Page 20 - Occupational Health & Safety, April 2017

INDUSTRY UPDATE
ern United States and Canada, repeatedly was being sold into oil and gas and utility applications as FR with the potential devas- tating results of ignition and melting, even though they met the vertical flame test and oven shrink test required in the standard. To quote the negative that persuaded the committee: “These small scale tests are in- adequate to insure worker protection and until this has been accomplished, the stan- dard should be withdrawn,” he explained in a Feb. 24 email.
“Some companies sold legitimate arc rated garments additionally labeled with this standard. Those garments would be considered safe. Garments with ASTM F2302 as the stand-alone standard for flame resistance should be suspect for flash fire or arc flash exposures or any exposure other than a small flame for a limited time,” Hoa- gland wrote. “This standard is mentioned in ANSI 107 for high visibility garments. Be aware garments meeting this standard may not be adequate for your exposure and melting materials are especially danger-
ous. The FR treatment required to pass this standard may not prevent sustained igni- tion in a flash fire or an arc flash of even a moderate level, and the treatment does not prevent melting of the material, mean- ing it is not an approved material for OSHA 1910.269 or NFPA 70E exposures.”
Business Moves
■ Johnson Controls recently finalized an agreement covering North America, Chi- na, and Europe for an electrochemical bat- tery recycling technology. Under terms of the deal, the company is investing in Alam- eda, Calif.-based Aqua Metals. Under the agreement, Johnson Controls will become the first licensee for AquaRefiningTM tech- nology, supply Aqua Metals with batteries to recycle as a service as part of the Johnson Controls closed-loop network, purchase AquaRefinedTM metals produced from Aqua Metals’ facilities, and for about $11 million acquire just under 5 percent of Aqua Met- als’ outstanding shares.
“Our partnership with Johnson Con- trols is a tremendous step forward and is an opportunity for us to work with the global leader in automotive battery manufactur- ing and responsible recycling,” said Dr. Ste- phen Clarke, chairman and CEO of Aqua Metals. “We will build on this exciting re- lationship in order to enable clean and ef- ficient battery recycling around the world.” Aqua Metals recently opened its first plant in McCarran, Nevada. As it scales up ca- pacity, Aqua Metals plans to hire hundreds of employees for existing and future opera- tions across the United States.
Awards & Recognition
■ Automated Solutions, LLC, of Sawmills, N.C., received the North Carolina Safety and Health Achievement Recognition Pro- gram (SHARP) award in February in rec- ognition of its exemplary safety and health management system.
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