FPA's 2007 Environmental Summit & Safety Conference

January 24-26, 2007

The TradeWinds Island Grand Resort
St. Petersburg Beach, Florida

Richard Pettifor, Vice Chairman, FPA’s Regulatory & Government Relations Division, Sun Chemical Corporation

Process Safety Management (PSM)
OSHA’s Process Safety Management Standard requires employers to implement a series of management systems to reduce the risk of catastrophic failure of systems utilizing highly hazardous chemicals.  The presentations followed by the round table discussion will include a case study, peer guidance on PSM applicability to flexible packaging operations, and to the greatest extent possible clarify some of the confusion surrounding the Standard, including OSHA-PSM response documents and Meer decision.

Electrostatics & Fire Hazards in Manufacturing Operations
The film manufacturing processes inherently generate high electrostatic potentials which can cause fires and potentially threaten the personnel safety and continuity of operations.  The presentation based on a case study relevant to flexible packaging will offer practical techniques to help reduce the possibility of these high-energy electrostatic discharges which can be more energetic than open flames.

Explosion Prevention
Explosions in manufacturing facilities have resulted in serious employee injuries and extensive damage to building and equipment.  The risk in printing operations is even greater due to increased speeds and installed control systems.  The presentation will review the hazards present in a typical printing facility and discuss what safety measures are required by applicable standards. The safety measures will provide design guidance for vapor and ignition source control including administrative controls necessary for the protection of employees.

Managing the Highly Protected Risk (HPR)
Highly Protected Risk is a program utilized by business insurers to minimize catastrophic loss potential and prevent extended business interruption to production.  The presenter will describe the critical elements of a HPR program and how its use and rating system can reduce the frequency of loss events, lower the insurance premiums and provide the peace of mind having a safer workplace.

Lunch

Ergonomics
It is a two part session.  The first presenter will explore many of the ergonomic issues commonly experienced in a typical packaging manufacturing operation and discuss options for solving them.  The presentation will include strategies that can be employed in reducing the risks associated with musculoskeletal disorders and improving productivity and quality.  The second presentation is based on extensive ergonomic studies of the risk of repetitive stress injuries associated with handling large size film rolls.  As converters seek to improve operational efficiencies, the demand for larger size film roll stock has increased dramatically.  The presenter will review the findings of ergonomic study and share an array of best practices that were developed to mitigate the increased risk of repetitive stress injuries to operating personnel from handling increased roll sizes, both outside diameter and width.  You can not afford to miss this session if you have operational or safety management responsibilities.

Lacerations: Safe Best Practices
Cuts and Lacerations account for a significant number of injuries in a manufacturing operation.  “Laceration Safe Best Practices” is a program that Alcan Packaging developed and implemented at its facilities to reduce the number of lacerations caused by the use of hand-held knives.  Find out how the use of this program can help you identify tasks in your plant that utilize the hand-held knives, quantify the number of knife uses that occur each day at your site, classify the types of knives in use based on their level of safety, and provide alternative cutting tools to accomplish these tasks in a safer manner.  We anticipate this to be a very interactive session.

Break

Effective “Back to Work Program”:  Cost, Process, Behavior ModelPersonnel Injuries, if not adequately managed, would negatively impact the employee morale, the productivity, and workers compensation premium.  The presenter will review the cost model associated with injury losses and determine how an Early Return to Work process can result in financial savings.  It would include discussion on what employer can responsibly control, for example, medical relations, creating safe work practices, and enhancing internal communication.  The session will conclude describing the importance of human behavior to safety at all levels of the organization.

Designing an Effective Forklift Program and Developing Safe Pedestrian/Forklift Traffic PatternsForklifts or powered industrial trucks are the common mode of transport for materials in a typical flexible packaging operation.  The presentation will detail the essential elements of how a forklift program can be designed, implemented, and maintained.  The presentation will emphasize the practical applicability based on how it was developed in a medium sized flexible packaging operation. 

The traffic pattern must be an integral part of the overall forklift safety program as an interaction between pedestrians and forklifts creates a higher risk of serious accidents than what is generally realized.  This part of the presentation will outline how one of the FPA member companies developed the process of segregating pedestrians and forklift aisles in the plant to minimize exposure to potential injuries.  Find out what control devices and equipment can be installed to increase awareness and to limit pedestrian interaction to forklifts.  The presentation is based on practical considerations in a manufacturing environment.  The Q & A session will follow the presentations. 

Closing Remarks & Adjourn