News

ASSP and the AGC have their First Joint Meeting in October 2018 on Air Sampling for the Silica Standard

Posted: Oct 25, 2018

By Renee Witherspoon, CSP, CIH, CHMM, Past President ASSP SPC

Deborah Dietrich, CIH, Senior VP, Sales and Marketing and Corporate Industrial Hygienist with SKC in Houston demonstrating pump calibration.

On October 16, members of the West Texas Chapter of the Associated General Contractors of America (AGC) and the South Plains Chapter of the ASSP met at the Prosperity Bank Conference Center in Lubbock to learn more about OSHA’s new Silica Standard and air sampling.

Our special guest speaker was Debbie Dietrich, CIH, SKC Corporate Industrial Hygienist. Dan Kenner, SKC Corporate Technical Sales Representative was also present to answer questions regarding the equipment and assist with the hands on demonstration. Cassie Hughes with the West Texas Chapter of the AGC assisted in organizing the event.

Ms. Dietrich’s presentation concentrated on the air sampling aspect of the OSHA Final Rule on Respirable Crystalline Silica and how to properly evaluate silica levels to better control this hazard.

As a Certified Industrial Hygienist (CIH), she stated that air sampling is “as easy as 1-2-3,” and explained that there are three critical components in air sampling – a pump, a calibrator, and a sampling device. For silica sampling this can be a cyclone with air sampling cassette or the new SKC Disposable Parallel Particle Impactor (PPI) Sampler.  Read More

ASSP Recognizes Eric Bourquin and Carol Ford for their 25 Year Service Awards

Posted: Oct 22, 2018

Each year ASSP recognizes members who have been with the Society for 25, 40 or 50 years.

This year the South Plains Chapter is recognizing two professional members with their 25 year distinguished service awards, Eric Bourquin, OHST and Carol Ford, CSP, ARM.

The South Plains Chapter would like to sincerely thank and recognize these dedicated safety professionals for their service to our community and to their organizations.

Below is a brief highlight of some of their professional activities:

Eric Bourquin, OHST

Eric Bourquin, OSHT

Eric is a graduate of Texas Tech University with a Bachelor’s degree in Police Science and Government.  He has been with Texas Mutual Insurance Company for over 16 years and has had positions of increasing responsibility currently holding the position of Vice President of Safety Services.  Eric is certified as an Occupational Hygiene and Safety Technician (OHST).

In his career he has managed all operational aspects of the Lubbock Regional Office at Texas Mutual Insurance Company which included long-range organizational planning, objectives, strategic plans oversight of personnel, finances and facilities for the regional operations. He has also lead community involvement programs and projects for the Regional Office in addition to fostering and maintaining relationships with the local agents and employer community.  Prior to his work at Texas Mutual he was a Loss Control Consultant with Texas Workers’ Compensation Insurance Fund.

Carol Ford, CSP, ARM

Carol Ford, CSP, ARM

Carol is a graduate of the University of Texas at Austin and has her graduate degree from Southwest Texas State University in San Marcos.  Carol is currently the Loss Control Consultant for Union Standard Insurance Group, she has worked there since 2004. Carol is a Certified Safety Professional (CSP) and has her Associate in Risk Management (ARM) designation, which is a nationally recognized educational program for dedicated risk management professionals.  Carol  also served as our Chapter Vice President.

As a Loss Control Consultant she help identify and analyze data pertinent to the insured’s business operations and property exposures, conduct site surveys, and collaborate with Underwriters to provide risk recommendations for account retention and new business. She provided consultation to correct hazardous conditions, correct unsafe behaviors and recommend changes to existing programs to prevent and control exposures for policyholders.  Prior to her work with Union Standard she worked as a Loss Prevention Representative with the Texas Municipal League Intergovernmental Risk Pool for 10 years.

SPC Welcomes Sara Coley with the TCEQ in October

Posted: Oct 20, 2018

Sara Coley, Environmental Investigator with the TCEQ in Lubbock speaks at the South Plains Chapter in October.

On October 16th, 2018 the South Plains Chapter welcoming Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, Environmental Investigator, Sara Coley.

Sara is part of the Air Permitting team of the TCEQ in the Lubbock office, and she provided an excellent presentation on the roles including Rulemaking, Permitting, Monitoring, Investigations, Enforcement and Emergency Response. She also provided a brief overview of air permitting including Permit by Rule Authorizations, De Minimis Facilities/Sources, New Source Review (NSR) Permits and Standard Permits.

Where to start? If someone is starting a new business or facility and there is a possibility of air emissions, check first to see if it can be classified as “de minimis.” If the facility is listed, registration or authorization prior to construction is not required, see handout.  She also noted that many small operations are not “de minimis” so owners or operators should always verify the correct authorization is acquired prior to start up to avoid violations, see frequency of cited violations below for Fiscal Year (FY) 2018.

Frequently Cited Violations (FY18)

• Citation: §382.085, Texas Health & Safety Code, 3253 issued
• Citation: §122.143, Title V General Terms & Conditions, 2231 issued
• Citation: §116.115, NSR General & Special Conditions, 1783 issued
• Citation: §101.20, Compliance with EPA Standards, 484 issued
• Citation: §122.145, Title V Reporting, 332 issued
• Citation: §101.201, Emissions Events, 153 issued
• Citation: §116.615, Standard Permit General Conditions, 145 issued

For more information on Air Permitting and Air Quality check out the TCEQ website at https://www.tceq.texas.gov/permitting/air/air_permits.html

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On behalf of the South Plains Chapter we would like to thank Sara for her very informative presentation, and appreciate her willingness to come out and share her knowledge and expertise with us.