent Contractor Bengie Branham Catawba Mechanical Services David Gulcynski, CIRO Dot Foods Inc. Keith Harper, CARO Tyson Foods Michael Hawkins Midatlantic Refrigeration, LLC Matt Hayes, CARO Wagner-Meinert, LLC Jacqueline Kirkman, CIRO Cargill Meat Solutions Frank Kologinczak III ARMSCO Bill Lape, CARO, CIRO Dean Foods Pete Lepschat, CIRO, CRES Henningsen Cold Storage, Co. Pete Roggow, CIRO, CRES Nordic Richard Veloz, Jr., CARO, CIRO C&L Refrigeration committee chairs Gene Dumas, CARO, CIRO, RAI Nominations

From the desK of the PRESIDENT

It is hard to believe that we are close to ringing in a New Year. It seems that the year 2017 has been but a blink of an eye. I truly hope that you, your family and friends have had a wonderful Thanksgiving and are looking forward to the upcoming holiday season. This time of year brings families closer together; this includes the RETA Family as well. Chapter meetings take on a special tone this time of year with some having a dinner or other festive get together. Regardless of your Chapter affiliation just know that your RETA Family wishes you all the best this Holiday Season. Please be safe in your travels and here is to the New Year, 2018 is going to be great! Best regards, ~ Eric Girven, CARO, CIRO, RAI President, National Board of Directors Happy Holidays

RETA President Eric Girven

SCS Tracer Environmental Kent Harmon, Education Industrial Consultants Jodie Rukamp, Marketing SCS Tracer Environmental Bret Swanson, Membership Cool Air Mechanical, Inc. Jacqueline Kirkman, CARO National Conference Cargill Meat Solutions Matt Hayes, CARO, Publications Wagner-Meinert, LLC Jim Barron, Executive Director

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From the EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

I am writing this column after another successful RETA National Conference. Our intention was to connect and educate great minds from across all levels in the refrigeration industry. This commitment was born from the thoughts and recommendations of the Conference Manager, Assistant Conference Manager, and the Conference Committee. Their message was to create a Conference for all of those in the profession – a Conference that would be more than an event – an experience intended to carry beyond 2017. We were inspired by the energy, dedication, and innovation we saw at the Conference. We collaborated, networked, and grew as an Association. The collective drive we witnessed holds us steadfast in our mission to enhance the professional development of industrial refrigeration operating and technical engineers. Over 1,000 participants took advantage of the offerings over four days. Corey Rosenbusch, President and CEO of Global Cold Chain Alliance (GCCA), energized the crowd with his opening keynote address. We’re eager to build off of the foundation that was laid at this year’s Conference and keep the momentum going. That’s why we’ve already begun planning for the 2018 National Conference to be held in Dallas, Texas, November 6-9. Next year’s Conference will once again bring together those in the industry for an experience that reflects what the future looks like: collaborative, innovative, educational, and constantly moving forward. It will be a Conference unlike any other – and we look forward to seeing you there. Updates and registration information will be posted on the RETA Events website: www.reta-events.com. As we wrap up Conference, the holidays are upon us once again and we all have so much to be thankful for. We have

our family, we have our jobs, we have food to eat and hopefully we have our health. Our family is what drives us to be the best that we can be, to be loved, to be cared about, and to comfort, console and cherish each other. We so often take this for granted and forget to tell

RETA Executive Director Jim Barron

each other how we feel. So, I ask each one of you to reach out to your family and tell them that they are loved, and that you care, and that you are thankful they are your family. We also have our RETA Family that I am personally so thankful for. I want to thank all of my RETA family for being RETA and for sharing in our RETA experiences such as Conference, education, and certification. I want to thank our Board of Directors for stepping up and taking on the responsibility in running this great Association. I would also like to thank our RETA staff for helping to make it all possible. Our jobs are so important to us. Our jobs allow us the luxuries of being able to purchase our homes, cars, and provide for our families. I am so thankful for our refrigeration industry that provides so many jobs to so many of us. Processors, educators, contractors, operators, technicians, managers, restaurants, chefs, engineers and manufacturers and so on. I was thankful for the opportunity to sit down at Thanksgiving dinner with my family knowing that our refrigeration industry has put safe food on everyone’s table. We are so blessed. So, after all that I wish y’all a very Merry Christmas. God Bless, ~ Jim Barron

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education

One

Kind of a

by Jim Price, Education Manager

In early August, I visited the new building with Marcos. A small screw compressor package had already arrived, and the desks and chairs were on the way. Marcos began teaching at the end of August. The school suggested that there might be one or two students interested in the program, at least for the first offering. The class settled in with 12 students. Mr. Donald May is the Teacher of Record for the Refrigeration Technology Program at the Career and Technical Education Center for Azle High School. Mr. May assists with classroom management, coordination with the school administration, scheduling, grades, posting information to the Online Campus, and other important program support tasks. I joined Marcos to help out with teaching following the Hershey Conference. Although the class time is only one hour, the students are very eager to learn and some stay after class to ask questions.

They are picking up the concepts quickly, are attentive, and responsive. As the program grows, white boards and projectors will be added. Right now, Marcos uses the walls as one big white board. Fortunately, the walls are FRP and with a little effort can be cleaned off. All the students have iPads, so it is easy to load diagrams, documents, and pictures to the school’s Online Campus for their viewing as homework and classroom reference. Also, they can visit manufacturer websites, YouTube, and other suggested sites to supplement the classroom instruction. The inventory of training aids is growing. Any surplus valves, control valves, small equipment that you might wish to donate would be helpful. Keep in mind the classroom has limited space, so “small” is the operative word. They will have an opportunity to see some of the big iron during tours to local facilities. The objective of the class is to have high school graduates with a basic

There is a new one-of-a-kind, and I think first of its kind, a program at the Azle High School in Azle, Texas. Azle is a small community northwest of Fort Worth and home to MR Braz and Associates. About a year ago, Mr. Marcos Braz called me and wanted to talk about a dream he had of putting a vocational class in the local high school to teach industrial refrigeration. We met and talked about it briefly and life went on. Over the next year when I had the opportunity to talk with Marcos, he always mentioned that he was working on the class and that I needed to be prepared to help with the teaching. Then in June of 2017, I ran into Marcos at an event we were both attended. He was excited, the school system was building him a new classroom and would be assigning a full-time teacher to work with him on the program.

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knowledge of industrial refrigeration. Upon graduation, the students should be ready to move on to the next step in their career path. Some may choose to pursue additional education to be engineers or service technicians. Others may opt to accept positions as entry level plant operators. And still others may join contractors to learn the trades of installation, project management, or to be beginner service technicians. Over the next two months we will be working through Industrial Refrigeration I with the objective of having those students who are interested take the CARO Test for certification. The students who are successful will certainly demonstrate that they have the knowledge to enter our industry and begin to prepare for a career. We keep saying there is a lack of qualified operators. Here is a program that will produce some new candidates with a beginner’s box of tools, metaphorically speaking. They will be new, eager, and without a lot of bad habits. So, all you plant managers, contractors, manufacturers, and designers get ready for some bright new prospects looking for those jobs you need to fill.

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Congratulations to the following companies

Corporate Anniversary Awards

Performance Food Group Customized Distribution Ready Pac Produce Tampa Maid Foods Inc 10 YEARS Applied Process Cooling Corp California Controlled Atmosphere Catawba Mechanical Services Inc Cargill Meat Solutions - Butler, WI Cargill Meat Solutions - Friona, TX Citrosuco North America Inc ConAgra Foods Lamb Weston - Twin Falls, ID Danfoss Industrial Refrigeration Dole Packaged Foods LLC Falcon Trading Fresno City College Golden State Vintners Harris Teeter/Hunter Farms Hermiston Foods LLC Hilmar Cheese Co - Dalhart TX Integrated Circuit Systems Inc J. R. Simplot Company - Grand Forks, ND Mechanic Refrigeration Co., Inc. Nestle Dreyer’s Ice Cream Co. Saputo Cheese USA Inc. - Newman, CA

60 YEARS Hill Brothers Chemical Co Howe Corporation GEA North America Vilter Manufacturing, LLC

5 YEARS Air Liquide Industrial U.S. LP Atlas Logistics Bitzer U.S., Inc. Cargill Meat Solutions - Monticello, MN CERTIS USA Cheney Brothers Coca-Cola Refreshments - Auburndale FL Commercial Warehousing Inc Cooper & Hawkins Inc Denver Cold Storage, Inc. E. & J. Gallo Winery - Fresno Freije-RSC Engineered Solutions Company ISEL, Inc. Koch Foods, Inc - Chicago IL Land O’Lakes, Inc. Nestle Pizza Division Nestle USA - Anderson IN Northwest Energy Efficiency Alliance (NEEA) PermaCold Engineering, Inc PermaTherm Inc. Ralphs Grocery Co. Refrigeration Engineering & Contracting Co., Inc. Scully Packing Company, LLC

40 YEARS United States Cold Storage

30 YEARS Industrial Consultants Schneider Electric 25 YEARS H. A. Phillips & Co. Sun Pacific Cold Storage Wagner-Meinert, LLC

20 YEARS AdvancePierre Foods Cannon Cold Storage Colmac Coil Manufacturing, Inc. Dot Foods, Inc Jones Dairy Farm US Engineering Co. 15 YEARS Columbia River Processing Constellation Brands Inc Industrial Refrigeration and Boiler Co Ingles Market Mericle Mechanical Inc.

Synergy Refrigeration, Inc. Tillamook County Creamery Association Tyson Foods, Inc. - Kettle Plant WhiteWave Foods

Sutter Home Winery Sysco Arizona, Inc. Temperature Unlimited Inc. True Leaf Farms

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Simple design, More compression, Simple design, Simple d sign, less ener y

less energy l s energy less energy

The Original Fuller ® Low Stage Ammonia Boosters... designed and built by FLSmidth A Ful-Vane compressor boosting to a reciprocating compressor is one of the most efficient designs for low-temperature systems. • New and replacement boosters • Factory authorized service and rebuilds • OEM parts, including B3000 ™ blades, bearings and seals • Designed for long service life Contact Robert Youells: Ph: (610) 264-6515 • Fax: (610) 264-6307 www.conveyorspneumatic.com/gas-compressors The Original Fuller ® Low Stage Ammonia Boosters... designed and built by FLSmidth • New and repl cement boosters • Factory authorized service and rebuilds • OEM parts, including B3000 ™ blades, bearings and seals Contact Robert Youells: Ph: (610) 264-6515 • Fax: (610) 264-6307 www.conveyorspneumatic.com/gas-compressors The Origi al F ller ® Low Stage Ammonia Boosters... designed and built by FLSmidth A Ful-Van compressor boosting to a reciprocating compressor is one of the most efficient designs for low temperature systems. • New and replacement boosters • Factory authorized service and rebuilds • OEM parts, including B3000 ™ blades, bearings and seals • Designed for long service life Contact Robert Youells: Ph: (610) 264-6515 • Fax: (610) 264-6307 www.conveyorspneumatic.com/gas-compressors The Origin l Fuller ® Low Stage Ammonia Boosters... designed and built by FLSmidth A Ful-Vane compressor boosting to a reciprocating compressor is one of the most fficient designs for low-temperature systems. • New and replacement boosters • Factory authorized service and rebuilds • OEM parts, including B3000 ™ blades, bearings and seals • Designed for long service life Contact Robert Youells: Ph: (610) 264-6515 • Fax: (610) 264-6307 ww.convey neumatic.com/gas-compressors

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conference CORNER

Thank you for attending the 2017 RETA National Conference

by Mary Hendrickx, Conference Manager

A RETA National Conference is a unique opportunity that brings together Engineers, Operators, Technicians, Educators, OSHA & EPA Representatives, and advocates within and for the Industrial Refrigeration Industry. Attendees from across the US engage in dialogue, share best practices, and advance their knowledge and careers in the areas of safety and compliance. Attending a RETA Conference provides an opportunity to not only observe many examples of practices and procedures that currently exist in the industrial refrigeration industry, but it also provides a chance for RETA members, potential members, vendors, sponsors and RETA leadership to interact with each other and engage in broad cross-section topics. When over 1,000 industry leaders and influencers connected in Hershey, PA powerful things happened. The week started out with the annual RETA Golf Outing which took place at the picturesque Hershey Country Club. Belly’s were full, and whistles were wet thanks to our generous sponsors Airfoil Impellers and Calibration Technologies! We welcomed our first of many Spanish Sessions which included an Operator Challenge, and the hands-on workshops

were a great learning experience for all. The Technical Program consisted of a wide variety of presentations relevant to the industrial refrigeration industry as well as an MOC Workshop that was so well received, it will be placed into rotation in years to come. The Exhibition Hall was busting at the seams all week and the new hours were a big hit. A great time was had by all attendees even with the challenges of squeezing into limited space. We introduced “Fun Fun Friday” with a brand new loud and entertaining RETA Jeopardy game which led right up to our Pitmaster Challenge, which was a total blast! For those of you that missed it, be sure to make a point to attend next year when we are in the BBQ capital of the world, Texas!

There were so many elements to this fantastic Conference, which has become the place to be every year. As always, we welcomed an abundance of first timers with open arms including students fromThaddeus Stevens College of Technology. Thanks to the hard work and dedication of our entire team, it was another year for first and notable milestones. We here at RETA Conferences & Events, would like to sincerely thank everyone who helped put this one-of-a-kind show together! The volunteers not only worked so hard sacrificing sleep and their feet, but also welcomed newcomers who just wanted to see what RETA is all about. RETA Volunteers are loyal and have an energy that is unmatched. You guys gained some fans!

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Thank you sponsors RETA National Conference 2017

There were so many elements to this fantastic Conference, which has become the place to be every year. as if they did not have actual jobs outside of planning the Conference. It is their seasoned expertise and industry knowledge that made this program a success and delivered to attendees unmatched opportunities for learning. RETA HQ Staff not only worked 15-18 hour days but still managed to smile every morning! You guys are amazing! I want to also thank our sponsors as well as the many vendors who participated in our Exhibition Hall. Without you I would not even be sitting here writing this letter. You are the heartbeat that keeps the blood pumping and we could not survive without your continued patience and generosity! Finally, a huge thank you to all the attendees! Without you we would not be able to love what we do. Just like a family, your successes are our successes. For anyone who has never been to a RETA Conference, I highly recommend it. Next year we are in Dallas and we would love for you to experience how a RETA National Conference is like no other! The 2017 Conference Committee dedicated their time, ideas and energy

Double Diamond

Diamond

Double Platinum

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What goes around, comes around...

by Jim Price, RETA Education Manager

Almost everywhere we look these days we see something that is a retro. In sports, teams wear retro uniforms. Gardening stores offer heirloom plants. New car designs reflect classic styles. Architecture and interior designs have retro touches. We see it in fashion, movie remakes, and food. The classic style or technology is blended with the technology of the 21st century, and sometimes the results are stunning.

It is only natural we see that same trend in the refrigeration industry. Some of the “new” technologies are ones that were getting to be old timey when I started my career. A couple that come to mind are ice builders — thermal storage — refined direct expansion — to reduce refrigerant inventory — and Carbon Dioxide (CO2) — a natural refrigerant. Ammonia has been the refrigerant of choice for large industrial applications for the almost 50 years I have been in the business. And it goes further back than that into the mid to late 1800s. We all know ammonia is a great refrigerant, and I suspect it will continue to be on the design board for new refrigerated facilities, and in plants for many years to come. Carbon dioxide (CO2) is an heirloom refrigerant. Its history goes back with ammonia to the early days of mechanical refrigeration. In some respects, CO2 is a good refrigerant. I say good because like any other refrigerant it has pros and cons — there is, as of yet, no perfect refrigerant for every application. The use of CO2

peaked in the 1930s then declined to almost non- existent through the next several decades. What caused this decline? The rise of the chlorofluorocarbons (CFC), the hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFC) and so on, the so-called F refrigerants — Freons or synthetic refrigerants. They were cheap, easy to work with, “non-toxic”, not a fire hazard, and the newest thing, so they had to be the best. In a lot of applications, they were great. I still mourn the demise of some of the good old Freons. The problem was the industry was sloppy and not responsible. If we needed to work on a component, we did a quick pump down, and if there was still some pressure, we opened it up and vented it to the atmosphere. Other industries found uses for the CFCs as propellants and solvents. They were great for those applications as well, but again, large quantities were being released to the atmosphere. They were “safer” to use in applications where occupant exposure was a possibility, or in confined spaces. Sometimes the fact that these “safe” refrigerants displaced air

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or decomposed into some pretty nasty stuff was forgotten. When that happens, they are no longer all that safe. I don’t know about you, but I have some concern about breathing something that will eat up a stainless- steel furnace heat exchanger. Anyway, as we became smarter about what these refrigerants were doing to our environment, we have started to go back to the NATURAL refrigerants. The U.S.A., per usual, is lagging behind Europe in this evolution. That is not all bad. For a change someone else is developing the technology and working out a lot of the kinks before it gets to us. We take it and make it better. There are a few industrial size CO2 facilities in the U.S.A., I guess you could say it is a re-emerging technology. In a lot of ways, it is exciting and interesting. It is a continuing learning experience. I made the comment recently about the development of the RETA CO2 book, that as soon as I write one page, something new comes into view and I have to write another page. It will be sometime before CO2 refrigeration technology matures. What is now new in the commercial market today will find its way into industrial applications. Almost all refrigeration books talk about cascade systems. The cascade system is sort of the basic system used in CO2 applications. However, these types of systems are expanding. The cascade system is still used, but now there are sub-critical, volatile brine, transcritical, transcritical booster, transcritical parallel compression, transcritical ejector enhanced, hybrid systems, cascade with ammonia, cascade with HFC refrigerants, air cooled condensers and gas coolers, adiabatic condensers and gas coolers.

I made the comment recently about the

A lot of the mentioned systems are used in commercial applications right now, but I can see that as development continues, they will find their way into industrial applications. Likewise, as the technology progresses, the application line for transcritical systems will march southward. The refrigeration industry in the U.S.A., both commercial and industrial, are behind the curve on this re-emerging and developing technology. We are going to have to work a little over time to catch up, both from the study material and training prospective. But you know those who are prepared will benefit in the future. development of the RETA CO2 book, that as soon as I write one page, something new comes into view and I have to write another page. It will be sometime before CO2 refrigeration technology matures.

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Epic Fail

POSITIONS AVAILABLE

U.S. GROWERS COLD STORAGE, INC is hiring for positions in Vernon, CA: ** Refrigeration Technicians **Assistant Chief Engineer **Chief Engineer** RETA Certification a plus. 3-5 yrs experience preferred. Supports (and rewards) continued education. Great Benefits: Pension, Medical, Dental, Vision, 401K

Contact Joe Lizarraga at usgrowers1@gmail.com or call 323-583-3163.

Where did all my ammonia go?

THANKS GIVING As we approach the Holiday Season, be sure to take time to reflect and be THANKFUL…! Be thankful for your Family & Friends… Where would you be without them? Be thankful for GOOD HEALTH; Live each day to the fullest and do not take it for granted! Be thankful for your Associates, who work with you and beside you each day. Be thankful for the opportunities placed in front of us each day! Be thankful for each new day and make each day an opportunity to learn. Wishing everyone in the RETA family a wonderful & joyous holiday season!

by Arlie Farley, CARO, CIRO Farley’s Frigeration Besides the obvious leak, it is also obvious that this plant had no maintenance plan. I was at the plant for two days and mentioned the leak several times, “we’ll get to it directly,” was the reply. As I left the plant late in the afternoon of the second day “directly” had not yet happened. In talking with the operator on my next visit—and the picture was still the same — he mentioned that they purchased about 110% of the system charge each year. Curious, I wonder where all that ammonia has gone? If you have photos of an epic fail, please pass them on to nh3fail@gmail.com. The names have been changed to protect the guilty!

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Risk Management & Air Compliance

Ammonia Detection SystemCalibration OSHA Process SafetyManagement Operator I, II &PSM/RMP Training EPA RiskManagement Programs Mechanical Integrity Inspections

SCS Tracer Environmental Division

Compliance&Safety Audits StormWater &Spill Plans Compliance Tracking

Air Permitting SCSeTools®

Nov Dec 2017 Breeze - Indus Consultants final.pdf 1 8/25/2017 8:06:20 AM

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safety

Dusty Books: Implementing Your RMP/PSM Program

by Daniel Cuevas, SCS Engineers By now, most ammonia refrigeration facilities have developed accidental release prevention programs for compliance with EPA’s Risk Management Program and OSHA’s Process Safety Management rules. However, many facilities struggle with the next step: turning the written policies in the programs into day-to-day tasks and activities. Once a program is developed, the goal is to create a system that enables your facility to break down each of the program elements into manageable tasks that you can document. “The owner or operator of a stationary source with processes subject to Program 2 or Program 3 shall develop a management system to oversee the implementation of the risk management program elements.” [45 CFR §68.15(a)]

themselves, but a structured system is needed to ensure each program is included in day-to-day activities. That all sounds great, but how do we go about doing that? Create a psm/rmp team and hold periodic meetings. A good place to start is to select members for a PSM/RMP team for the facility. Consider including personnel from several departments (maintenance supervisor, environmental compliance, safety coordinator, plant manager, etc.). Meetings of the PSM/RMP team should be scheduled to discuss operations at the facility. A well-rounded PSM/RMP team that meets regularly is able to plan for expected changes to the system (management of change), schedule mock evacuation drills (emergency action/ response plan), review refresher training schedules (training), and more. Inviting other employees to participate in the PSM/RMP team meetings also provides them an opportunity to communicate concerns or questions with management per the Employee Participation Program [40 CFR §68.83(b)].

While facilities are required to designate one person who is ultimately responsible for overall implementation of the programs [45 CFR §68.15(b)], this becomes much more manageable with a team that can split up the responsibility for each program element. Create a visual organizational chart and assign programs to the right people. “When responsibility for implementing individual requirements of this part is assigned to persons other than the person identified under paragraph (b) of this section, the names or positions of these people shall be documented and the lines of authority defined through an organization chart or similar document.” [45 CFR §68.15(c)] Facilities are also required to develop and include an organization chart that delineates which parties are responsible for implementing each section of the programs. This chart should indicate the RMP responsible person, along with boxes detailing key personnel, and the program elements they are responsible for implementing.

This section is vital, and easily overlooked by even the most

experienced RMP/PSM guru. Often a significant amount of effort is put into developing the program elements

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be done. This can seem intimidating at first, but can be easily achieved with a brief review of each program and some organization: • Consider creating a table, with each program listed; • for each program, list all major tasks associated with it; • reference your program; and • indicate when each of these tasks is required to be completed. The end result is a table listing all of the programs that detail what needs to be done for each program and when. This is a great tool to reference during PSM/RMP meetings, as it gives us real world action items that can be tracked and completed. You can also take it a step farther, and create a compliance calendar. If we know the frequency of major tasks (three year compliance audits, annual operating procedure certification, semi-annual maintenance, etc.) we can assign each one to a date on a calendar. A dedicated calendar complete with due dates for reports or submittals can help avoid missing a major deadline by mistake, which would otherwise create holes in your recordkeeping. Make sure to track and document all completed PSM/RMP related tasks. Last, it is crucial to document the completion of all completed PSM/RMP tasks. A good general philosophy to adopt is if you do not have a signed and dated record of a task being completed, it never was.

recommendations generated from a Process Hazard Analysis and maintain records for the life of the process [29 CFR §1910.119(e)(7)]. • All incident investigation reports should be retained for five years [29 CFR §1910.119(m)(7)]. • Facilities are also required to document that all deficiencies from a compliance audit have been corrected [29 CFR §1910.119(o)(4)] and must retain copies of the two most recent audit reports [29 CFR §1910.119(o)(5)]. facilities must prepare a record which contains the identity of the employee, the date of training, and the means used to verify that the employee understood the training [40 CFR §68.71(c)]. The general take-away is that for each task completed at the facility, there should be an associated documented record of that task stored somewhere on-site. As records can start to pile up quickly and can easily become lost or scattered, consider storing PSM/RMP records for the facility in one place for easy access. A good indicator of healthy PSM/RMP programs is a bread crumb trail of completed records that date back for years. Remember, PSM is a 13 (14 if you include Trade Secrets) element program. Add in the extra components of the RMP and you have a lot to deal with. Many sayings come to mind…you need to eat the elephant one bite at a time…Rome wasn’t built in a day…it takes a village. Use the requirements set forth in the RMP regarding a management system to build your PSM/RMP team. • For all training conducted for employees operating the process,

A good general philosophy to adopt is if you do not have a signed and dated record of a task being completed, it never was.

For example, the maintenance supervisor or lead refrigeration

technician would likely be listed as responsible for reviewing operating procedures, completing maintenance records, and training new technicians. A safety coordinator may be in charge of updating the Emergency Action/ Response Plan, managing contractor safety documents, and performing ammonia awareness training. However you decide to assign the programs, this chart should be facility specific and up to date with current names and titles. A giveaway that the programs are gathering dust is a chart showing programs assigned to a title that no longer exists, or an individual who has long since left the company. Remember: these programs are intended to be living documents that change over time. If key players of the PSM/ RMP team retire, change roles, or leave the facility, ensure that this chart detailing responsibilities is updated in a timely manner.

Determine the frequency of required tasks for each program and organize .

Once the programs have been assigned to specific individuals, the next step is to determine what the major tasks are for each program and when they need to

• Facilities are required to track and document the completed

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RETA Testing Corner No. 4 RETA’s Testing and ANSI Guru

Dr. Ron Rodgers, RETA’s Psychometrician (testing expert) and ANSI Accreditation Manager, has guided development of RETA

a RETA credential. The following issues commonly arise in responding to these requests. Consider every answer carefully before choosing the BEST one. Each question is designed to show whether candidates understand key concepts. Each question includes plausible incorrect answers that reflect common errors. Evaluate all relevant information in each question to show that you understand details that may protect the safety of operators and other employees in your refrigeration facility. Many candidates would benefit from more careful review of refrigeration fundamentals before their exams. Poor performance in fundamentals is common among candidates with failing scores. Plausible incorrect answers often reflect confusion in refrigeration fundamentals. Careful review of these content areas can help many candidates avoid common errors in applying these concepts. There is no bonus for finishing early, but you can reduce your score to FAIL by moving too fast. Pass rates are much higher for candidates who use at least two of the three hours RETA allows for each exam. Passing candidates take time to consider all relevant details carefully before answering each question. Advanced-level RETA exams require candidates to interpret operating data for different types of refrigeration systems. Study guides and practice

tests for the credentials beyond CARO show how to prepare for questions that evaluate system operations. These questions require candidates to recognize and use relevant data to identify and correct common problems that can occur in refrigeration systems. RETA score reports tell candidates how to improve their performance . A total score of 70 percent is required to pass each RETA certification exam. Scores below 70 indicate opportunities to improve in weak content areas. A total score of 70 or higher may include some content area scores below 70, but passing candidates typically score 70 or more in a clear majority of the topics on each test. We welcome your questions about RETA’s credentialing exams and activities Send your questions by email to Dan Reisinger at dan@reta.com. fundamentals before their exams. Poor performance in Fundamentals is common among candidates with failing scores. Many candidates would benefit from more careful review of refrigeration

credentialing exams since 2002. RETA Testing Corner provides information and answers questions from RETA members, candidates and others to help them earn and benefit from RETA credentials. RETA’s commitment to the fairness and integrity of its examinations is reflected in the many efforts it makes to inform candidates how to prepare to earn a RETA credential. CARO and CIRO Practice Tests let candidates see the types of questions on each test and become familiar with on- screen references they must use during each test. Study Guides describe exam content, show how to navigate on-screen references during each test, and provide copies of these references. Candidates can download Study Guides for every RETA exam free from the RETA website at any time. Score reports tell candidates how they performed on the total exam and in each content area, which identifies topics in which they can improve their performance. Many candidates ask for help to prepare for future attempts to earn

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Honor Roll CERTIFICATION

Congratulations to our newly RETA Certified Operators, who passed the exam(s) between September 1 and October 31, 2017. For information about the examination process and preparation to take the RETA exam, please visit RETA.com.

CIRO - Certified Industrial Refrigeration Operator Shaun Allen

RAI - RETA Authorized Instructor Jordan K. Reece CARO - Certified Assistant Refrigeration Operator Jonathan Alewine Frank Allen Oscar Alvarez Jody S. Anderson Tracey Bailey

Benjamin M. Lovelace Agustus T. Maddox Jim Moore

Andrew McLoud John H. McNemar Martin Moen Timothy J. Noel Armando Ortega Sanchez Jeff Parker Hector Perez Cyle J. Pittman Yesenia Rivera Rector Jose Ruiz Jesus A. Salazar

Guadalupe Alvarez Gerald Anderson James Andrie Jacob E. Asher John R. Beaver Randy Benson Randall Bowles Bradly Braaten Jayme P. Castillo Eric Dieffenderfer Richard Ellington Paul Forsman Rodney Gage Dean R. Gantz Saul Gonzalez Stephen M. Hanson Sean Harvey Miguel Hernandez Cole T. Holton David M. Howard Brett Humphrey Nedzad Imamovic Nathan Iris Dan Jagoda Jacob T. Keeling Kenneth Kingstrom Jacob Lamb Larry Leeman Ronald Lehman Justin Little Shayne Loiotile

Thaddeus Morris Edward P. Moses Carlos E. Motta Alfonso Murillo

Mark E. Nelson Everett Osborn Michael Paxman Matthew E. Pelto Jay Pendergrass Robby Penman Cary A. Ralls Jose Rivera Sergio Rivera Christopher J. Rohleder Joseph D. Schoenfeld Johnny L. Smallwood David L. Smith Zachary W. Smith Steven R. Smith Keith Snyder

James M. Beeler Jeremy Brekken Benjamin P. Caluya Jeff Carter Daniel Chandler Brian A. Cole James W. Cornelius

John C. Short Daniel Sieloff Jeffrey A. Smith Steven Sowa Adam M. Stancil Adrian Tovar Jonathan C. Turner Robert R. Turner Maygan R. Ward Thomas J. Wenger Eric Wilson Byrne Wilson John M. Wolfe Adam Wootton CRES - Certified Refrigeration Energy Specialist Mike L. Bailey Bryce D. Bartelme Chris Hutchison Kyle Herzog

Jason Cypert Francis Elliott Casey J. Gerber Scott Goad

David M. Grow Brenden K. Hart Eldon Haynes Brian T. Hedding Andrew M. Hernandez William J. Jesse Marjorie Johnson Tracy Jones

Ricardo M. Soliz Ryan Sutherland Lyndsey M. Tollis Donald W. Trimble H. Richard Tuttle Michael Uptain Shawn Vansyckle Christopher Wells Michael Woelfel William Wofford Artur Zhogan

Walter Koehler Anthony May Michael McEniry Randy McGrew

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service

The Shade Tree Mechanic, Volume XXIX Zap!

Ya ever wonder why the safety boys are so excited about keeping electrical knockouts covered in electrical panels? I know! It’s so an old lead mechanic don’t get scared to death when an overzealous kid accidently sticks a screwdriver through the missin blank an hits the bus bar. He lit up and it took a second ta figure out what was goin on. Then we shoved him ta get him ta let go o the screw driver. He was lucky. He can laugh about his mistake now. Though I always tell him, it aint no laughin matter. I thought he were a goner. Most people are not so lucky. A lotta times a shock from a 120 panel can be fatal. 480 is even more unforgivin. I try to look out fer my boys, but sometimes, things get through the cracks, this panel was installed used an had only been in the plant for a few weeks. Had the panel been a refrigeration panel, the pre-startup safety review woulda caught it. Unfortunately, it was a panel on a pump skid.

It really scared me when it happened. I think of these boys as my kids. I may have to correct them sometimes, but they’re family. If they get hurt, it’s like one of my kids gettin hurt. I think it’s time for us to expand out PSSR program to incorporate our process equipment. I also think it’s time we did a panel inspection, to make sure all the knockouts are in place. An inspect electrical boxes ta make sure covers are installed. Ya know, replacing our worn insulated tools is probably a good idea as well. Them safety boys has been talkin ta us bout arcflash for several years. I always thought they were makin a lot more bout it than was needed. But after seeing a couple of them near-miss accidents, I can see how a quick flash could do a lotta damage. I also wondered bout them arcflash clothes. When the safety boys told me I had ta wear cotton underwear, I told them they were goin to far, and what type of underwear I wore, or even if I wore

underwear weren’t their business. But they stuck ta their guns “if you get hurt, we have to deal with it, so you have to work safe”. But is what my stuff is rubbin up against really safety? It is. I learned the hard way. I got me a pair of them new work gloves and they had some manmade plastic cloth in them. I got them hot and they began to melt while I was wearin em. I burnt both hands, not bad, but enough that they hurt for a few days. I’m back to old fashion cotton! Another thing that seems to cause some shock problems is bad cords. We inspect our cords every three months, but that don’t seem to be enough. I tell the boys, check the cords every time you get them outta the cage. I’ve gotten electrical burns in the past. They hurt like the dickins. They heal slow an even when they look ok, they still ache on the inside fer awhile. I use the same rules under my shade tree. No exposed wires an lots o Ground Fault Circuit Interrupters, I plan on working under my shade tree fer a lotta years yet. I aint letting no electrical panel ruin that.

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Refrigerating Engineers & Technicians Association 1035 2nd Avenue SE Albany, OR 97321

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