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Showing posts with label Plattsburgh OSHA training. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Plattsburgh OSHA training. Show all posts

Tuesday, June 26, 2018

Busy Summertime at Future Environment Designs (#FEDTC)!

The past few months have been a crazy ride and the rest of the year looks like it will continue!  So what's been going on at Future Environment Designs, Inc.?  At the time of this writing, we are getting ready to head to New York City for a presentation sponsored by the Metro-New York American Industrial Hygiene Association (Metro-NY AIHA).   Mr. Mark Drozdov will be presenting on new New York City regulations regarding construction training and mold requirements.  Later in the week, we will be heading to Plattsburgh for the annual Safety Expo and training for a mold remediation contractor in the area.  The Safety Expo held by the Northern Adirondack Safety and Health Council (NASHC) is usually an excellent place to meet the safety and health professionals in the Plattsburgh area.  We are looking forward to hearing the OSHA Compliance Assistance Specialist Ron Williams speak about what's new at OSHA.  For more information regarding the Safety Expo click here.

NASHC Safety Expo 2016
FEDTC has been busy creating courses for our e-learning/Training At Your Convenience service.  We now have three courses available for e-learning:  Asbestos Awareness; Respirator User; and NYCDEP asbestos restricted handler, handler, and handler supervisor exam review.  We are hoping to have a fourth course available soon.  We currently have a bunch of courses on the schedule that is drawing a lot of attention.  We have an asbestos supervisor initial course scheduled for July 23-27, 2018, our OSHA 30-hour construction safety course on July 30-August 2, 2018 is almost sold out and our combined mold worker/supervisor/remediation/assessment course on August 20-23, 2018 is already half full.

Our most recent Combined Mold Initial Course
Then finally we are looking forward to our annual participation in the 5th Annual Professional Abatement Contractors of New York (PACNY) Salmon Fishing Pro-AM on July 11, 2018.  We will be again on "Catchin Hell" boat hoping to bring home some big fish or just a lot of fish like last year!  We still have some trout and salmon in the freezer from last year!  Well, that's what's been going on at FEDTC hope to see you at one the events!

Last year's catch wasn't big but it was plenty!

Tuesday, May 15, 2018

OSHA Fines Increase - Silica Rule Enforcement Ramps Up

On January 2, 2018, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has increased the maximum civil penalties (fines) for serious, other-than-serious, and posting requirements to $12,934, from $12,471.  Failure to Abate violations have increased to $12,934 per day beyond the abatement date from $12,471 and Willful/Repeat violations have increased to $129,336 from $124,709.  These civil penalty increases were mandated by Congress, on November 2, 2015, through legislation that required all federal agencies to adjust their civil penalties to account for inflation.  OSHA increased their penalties on August 1, 2016, the link to our previous blog post discussing that increase is below.  Moving forward, as the legislation requires, the penalties will be adjusted each year based on the Consumer Price index.  OSHA will continue to do penalty reductions based on the size of the employer and other factors.

Properly Using Table 1 Will Avoid a Violation
According to April 24, 2018, article by Bloomberg Environment, OSHA and state programs have cited the silica rule 116 times since September 23, 2017.  With OSHA ramping up enforcement of the respirable crystalline silica rule (1926.1153) incorrectly following Table 1 procedures (cited 27% of the time), and not measuring worker exposures (cited 30% of the time), can result in a serious violation at the cost of $12,934 each.  Not training workers about silica or not having a silica exposure plan may result in other-than-serious violations that could cost $12,934 each.

Using this Equipment, we can Measure Silica Exposures

OSHA's website discussing the increase in civil penalties can be found here.  While the OSHA website discussing the silica rule requirements can be found here.

Monday, December 11, 2017

LITE 2017 Is All About The Fundamentals, Future Environment Designs Develops An Online Course!

Future Environment Designs (FEDTC) would like to wish all of you a Merry Holiday and a Happy New Year!  We look forward to seeing all of you in the New Year.  In September, FEDTC attended the 2017 Leadership, Innovation, Technology, & Evolution (#LITE2017) annual conference in Edinburgh, Scotland.  We attended last year's #LITE2016 conference and wrote about our experience (see Future Environment Designs Attends the LITE 2016 Conference & Is Inspired!).  The conference is run by Administrate, which is the company now handling our training and customer administration.  As many of you know, we use Administrate to provide you digital access to our course manual.  Because of the information we learned this year, you now have access to the exam review slides we use in our classes.  We now offer a few Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) courses online (i.e., respirator users and asbestos awareness) and on adding more.  What attracted us to the LITE conference this year was our desire to delve deeper into the Administrate program and to learn best practices in managing our business.  This year the conference exceeded those goals.  This year there weren't as many inspiring speakers, but many of the speakers gave us fundamental knowledge of the Administrate program and its capabilities.

View from Administrate's Offices
Like last year, the conference followed two tracks Evolution and Innovation, which we mixed and matched the various presentations throughout both days.  All the presentations from the conference can be seen at Administrate's website.  It started with opening remarks from John Peebles the CEO of Administrate, filling us in on Administrate's growth in the United States (based out of Bozeman, Montana) and in the Middle East (based out of Beirut, Lebanon).  Followed by Mike McGrail (@Mike_McGrail, formerly of Administrate and now with Velocity Digital, no kilt this time), speaking on "Busting Modern Marketing Myths".  We then listened to Simon Greany, of Elucidat, discuss "Big Learning: 4 Strategies to Help You Unlock New Revenue Streams with Digital Learning."

Natasha Serafimovska Presentation on Financial Reporting
Many of the presentations afterwards were delving into the inner workings of  the Administrate programs.  These presentations helped us get the best out of the program or gave us ideas of how to improve the information we get from the program.  For example, the presentation by Siobhain Murdoch and our Account Rep Natasha Serafimovska, both from Administrate, discussed "Common Course Pricing Strategies for Training Companies."  From their presentation we learned about creating subscriptions, how training tokens work and how to offer them.   Siobhain Murdoch then joined together with Loki Lau, of Administrate, to discuss "A Deep Dive Into Course Templates," which taught us how to improve the course templates and in particular adding photos to the templates.  Gilles Bell's, of Administrate, presentation on "How to Communicate More Effectively With Students and Customers" provided some ideas we will be implementing with our communications moving forward (first changes will be with the Safety Suzy Newsletter coming out before the end of this month).  The second day started with a 1-2-1 session with our Account Rep Natasha Serafimovska to help us better understand the program and create several reports.  Mark Mullen & Jesse Vernon, both of Administrate, discussed "How to Improve Instructor Led Training (ILT) with eLearning" which made us realize we can significantly improve the materials we are providing you online. 

Ryan Cochrane's presentation on Creating Content That Converts to Leads
Based on the information we learned we have already made several improvements.  For all asbestos refresher courses the manual is online as many of you know already.  In addition, the review for all the asbestos refresher exams is now online, too.  We've created our first online course the respirator user course.  This course is required annually by anyone who uses a respirator.  This will allow you to take the respirator user course "At Your Convenience."  We plan on adding more courses and creating a separate landing page for the "Training At Your Convenience" service, that will include all the different ways we can train your employees, conveniently.  These improvements will help FEDTC continue to improve and offer more ways in meeting our goal of Keeping Your Employees Safe!

Friday, April 28, 2017

April 28th - Workers' Memorial Day!

Future Environment Designs (#FEDTC) joins with other safety organizations in marking today as Worker's Memorial Day!  Worker's Memorial Day is a day of remembrance for those who have died on the job.  This is also the day that the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) was created in 1971.

Construction work on the ferry terminal on Lake Champlain

Before OSHA was created, an estimated 14,000 workers were killed on the job per year.  Though OSHA has been mostly successful in reducing the number job related deaths (job related deaths are down to 4,500 per year, however, there are over 50,000 who die from occupational diseases like asbestosis & silicosis) it is important to remember, there is still more we can do.  These deaths are preventable!  Now that Mr. R. Alexander Acosta has been confirmed as the new Labor Secretary, we will get a new OSHA director and find out the direction OSHA will take going forward.

Public events happen all over the country celebrating Worker's Memorial Day visit OSHA's website for more information.

Friday, February 03, 2017

Remember to POST Your OSHA 300A Form and File It Electronically!

On February 1, covered employers are required to post the Occupational Safety and Health Administration's (OSHA) 300A form.  The 300A form summarizes the information that is kept on the OSHA 300 log form.  Covered employers are required to prepare and maintain records of serious occupational injuries and illnesses that occur at a workplace on the OSHA 300 log form.  At the end of the year, covered employers are required to tally the totals on each column and enter the totals on the OSHA 300A form.  The information should be used by employers to evaluate safety in the workplace and determine ways to eliminate or reduce hazards in the workplace.  OSHA's 300A form is required to be posted until April 30, 2018 and must be retained for 5 years.  During the retention period you are required to update the log to add new information regarding the occupational injuries and illnesses recorded on it.  OSHA has brief tutorial to help you complete the forms.

300A Form Must Posted By February 1, 2

A final rule was issued and went into effect on January 1, 2017, requiring certain employers to electronically submit injury and illness data to OSHA.  OSHA has provided an online secure website (click here for the website) for submitting this information. You must submit this information by July 1, 2018.  If you meet the following criteria you DO NOT have to electronically submit your 300A information to OSHA:

  • The establishment's peak employment during the previous calendar year was 19 or fewer, regardless of the establishment's industry.
  • The establishment's industry is on this list, regardless of the size of establishment.
  • The establishment had a peak employment between 20 and 249 employees during previous calendar year and the establishment's industry is not on this list.
  • Establishments under jurisdiction of these State Plan states do not currently have to electronically submit to OSHA: California, Maryland, Minnesota, South Carolina, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming.

Logo for NAICS (North American Industry Classi...
Logo for NAICS (North American Industry Classification System), a system used by the U.S. Census Bureau and others. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
A different rule which went into effect January 1, 2015, changed the list of employers partially exempt from the above recordkeeping requirements.  The revised list uses the new method of classification of industries, the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS).  The partially exempt industry list includes: architectural, engineering, & related services; legal services; & drinking places (really!!!), as examples.  For the full list of exempt industries visit OSHA's website on recordkeeping.  In addition, to new exempt industries there are industries that have to start keeping records.  These industries include:  automotive dealers, building material & supplies dealers, & activities related to real estate, for example.  Find the industries that have to start keeping records here.  

However, this does not exempt these industries or covered industries from reporting to OSHA, within 8 hours, any work-related fatality and reporting work-related in-patient hospitalizations, amputations, or losses of an eye within 24 hours.  This new reporting requirement was also part of the changes that went into effect on January 1, 2015.  Employers can report these events by telephone to the nearest OSHA Area office during normal business hours, or the 24-hour OSHA hotline 1-800-321-OSHA (6742), or electronically through a new tool which is being developed, look for it here.   Should you need any assistance with these requirements contact Future Environment Designs.

Related articles

Sunday, December 25, 2016

A Merry Holidays and a Happy New Year to all of you! Future Environment Designs Closed Until January 4, 2017!


We wish all of you a Merry Holidays, we hope the coming year brings you health, and happiness!  As usual, we are closed from December 23 - January 4, 2017.  We look forward to seeing all of you during the New Year!  We are very excited by this coming New Year since we are expanding the blended learning we started after our Edinburgh trip to LITE2016.

Rockefeller Centre Christmas Tree 2016
We started the process by putting our course manuals online and providing you access to the manuals and the student portal for 365 days.  We continue the process by now including an online course evaluation process through Coursecheck, that will eliminate the paper forms.  The next phase we are planning is an online examination process which should make it easier to take the exams and further reduce paper documents.  To help those who don't have portable devices we will be supplying these devices in our classes.  We are awaiting the supply of fifteen (15) Surface 3 tablets with keyboards so we can facilitate the blended learning we are morphing our classes into.  We hope our students are just as excited as we are, as we move into this new more informative and interactive training method.  We look forward to greeting you in the New Year with these new training methods!
English: Blended learning methodology graphic
English: Blended learning methodology graphic (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Thursday, November 03, 2016

Future Environment Designs Attends the LITE 2016 Conference & Is Inspired!

On September 23-24, Future Environment Designs (FEDTC) attended the Learning, Innovation, Technology, Evolution (LITE) 2016 Conference held in Edinburgh, Scotland.  This was the first year we attended this conference and it probably won't be the last.  The conference is run by Administrate, which is the company now handling our training and customer administration.  We were also invited to be on a customer panel during the conference, which we will discuss further below.  What attracted us to the LITE conference was the ability to learn more about the Administrate program and meet others who are using the program.  Not only did the conference and workshops deliver on that goal, it far exceeded our expectations.  Several of the conference speakers were absolutely inspiring and made us realize the good work being done out there to assist those less fortunate.

The Scotsman Newspaper Article LITE 2016 
Day one of the conference started with Mike McGrail (@Mike_McGrail), Marketing Director for Administrate, doing the opening and introduction.  We met Mr. McGrail previously, when we first were considering to sign-up with Administrate, we met with him and our current rep Natasha Serafimovska and then met again at a cocktail/dinner party held for those presenting and on the customer panels at Brasserie Les Amis (the food was awesome!).  Mr. McGrail is quite entertaining and very proud of his Scottish heritage (yes, he wore a kilt!).  The first speaker was Gavin Oattes, MD of Tree of Knowledge, his presentation "How do you Fit a Giraffe in a Fridge?" really was mind opening and created a pathway for a different frame of reference.  Nicki Turing & Edmund Pinto, of the Alan Turing Trust, discussed how providing used computers are helping educate students in Ghana.  Joe Harb, of Interactive Life, discussed "Personalised Education Using Technology:  From Corporate to Refugees" and how to personalize education for corporations to help expand borders and for refugees who feel left behind.  John Bendel, of Lingo 24, discussing "The Need for a Multi-language Approach" and the importance of training materials to be in multiple languages (only 9% of the world speaks English, something to really consider as a training business).  The first customer panel included Deborah Fyfe of IA Seminars, Kevin Streater of ForgeRock, & Mathew Channell of Training South Wales, and was moderated by Richard Cassidy, Director Sales for Administrate.  The panel discussed the challenges in their training business and how technology was bringing success to their businesses.  Mike McQuaid of GitHub, spoke on "Remote Working: What, Why and How?"  His speech described the various benefits of working remotely; productivity increase, happy employees, & saving the planet to name a few.  John Peebles the CEO of Administrate spoke on "Creating the Ultimate Human Organisation" and discussed how they have gone to a 4-day work week.  The final speaker on the first day was John Romero, Creator of Legendary Video Games, who spoke on "The Value of Games in Education."  The day ended with a Pub Crawl (our crawl included The Blind Poet, the Potting Shed, and the BeeHive Inn) that ended at Administrate HQ (drinks & pizza!).  The lunch was catered by Regis Banqueting and it was fantastic, we had the Lamb Tangine!  We went to several workshops and support sessions also being held during the conference.

John Romero Speaking at LITE 2016
Day two started with Olivia Giles of 500 Miles, telling us her story of how she had to face change in her speech "The Challenges and Opportunities of Change."  Olivia Giles survived the blood poisoning form of meningitis by having both her lower legs and both her lower arms amputated.  She has since founded the charity 500 Miles which helps disabled people in Malawi & Zambia who have lost limbs or the use of limbs to enjoy maximum mobility and body function by helping them gain access to artificial limbs and limbs supports.  If we weren't already inspired from the first day of speeches, this speech sent us over the top!  Kevin Streater of ForgeRock had the unenviable task of following Olivia Giles and did an excellent job of maintaining the enthusiasm with "How Administrate Changed Our Training Business."  Definitely caught our attention with the ability to triple his business without increasing staff.  Suzanna Doyle-Morris of inclusIQ, discussing how they use blended learning to train people on inclusion & diversity, was the next speaker.  Mike McGrail of Administrate next discussed "The Importance of Personas in Understanding Your Customer" and how that effects marketing.  Up next was Dr. Kathryn Waite of Heriot-Watt University speaking on "Digital Empowerment."  Next we had the honor and pleasure to sit on a customer panel with Anna Hastie of University of York, and Steve Booker of Kentec Training (his company's story on Administrate convinced us to sign up).  Visit the LITE 2016 Speakers site to see the customer panel we were on and our discussion about our challenges and technology.  After the panel, Kasper Spiro of Easygenerator spoke on "User Generated Content: The Next Trend" and the conference ended with an inspirational talk "Reaching for the Stars" by Graham Obree - Record Breaking Cycling Legend.

Graham Obree Speaking at LITE 2016
Their were several emotions we experienced during this conference; overwhelmed, amazement, excited, hopeful, inspiration, and empowered.  The main thing this conference did for us was made us realize how powerful a tool the Administrate program is.  We are hopeful & overwhelmed with the capabilities of this program.  We are excited and amazed on the value we could add to our customers training experience.  Most importantly we feel this program will empower and inspire us with the ability to increase our business, increase our reach to more customers outside our current territory, and Keeping More of Your Employees Safe!
        
LITE 2016 was held at The Assembly Roxy  

Friday, August 26, 2016

OSHA Fines Increase By 78%, Will That Lead To An Increase in Safety Consulting & Training?

Starting on August 1, 2016, employers who have Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) violations issued on or after this date for violations occurring on or after November 2, 2015 are subject to the new OSHA maximum civil penalties (fines) that are 78% higher.  This civil penalty increase was mandated by Congress, on November 2, 2015, through legislation that required all federal agencies to adjust their civil penalties to account for inflation.  For OSHA, the last time these penalties were adjusted was back in 1990.  Moving forward, as the legislation requires, the penalties will be adjusted each year based on the Consumer Price index.  OSHA will continue to do penalty reductions based on the size of the employer and other factors.

The following table shows based on the type of violation what the old fine was compared to the civil penalty increase:

OSHA Penalty Adjustments To Take Effect After August 1, 2016
Current Maximum Penalty
New Maximum Penalty
Serious
Other-Than-Serious Posting Requirements
$7,000 per violation
$12,471 per violation
Failure to Abate
$7,000 per day beyond the abatement date
$12,471 per day beyond the abatement date
Willful or Repeated
$70,000 per violation
$124,709 per violation

It is important to realize violations such as not performing respirator fit testing on your staff, or having a respiratory protection or hazard communication programs will now be $12,471 per violation.  Add to this OSHA's new reporting requirement that goes into effect on January 1, 2017.  This new reporting requirement requires electronic submission of injury and illness information that already is being collected.  The difference is this information will be made available to the public.  The idea is that with information being available to the public, employers will focus more on safety.  The new reporting regulation also anticipates an improvement in the accuracy of the data, because it prohibits employers from discouraging workers from reporting injuries and illnesses.  This part of the rule went into effect on August 10, 2016 (hey that's my birthday), however, OSHA has delayed enforcement till November 1, 2016.  It seems to us these two changes will create the perfect storm for employers to have an additional need for safety & health training and consulting.

Angelo Garcia, III Speaking at PACNY 2016
OSHA's website discussing the increase in civil penalties can be found here.  While the OSHA website discussing the new reporting requirements can be found here.


Monday, July 20, 2015

Confined Spaces In Construction Goes Into Effect August 3, 2015

On August 3, 2015 the new Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) standard Subpart AA confined spaces in construction goes into effect (1926.1200-1213).  This standard is very similar to the confined space standard in general industry (1910.146).  OSHA recently announced that enforcement of the new standard is being postponed until October 2 to allow additional time for the construction industry to train workers and purchase equipment.  OSHA will not issue citations to employers making a good faith effort to comply with the standard.  Factors OSHA will consider if an employer is making a good faith effort to comply are:
  1. If the employer has not trained its employees as required under the new standard, whether the employer has scheduled such training,
  2. If the employer does not have the equipment required for compliance with the new standard, including personal protective equipment, whether the employer has ordered or otherwise arranged to obtain such equipment required for compliance and is taking alternative measures to protect employees from confined space hazards, and
  3. Whether the employer has engaged in any additional efforts to educate workers about confined space hazards and protect workers from those hazards.
The standard does not apply to construction work regulated by:
  1. Subpart P Excavations.
  2. Subpart S Underground construction, caisson, cofferdams, & compressed air
  3. Subpart Y Diving
The standard requires the employer to comply with this standard and any other provisions that are required in other standards that apply to confined space hazards (i.e., welding).

Like most standards it begins with definitions (1926.1202).  Most of them are again similar to the general industry standard.  For example the definition of a confined space means a space that:
  1. Is large enough & so configured that an employee can bodily enter it;
  2. Has limited or restricted means for entry and exit; and
  3. Is not designed for continuous employee occupancy.
Confined Space Testing & Monitoring in Brooklyn
However, some of the more interesting changes entail the difference between construction and general industry.  For example the definition for a "Controlling Contractor" is the employer that has overall responsibility for construction at the worksite.  There is a note attached to this definition which indicates if the controlling contractor owns or manages the property, then it is both a controlling employer and a host employer. 


Entry employer means any employer who decides that an employee it directs will enter a permit space. The note on this definition warns that the employer cannot avoid the duties of this standard by refusing to decide.  OSHA will consider the failure to so decide to be an implicit decision to allow employees to enter those spaces if they are working in the proximity of the space.

The standard defines host employer as the employer that owns or manages the property where the construction work is taking place.  This definition also has a note that states if the owner of the property on which construction activity occurs has contracted with an entity for the general management of that property, and has transferred to that entity the information specified in 1203(h)(1), OSHA will treat the contracted management entity as the host employer for as long as that entity manages the property.  Otherwise, OSHA will treat the owner of the property as the host employer.  In no case will there be more than one host employer.

The general requirement of the standard requires each employer (host employer, controlling contractor, & entry employer) must ensure that a competent person identifies all confined spaces…and identifies each space that is a permit space, through consideration and evaluation of the elements of that space, including testing as necessary.  

Two interesting sections of the standard are 1926.1203(h) which dictates Permit Space Entry Communication & Coordination and 1926.1211 which dictates Rescue & Emergency Services.  Permit Space Entry Communication & Coordination (Section 1926.1203(h)) spells out what is expected in the communication and coordination between the host employer, controlling contractor and the entry employer. While the Rescue & Emergency Services (1926.1211) spells out the requirements for an emergency/rescue service entity (1926.1211(a)) or if the entry employer will designate employees to provide permit space rescue and/or emergency services (1926.1211(b)).

According to OSHA this new standard will improve safety and protect nearly 800 construction workers a year from serious injuries and reduce life-threatening hazards.  Training requirements for entrants, attendants, and supervisors are relatively the same as the general industry standard.  Give us a call and we can provide this training, at your location or ours.


Wednesday, February 18, 2015

Its that time again! Have You Remembered To Post The OSHA 300A Form?

On February 1, covered employers were required to post the Occupational Safety and Health Administration's (OSHA) 300A form.  The 300A form summarizes the information that is kept on the OSHA 300 log form.  Covered employers are required to prepare and maintain records of serious occupational injuries and illnesses that occur at a workplace on the OSHA 300 log form.  At the end of the year, covered employers are required to tally the totals on each column and enter the totals on the OSHA 300A form.  The information should be used by employers to evaluate safety in the workplace and determine ways to eliminate or reduce hazards in the workplace.  OSHA's 300A form is required to be posted until April 30, 2015 and must be retained for 5 years.  During the retention period you are required to update the log to add new information regarding the occupational injuries and illnesses recorded on it.  OSHA has brief tutorial to help you complete the forms.


OSHA 300A Form

A final rule was announced on September 11, 2014, which went into effect January 1, 2015, changing the list of employers partially exempt from the above recordkeeping requirements.  The revised list uses the new method of classification of industries, the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS).  The partially exempt industry list includes: architectural, engineering, & related services; legal services; & drinking places (really!!!), as examples.  For the full list of exempt industries visit OSHA's website on recordkeeping.  In addition, to new exempt industries there are industries that have to start keeping records.  These industries include:  automotive dealers, building material & supplies dealers, & activities related to real estate, for example.  Find the industries that have start keeping records here.  

However, this does not exempt these industries or covered industries from reporting to OSHA, within 8 hours, any work-related fatality and reporting work-related in-patient hospitalizations, amputations, or losses of an eye within 24 hours.  This new reporting requirement was also part of the changes that went into effect on January 1, 2015.  Employers can report these events by telephone to the nearest OSHA Area office during normal business hours, or the 24-hour OSHA hotline 1-800-321-OSHA (6742), or electronically through a new tool which is being developed, look for it here.   Should you need any assistance with these requirements contact Future Environment Designs.

Thursday, January 01, 2015

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Future Environment Designs (FED) want to take this time to wish you all a Happy New Year!  We hope 2015 is as good as you wish it to be and it is a safe and healthy one.  At Future Environment Designsits another year of staying the course.  Our prices for asbestos refresher courses have not changed since 2007 and that will continue in 2015.  Over the years we started several initiatives which will also continue in 2015.  Our Safety Suzy Newsletter, which provides you with information regarding changes in Indoor Air Quality (asbestos, mold, lead, etc.) requirements, construction safety requirements, respirator use and fit testing, OSHA regulations, and NYS indoor air quality and construction safety regulations will continue.  We provide a loyalty discount to our clients who do their training with us every year and provide a referral discount to those who refer work to us (these discounts can be added together, see your monthly Safety Suzy Newsletter for details).  

In 2015 we will continue the following improvements:
  • Future Environment Design's mobile site, will allow you to view upcoming courses and download safety resources in phone-friendly formats.  Your suggestions and feedback can help shape the experience.  Visit our website with your mobile device through this link:    http://www.futureenvironmentdesigns.com/index.html.  
  • Future Environment Designs used to provide students in our classes with a course CD called the FED Training CD.  This CD had all the regulations and other helpful information.  With modern technology and advent of the cloud technology, we now provide a link to our dropbox folder that contains all this information.  You can find that link at: http://futureenvironmentdesigns.com/resources.html.
  • Future Environment Designs is working on an app that we hope will be ready in time for the Professional Abatement Contractors of New York's (PACNY's) 19th Annual Environmental Conference at Turning Stone Casino.  
  • Gloveguard (see below) is a product designed to help workers keep their work gloves close to them and increase their use.  Future Environment Designs is providing these to our students to help them keep their gloves with them and increase their use.

We look forward to seeing all of you in 2015, Happy New Year!

That Time of Year! Conferences, Posting Requirements, and OSHA Violations Increased!

It's that time of year again. We're between conferences.  February 15-16, 2024 was the Professional Abatement Contractors of New Yor...