Bins, boxes and shelves line the walls of the warehouse and David Munguia is its overseer. As LDARtools’ Inventory Specialist, David makes sure that everything in the warehouse is accounted for and that includes the shipping of repairs and new machines fresh from the workshop. He does all these while classic rock plays in the background.

Ensuring our inventory is sound keeps him busy. “I’m really enjoying it. It’s a fun challenge and I’m learning from the new experiences,” he says. Having worked at a larger warehouse before, he’s happy with the pace here at LDARtools. We’re sure the big open space with good acoustics play a big part.

A musician when he’s not at work, David plays keyboards for the band Kaos in family-friendly places all over the Houston area: the Kemah boardwalk, Pleasure Pier and anywhere else their gigs takes him. Classic Rock and Top 40 covers are part of their repertoire, but he was trained as a classic pianist. One of the highlights of his musical career is opening for the band Journey during a wintry festival in Chicago: “It was a dream come true. I never imagined I would have the opportunity to open for Journey.”

His wife, Maureen, was EA’s Knowledge Coordinator. They met in college as Music majors, and David says it was “love at first song.” They have three children: David Thomas (5), James (3) and Nicholas (2).

Derrick Mauk, LDARtools Support Specialist, recently worked with Bobby Dunlap, Guardian’s Field Supervisor, to complete a state-of-the-art calibration station for the Rohm and Haas facility in Deer Park, TX. With Daniel Warrington, Guardian’s Equipment Specialist, the trio finalized the installation of this extraordinary equipment.

The layout is based on a similar format developed by Mike Brown at the Dow facility in Plaquemine, LA.

As you can see from the image, the SpanBox3 is mounted at near eye-level for the easiest possible use. The gases and electricity is provided in the most orderly fashion, enabling an optimal calibration process.

Certainly, this is a step up from a hole in the wall through which the calibration gases pass. The best part is that it bears no resemblance to the disorderly array of gas bags, extension cords and penciled in forms on random clipboards.

Thanks to our customers, like Mike Brown, LaRisa King, Lori Carrizales and Bobby Dunlap, we can see how perfection flows from amazing!

Hello Everyone!

Hope everyone had a great Labor Day weekend. August seems to have come and gone in the blink of an eye. Summer’s almost up and fall’s just around the corner.

With the change in seasons coming, we are extremely excited to announce the LDARtools’ Fall Festival 2014. This year’s festivities will be held on Friday, November 14. Last year was a blast and we are gearing up for even bigger celebration!

Stay posted for event updates as we get closer to November. We look forward to seeing you all there!

Here at the LDAR Think Tank, we relish each opportunity to enhance our culture of fun.

Steve Probst of Sage Environmental, a LDARtools friend, nominated Kevin Moses (LDARtools’ Director of Operations) to take the Ice Bucket Challenge. For an excellent video and a good cause, Kevin raised the bar (really!) – just before he dumped the ice! Watch this clip for how it went:

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2cWez8lYiNI]The Ice Bucket challenge has captured our imagination and raised money for a number of charities. Challengers either dump a bucket of ice over their heads or skip the bucket and donate to a charity of their choice (or do both).

Kevin donated to the John Paul II Medical Research Institute and nominated John Cermenaro, Alan Matta and Thomas Canter.

BONUS:

Here’s Alan’s video:

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RczDbVNYeyI]
Thanks for letting us use the video, Alan!

How often should LDAR Technicians stop and think about safety during their monitoring activities?

Historically, this has been a matter of wishful, hopeful thinking. Or, more often, it has been a moment of agonizing awareness AFTER an accident has happened:

The good news is that by placing a powerful computer in the Technician’s hand (for monitoring and MOC activities), you have created the opportunity to have a real influence on their safety. With properly designed software you can, literally, reach into the flow of the Technician’s work process and trigger a safety awareness moment—whenever you want to and as frequently as you feel necessary.

Imagine that every 90 minutes, the screen on the handheld informs the Technician that it is time to stop and think about safety. They’re asked to identify any specific hazards and/or report any issue that might require research or resolution. You can establish the frequency of these safety moments, create a framework for the Technician’s thought process and provide the means for recording the results.
You can use a screen like the one on the right and at the same time, you can further simplify it. Use a dropdown list that describes what the Technician is doing!
(There’s no reason to make a nuisance out of yourself!)

A textbox is also useful and allows the Technician to describe what she sees AND indicate the presence of any safety condition that needs to be resolved:

• A loose gate at the top of a ladder
• A dangerous puddle in a critical place
• Tall grass during snake-hunting season

As important as having these features available, you should also be able to review these reports and close the feedback loop with the Technicians at the end of the day or during your next safety meeting.

Software, running on these new, powerful handhelds can make that possible.

Or you can just keep hoping, wishing and, unfortunately, regretting.