REVISED September 2022!

The EASA Technical Manual, containing more than 900 pages of information specific to electric motor service centers, is available FREE to EASA members as downloadable PDFs of the entire manual or individual sections. The printed version is also available for purchase. Each of the 13 sections features a detailed table of contents.

VIEW, DOWNLOAD OR PURCHASE

Tom Barnes
Compliance Specialists, Inc.

This document will help you examine:

• Facility general information
• Document control
• Facility audit history
• Waste management, waste minimization, hazardous waste and waste reporting
• Storm water
• Spill prevention and reporting chemical inventory
• New chemical acquisition
• PCBs and asbestos
• Underground storage tanks
• Air emissions
• Risk management plan
• Employee training
• Ozone depleting substances
• Emergency planning

Tom Barnes
Compliance Specialists,Inc.

As we enter a new and exciting year of operating EASA businesses, we must remember that almost all service centers in the U.S. with either dip or vacuum pressure impregnation (VPI) tanks will be subject to the SARA Title 3, Tier II, reporting requirements. This requirement is part of the Emergency Planning and Community Right to Know Act (EPCRA). The EPCRA involves notifying the state and local community of any hazardous chemical stored onsite in quantities over 10,000 lbs. A hazard material for the purpose of this regulation is anything hazardous under the Hazard Communication standard. In other words, if it has a Safety Data Sheet and you had more than 10,000 lbs onsite at any time during the previous year (2017), then you are subject to this reporting requirement.  For most EASA centers, this will include the VPI, the dip tank varnish, or, in some cases, both varnishes.

Other Tier II reporting
Additionally, EPCRA requires reporting of any Extremely Hazardous Substance (EHS) on the Tier II report if it exceeds either its Threshold Reporting Quantity (TPQ) or 500 lbs, whichever is less. Therefore, if you have electric forklifts (including walk-behind, pallet jacks), you must calculate the amount of sulfuric acid contained in those large batteries. If the total amount of sulfuric acid exceeds the 500 lbs threshold, then this must be reported on the Tier II reports. Note that an average 3,000-lb battery will contain about 450 lbs of sulfuric acid, so two or more lifts will require such reporting.

Must complete annually
Tier II reports must be completed annually and submitted each year by March 1st to the State Emergency Response Commission (SERC), the Local Emergency Planning Committee (LEPC) and to your local fire department.  As one service center recently found out during an ISO 14001 audit, failure to submit these reports could cost up to $20,000.  Failure to report these chemicals and experiencing an incident involving these chemicals could cost you your entire business, especially if someone was injured or killed in the incident.

Please note that these forms are quite simple to complete and, even though some states will have an annual cost associated with the filing of the reports (typically $100-$300), the cost will be minimal versus the consequences of not reporting. For assistance in determining if reporting is necessary and how to report, please check with your fellow EASA members or an environmental consultant.

Tom Barnes
Compliance Specialists, Inc.

In late 2016, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued a new rule called the “Hazardous Waste Generator Improvements Rule.” In the U.S. over the past 18 months, many states that members do business in have adopted new rules which now affect the management of hazardous waste. Some are beneficial and some could create additional legal exposure to your business. Before making any changes, please see if your state has adopted these new rules. If not, find out if they intend to in the near future as most states are in the process of adopting the new rules.

Neville Sachs, P.E.
Applied Technical Services, Inc.,
Syracuse, NY

This technical paper, presented at the 2014 EASA Convention, will help you understand how and why shafts and fasteners fail. This paper covers:

• Discussion of material properties typically found in motor shafts, machine shafts and common fasteners
• Differentiating between overload and fatigue failures
• Understanding and identifying the difference between ductile and brittle materials, and how their fracture appearances differ
• A detailed explanation of how to identify fatigue failures, including the rate and direction of force application and the effect of stress concentrations
• Examples of several failure analyses

Dale Hamil
Technical Education Committee Member
Illinois Electric Works

The U.S. Occupational Safety and Hazard Administration (OSHA) recently released revised data for the top 10 OSHA violations for the 2019 fiscal year. For the ninth consecutive year, Standard Number 1926.501: General Requirements for Fall Protection lands at number one with 7,014 violations.

This indispensable, FREE, 93-page manual was developed to help EASA service centers navigate the difficult terrain of the Federal OSHA Hazard Communication Standard. More specifically, it will help you collect and file Material Safety Data Sheets, train your employees, and document your training as required. Included are a summary of the OSHA Hazard Communication Standard, a compliance checklist, a suggested hazard communication program, hints on how to develop a written training program, and a primer on how to read Material Safety Data Sheets. The manual also contains a glossary and samples of various OSHA forms and letters.

Table of Contents

• Introduction to Hazard Communication
  • Why was this standard put into effect?
  • How will this be done?
  • What should we be doing?
  • How can EASA service centers get this done?
  • Suppose we choose not to do anything?
  • Where can I get further information?
• Section I: Summary Outline
  • Hazard communication
  • Hazard communication compliance checklist
• Section II: Suggested Written Program
• Section III: Hints on Developing Written Training
• Section IV: How To Read & Understand MSDSs
• Section V: MSDS Glossary
• Section VI: Attachments
  • OSHA (Standard 1910.1200)
  • Checmical hazard communication
  • Voluntary training guidelines
  • Substance survey
  • Letters to manufacturers & suppliers
  • Letter re MSDSs to Seller
  • Followup letter re MSDSs to Seller
  • Chemical substance training record

Antun Peakovic
Schaeffler Group USA, Inc.

Gene Vogel
EASA Pump & Vibration Specialist

It happens to just about every EASA service center. A machine shows up for repair; it has leads, and there’s a motor, but the machine is a pump. Most often, it’s a close-coupled pump or a submersible pump. If your response is, “We don’t work on those here,” because you’re thinking, “We don’t know anything about repairing pumps,” you may be turning your back on some very profitable work.

As I detailed in my February Currents article, pump repair can be a very profitable expansion area for service centers that specialize in electric motor repair only. If you agree that pump repair would be a good fit for your business, the next step is to evaluate what changes your facility needs to accommodate repairing pumps. You will find that you have much of the necessary equipment from repairing electric motors. The mechanical characteristics of motors and centrifugal pumps are very similar. Depending on the type of pump, there may be very little additional that you need.

Steve Rossiter
Chair, Management Services Committee
C.W. Silver Industrial Services 
Salt Lake City, Utah

EASA’s Management Services Committee has focused on promoting safety awareness to members over the past 12 months. As I write this,
I have a new appreciation for the importance on taking the first step in creating a “culture of safety” and then continuing with ongoing efforts for constant improvement.

Yesterday, our field service manager reported a safety incident to me that occurred while performing on-site work for a large international customer. The technician had accidentally caused a direct short while connecting a test lead to a small control power transformer. The resulting explosion brought everyone to the scene and a thorough investigation was conducted. Fortunately, no one was injured. However, the investigator indicated that our company would no longer be allowed on their property if any safety violation was found.

Jan Schmidlkofer
K&N Electric Motors, Inc.

Editor’s Note:  This is the sixth and final in the “5+1 S Series” of articles written by EASA’s Management Services Committee to provide “lean service” resources to members. 

Over the last few months, “5+1 S” has served as a small but powerful acronym to describe the removal and continued avoidance of waste in all our business practices. Currents readers have had the opportunity to learn about the five “S” goals of sort, straighten, shine, standardize and sustain in previous articles focusing on lean service. In each of those articles, there has always been a reference to the additional “+1 S” focus on safety.

You may have wondered why it wasn’t just modified and referred to as the “6S Series.” That’s a good point, but there’s more to consider.  

That “+1 S” should always be kept in mind when working on each of the first “5S” goals. We don’t want to get to the end of our “5S” work and then ask ourselves what we can do to make our work safer. No! The “+1 S” should direct us to consider safety during each stage of the “5S” process. When we sort, we should question what tooling may not be safe to use. During straighten, we should consider how or if we should place that heavy object on the shadow board at that height; will someone hurt themselves? 

Throughout the process, the “+1 S” invites the team to include safety in the conversation as a focus rather than as an afterthought. The inclusion of safety, while improving processes, enhances a company’s safety culture with minimal costs while recognizing amazing savings or cost avoidance.

The Management Services Committee challenges you to take the first small step into your lean service journey and implement at least one “S” in the “5+1 S Series.” It doesn’t have to be a big project. If fact, you’re better off to start small and enjoy the victory when you’ve achieved all of the “S” goals.

Doug Moore
Kentucky Service Co., Inc.

In today’s world, working on pumps can be hazardous to your health — if you don’t take the proper precautions. Great care should be taken to protect yourself and your employees from what could cause long-term health issues from the job.

Kent Henry 
Former EASA Technical Support Specialist 

Safety is on everyone’s mind these days. Whether you’re a delivery driver, a salesperson, or a technician, you may need to complete some type of safety training at the customer’s facility just to gain permission to enter their plant. Once in plants, just traveling around you will see all sorts of safety measures, from designated walkways to vehicle speed limits. 

Customers look outside their premises as well. Many have begun using a service center’s internal safety program as a measure or qualifier of their worthiness to per­form repair or supply services. In meetings with prospective cus­tomers or negotiations with current custom­ers, you may need to have documentation of your safety program to hand out with sales or services brochures. 

Mike Darby
Darby Electric Co., Inc.

One of our customers held a mandatory contractor safety meeting at their plant. While there, we gathered some great information that we shared with employees in our company news-letter. I want to share it again here with other EASA members in hopes that you, too, will find it as beneficial as we did.

Model safety record
Kimberly Clark is a North Carolina Star-Certified safety location with an accident rate less than half of the typical score for their industry. Their largest safety issues have occurred with on-site contractors, hence the meeting we attended. Their mill has undertaken extensive efforts to make their workplace safe. The entire mill staff contributed to making a safety video and procedures booklet. They created a culture of thinking safely and using safe work practices.

Make safety a priority
Following are some of their ideas and rules on safety:

First – Safety is more than just a priority; it is a precondition for all work and for continued employment.

Second – Their safety mantra is to “be determined to go home safe today.” They take it to heart – all the way to the mill manager.

Third – Everyone has three safety obligations. They are:

1. You are obligated to refuse to take any action that you consider unsafe, that may cause damage, or that you are not trained and capable of performing.
2. You are obligated to confront anyone performing or about to perform an unsafe act or a task for which they are not properly trained.
3. You are obligated, if confronted, to immediately stop what you are doing and resolve the issue.

Safety on the job is important and thinking safely will lower your risk of injury at home too!

Remember that using safety glasses and earplugs is a very good idea when operating your personal power equipment, such as chainsaws, weed trimmers, lawn mowers and leaf blowers.

Roger Kauffman
Electric Motor Repair Co.
Baltimore, Maryland
Management Services Committee Member

Safety. Let’s face it. Most of the time it’s the last thing on your mind. Priorities are to get the job done, meet customer expectations and come in under budget. These are the things most people think about. 

That should not be the case — ever!  Safety is that part of your business that, if left unattended, can wipe out all of your accomplishments — perhaps even your very existence. It’s the part that won’t call you up to find out where it is and how long it will take to get it back. It is quite silent unless someone pays deliberate attention to it. 

Jan Schmidlkofer
K&N Electric Motors, Inc.

Thanks to the 158 members who participated in the January Management Pulse survey on Safety. The results revealed a positive commitment to safety by those who participated. Almost 90% of the respondents feel they have a culture of safety and have the time and resources dedicated to ensure employees are working safely! As many of you know, good safety practices nearly always result in high quality output and employee morale.

Tom Bishop, P.E.
EASA Senior Technical Support Specialist

Cleaning of electric motor parts is performed in every electrical apparatus service center. This begs the question of whether or not cleaning is being done productively and with minimal safety and environmental consequences.

This webinar recording addresses some of the more common conventional methods of electric motor cleaning and some alternative methods, including:

• Methods
  • Solvent
  • Aqueous (water-based)
  • Other more aggressive methods
• Selection factors
  • Size and quantity of parts to be cleaned
  • Type of part, e.g., stators, rotors, housings
  • Type of cleaning agent: solvent or aqueous
• Environmental and safety concerns

This webinar recording will benefit service center managers, supervisors and technicians.

Chuck Yung
EASA Senior Technical Support Specialist

It’s easy to assume that shipping an electric motor is as simple as putting it on a truck, but nothing could be further from the truth. This article will cover shipping tips and reinforce the fact that shipping includes picking up the motor – not just delivering it. There are some things we (or a trucking company) can do wrong that could result in expensive repairs.

Tom Barnes
Compliance Specialists, Inc.

Many EASA service centers in the U.S. are facing yet another deadline for reporting information electronically to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA); the deadline is December 1, 2017, for reporting injuries and illnesses. Note, however, that some of the “establishments” (defined below) will not be required to report under these new rules yet. As this is a federal regulation and 25 states have their own state OSHA programs, you may not have to report based upon whether your specific state has adopted these new rules yet. At the time of this report, the following states have not yet adopted these rules:

• California
• Maryland
• Montana
• Utah
• Wyoming
  (Please note that these states will be required to adopt these federal rules, so your exemption may not last long.)

If you have establishments in any of these above listed states, it is recommended that you determine if your state plans to adopt these rules prior to the December 1, 2017, deadline. Finally, before we get into what must be reported, let’s try to clear up who must report. Under the current rules, if your “establishment” has 20 or more employees, reporting will be required. OSHA defines as an establishment as follows:

An establishment is defined as a single physical location where business is conducted or where services or industrial operations are performed.

So, if your organization has multiple physical locations, you will treat each one as a separate establishment. Note: If you have multiple businesses at the same physical location and you can clearly demonstrate they are separate and different in product and or services, then it may be possible to treat these as separate locations. The second qualifier you must be aware of is how you count or establish the number of employees at the facility. While many regulations or incident rates are based off of “full-time equivalent employees,” the determination of employees for this reporting regulation differs as OSHA requires you to count as follows:

“You need to determine the establishment's peak employment during the last calendar year. Each individual employed in the establishment at any time during the calendar year counts as one employee, including full-time, part-time, seasonal, and/or temporary workers.”

If you have determined that at your peak employment time you never had 20 or more employees for a physical location, then you are done and will just need to continue tracking injuries using the OSHA 300, 300A and 301 forms. If you determined that you have 20 or more employees, you will need to report the data from your 2016 OSHA 300A log electronically to OSHA by December 1, 2017. To do so, there are three ways to submit this data, and they include the following:

• Web form (manual submission)
• Batch file through a CSV file (form and format information will be announced in November)
• Electronic transmission via application program interface (API)
• Note that OSHA’s injury tacking application (ITA) is available through the ITA launch page

Most EASA members will most likely choose the manual submission which will require you to go to the OSHA web page at https://www.osha.gov/injuryreporting .  You will then hit the Launch ITA button which will start you on the process of setting up an account and completing the required reporting due by December 1st.

Now for 2018 and beyond

While all establishments with 20 or more employees will be subject to the same reporting requirements in 2017, in 2018 there will be requirements for those establishments who have 20-249 employees and separate requirements for those with 250 employees or more. They are as follows:

We hope you find this information helpful and at least somewhat easy to follow.  We will make all attempts to keep you updated if anything regarding these requirements change. We appreciate your membership. Please do not hesitate to contact us with any questions or need for clarification.

Tom Barnes
Compliance Specialists, Inc.

The U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) recently issued new accident reporting rules that go into effect on January 1, 2015. These rules cover what type of incidents must be reported to OSHA and in what timeframe.  First, here are a few items to keep in mind:

1. Employers with 10 or fewer employees are partially exempt from some OSHA recordkeeping requirements such as OSHA 300 recordkeeping.  These facilities are, however, required to report fatalities and injuries. 
2. This is a federal mandate and, at this time, only affects the 28 states under federal OSHA jurisdiction.  If you are in a state with a state OSHA enforcement agency, you will need to check with them to see if they are adopting the new regulations. OSHA is strongly encouraging all state plans to adopt the new rules.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) developed this COVID-19 planning guidance based on traditional infection prevention and industrial hygiene practices. It focuses on the need for employers to implement engineering, administrative, and work practice controls and personal protective equipment (PPE), as well as considerations for doing so.

This guidance is intended for planning purposes. Employers and workers should use this planning guidance to help identify risk levels in workplace settings and to determine any appropriate control measures to implement. Additional guidance may be needed as COVID-19 outbreak conditions change, including as new information about the virus, its transmission, and impacts, becomes available.

To reduce the impact of COVID-19 outbreak conditions on businesses, workers, customers, and the public, it is important for all employers to be prepared. For employers who have already planned for influenza pandemics, planning for COVID-19 may involve updating plans to address the specific exposure risks, sources of exposure, routes of transmission, and other unique characteristics of SARS-CoV-2 (i.e., compared to pandemic influenza viruses). Employers who have not prepared for pandemic events should prepare themselves and their workers as far in advance as possible of potentially worsening outbreak conditions. Lack of continuity planning can result in a cascade of failures as employers attempt to address challenges of COVID-19 with insufficient resources and workers who might not be adequately trained for jobs they may have to perform under pandemic conditions.

This booklet covers:

• Information about COVID-19
• How a COVID-19 outbreak could affect workplaces
• Steps all employers can take to reduce workers' risk of exposure
• Classifying worker exposure to SARS-CoV-2
• Jobs classified at lower, medium and higer exposure risks and what to do to protect workers
• Workers living abroad or travelling internationally
• OSHA assistance, services and programs
• OSHA regional offices
• How to contact OSHA

This guidance is advisory in nature and informational in content. It is not a standard or a regulation, and it neither creates new legal obligations nor alters existing obligations created by OSHA standards or the Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSH Act).

DOWNLOAD THE BOOKLET BELOW

Mike Darby
Darby Electric Co., Inc.

During the Management Services Committee meeting held in St. Louis last fall, I volunteered to write a safety-related article about the importance of being observant in the workplace. As I started to work on the article, it became evident that my words were just a series of general observations to make sure employees and coworkers are thinking and practicing safety in the workplace.

Suddenly, it occurred to me because safety is SO important, the scope of the article should be expanded to cover more than making sure that employees practice safety. It should also provide tips on making sure that employees are working in a safe facility and use safe equipment, hence this more comprehensive article.

This presentation examines features, benefits and drawbacks of both conventional and alternative methods of cleaning electric motors.

Methods covered include:

• Immersion tanks
• Steam cleaning
• Parts-washing machines
• Pressure washers
• Abrasives
• Ultrasonic devices

Environmental options for handling waste by-products are also addressed. If you are considering changing your cleaning methods, this webinar is for you.

Tom Barnes
Compliance Specialists, Inc.

The safety and health audit questionnaire will help you examine these areas of your operation:

• General safety
• Accident/incident investigation
• Agency visits
• Asbestos
• Back safety
• Bloodborne pathogens
• Chemicals and hazard communitcation
• Compressed gas
• Confined spaces
• Cranes, hoists and slings
• Electrical safety
• Eyewash/safety showers
• Fall protection and ladder safety
• Fire prevention and emergency action
• Flammable and combustible liquids
• Hearing conservation
• Housekeeping
• Industrial hygiene
• Lasers
• Lead safety
• Lift trucks
• Lockout/tagout
• Machinery/machine guarding
• Management of change
• Medical services
• Personal protective equipment
• Process safety management
• Respirators
• Safety committees
• Tools - hand and portable
• Visitor and contractor safety
• Welding/hot work
• Vehicle safety

Ron Widup
Shermco Industries
Irving, TX

Learn from an industry veteran about safety topics you may think you know but that can cost your firm substantially if you’re not diligent.

• Fall protection
• Fork lift hazards and relevant regulations
• Material handling/lifting
• Cranes and hoists
• Machine shop hazards
• Cautions regarding abrasive blasting
• Painting irritants

Industry expert Tom Barnes of Compliance Specialists, Inc. focuses on electrical safety, arc flash and lockout/tagout – defining the regulations for each and what your service center needs to do to protect your workers AND your pocketbook.