Mining Training Courses for MSHA Certification

Let's face it, training videos can be a real snooze fest.  I've seen so many - some have been for my actual jobs, and the others I've seen because I review industrial safety products.

I've recently become aware of the Convergence Training Company, and they really seem to be embracing the idea of making training videos more informational without sacrificing high production qualities.  Today, I'm offering my opinions about the Surface Miner Training - Basic - Training DVDs

What I like about the Convergence series is that they don't go the weird background music route, and they have decided to do most of their videos using a relatively advanced computer generated images (CGI) for training video producers.

What you end up with is specific, accurate miner training information that will help your operation gain MSHA compliance, particularly Title 30 CFR - Part 46 regulations.

The Mine Safety and Health Administration is a division of the U.S. Department of Labor, and with help from the CDC's NIOSH studies and recommendations, the MSHA regulates mining operations in order to maintain a nationally-consistent level of safe working environments for mining employees, contractors, and other staff.

This particular DVD set covers the basics of surface mining, and will give your new employees MSHA compliant knowledge in a relative short amount of time. It's also great as a refresher course for more experienced miners who maybe need to get some more hours of required training time in.

Everything is very clear and these modules give "no-nonsense" explanations of each aspect of basic surface mining procedures, from proper use of mining equipment, emergency training, to PPE use.  The narration is clear, concise, and the graphics are easy to understand and won't bore your employees to tears.

That's the whole point!

Check out the rest of the Convergence Training Videos!

Amazon vs Ebay

I've been toying with buying an Epson LCD projector for awhile now--specifically the Epson EX7210.  I've read all the reviews at Amazon and CNET, but I've been wondering whether I should buy it through Amazon, or Ebay.

Frankly, I haven't used Ebay for a long time, as it seems to be a haven for scammers, but I don't really have any other guarantee that Amazon is scam-free either--the only thing they've got going for them is that you can buy directly from them and cut out the possible middle men or scammers.

Bottom line is that Amazon makes me feel a lot safer to buy from than Ebay nowadays.

Why have an emergency spill response plan?

I was walking around or facility the other day, and I was amazed by the amount of leaky oil drums.  They all had those spill containment pallet things, but they still leak--I didn't realize how leaky they were, I guess.  Because I like to review things, I asked a passing maintenance guy about whether they liked those pallets, or would rather fix the drum.  He said, whether they fix the drum or not, they have to have the pallet--because of their plan for emergency spill response.

As I am not actually in a place where I have to know what the heck that is, I asked him what it is.   He said it's from OSHA, so I looked it up.  Actually, it is within the OSHA 1910 parameters, and it pertains to each industrial facility having some kind of emergency containment contingency plan in case of spills.  And, in most cases, the ony way to contain multiple drums of oil is to keep them inside a plastic pallet with some kind of high berm.

Fishbone Diagram Template

Don't know whether anyone can use something like this, but I've posted my concept of an Ishikawa Fishbone Diagram Template--for whatever you need it for.

It's a "Cause and Effect" Diagram, and you can use it to determine what is causing problems, be it people, machinery, methods, measurements, environment/milieu or material related.  I drew this just to be silly -- the fishbone certainly doesn't HAVE to look like a fish to be effective.  Credit goes to Kaoru Ishikawa for his ingenius metaphor.  You could probably even use it in your house, but it was developed more for industrial purposes.

Top 3 Best Industrial Supply Companies

I purchase safety supplies once every couple of weeks, and I have to find dependable companies that will get their industrial grade gear to me in a timely manner, and I decided that I wanted to review some industrial supply websites this week.

I have dealt with quite a few of these types of companies, but these 3 companies have given me good products, customer service, prices, and fast delivery:

Grainger.com -- this company is well established and will provide some of the best products you can find.  I find their local sales guy to be a bit pushy,but the company as a whole is top-notch.  I usually get bolts, tools, and other gear from them.

CreativeSafetySupply.com -- This company is an online safety supply company, and I get my floor tape and industrial label printers (and supplies) from them because they are fast and their prices were the best around.  I called them to order our thermal printer, and both guys I talked to were knowledgeable and helpful.

Airgas.com -- This company is where I get my welding supplies, and they have a local store where I can take my bottle of argon for my mig setup.

I also use other companies, and Amazon, too, but I prefer to use the companies above for those specific items.

TOAST KAIZEN Video Review (Page 2)

Personally, I liked Hamilton's approach--he shows us in REAL-WORLD terms how to identify waste.  He makes it very clear, and he is a normal-looking guy with a confidence of his material.  He shows us that making anything can be related back to a simpler job everyone has done, like making a piece of toast for breakfast.  He breaks it all down on what he did that produced inefficiency, how he could speed up time, reduce product waste, and reduce wasteful movements.  I will now do some more study on it and how it can relate to an office worker like myself.

I liked it.  We both looked at each other (the engineer guy who I will keep anonymous), and sort of went "Wow!  Why don't they make OTHER videos that simple?"

Truth be told, they do--one of them is called "5S Garage ."

So, long and the short of it--I liked it and recommend it for beginning lean training and kaizen training videos.

BACK to Page 1

Hobart 225 vs Hobart 140 Welder Review (part 2)

(Continued from page 1)



The Hobart, on the other hand, is a wirefeed arc welder (much like a mig welder) runs on 110/120Volt, and is seriously underpoweredfor doing anything over 1/8" steel.  On the other hand, it is handier to take places and work in the field and there is WAY less of a learning curve.

Lincoln 225 Welder vs. Hobart Handler 140 Welder Comparison Review

I'm going to try my hand at doing a welder comparison review:

I'll be pitting the Lincoln 225 Welder vs the Hobart Handler 140 Welder.

Why those two?  Well, because they're the ones I have at hand.  One is my own, and the other is at my job, so I think I can be slightly unbiased.

I have the lincoln 225 arc welder "tombstone" at home.  It is a great arc welder, but it's different from the hobart.  It's a traditional stick arc welder, and it runs on 220/225V power, so you might need to buy a dryer adapter to hook it up at your house.  Most shops have a line hooked up for 220, so that shouldn't be a problem in a workshop.

I like it a lot, and it can weld the crap out of most anything I throw at it.  I had to learn how to weld with stick, as you must get the hang of striking the arc without sticking it to the work and burning out the entire electrode like a sparkler.

Continue to page 2 of welder review

Toast Kaizen DVD Review

Today, I'm writing a review about the "Toast KAIZEN" DVD.  An engineer I know down the hall from my office was watching this when I walked by on my lunch break, and I went in to check it out.  First off, I was on my break, so no time wasting--but, then again, I think they should give me an extra lunch break because I learned something that will help me in my job.

Despite my initial eye-rolls at the "training video music," I soon realized that this wasn't a boring yawner, like a lot of training dvds.

First off, here are the details
Author Bruce Hamilton (A  2 time Shingo Prize recipient, so he knows lean and kaizen principles)

Here is the publisher blurb:  
 "Toast Kaizen: An Introduction to Continuous Improvement & Lean Principles has been used around the world to help companies realize the power of a Continuous Improvement implementation. It is an essential learning tool for your entire company (CEOs to the front line). Given the education, support and encouragement, your employees can and will find all the headaches and time anchors that currently prevent you from delighting your customers. The key to success is to understand that continuous improvement is all about people, that is, your employees, who are in the best position to identify and eliminate waste throughout your business processes. The seven wastes - defects, waiting, motion, inventory, over-processing and transportation - are clearly demonstrated in the video. As a result your employees will recognize them in their work and will feel empowered to solve all the little problems manifested in their work."


CONTINUED On "TOAST KAIZEN DVD REVIEW" page 2

Comparison Review of 5S Garage Video and 5S into Action DVD

I had to watch a couple of training videos the other day (5S into Action and 5S Garage), and it reminded me how TERRIBLE most of them are.  First off, there aren't a lot of producers of industrial safety DVDs and training videos, and, second, most of the makers of said videos are TALENTLESS hacks, apparently.

I swear, I've seen some safety training videos that looked like they were produced in the late 70s and they didn't even have the right name of the company, or misspelled it!  That is fairly atrocious, and I think a lot of those videos are more or less ineffective at conveying the subject matter with any degree of complexity or true clarity.  I can only imagine what some working guy sitting there watching this outdated, garbled mess thinks--in the midst of the yawns, laughter, and snores of his coworkers.

Now, not all industrial videos are irrelevant, and I think the ones I'm reviewing in this blog post are fairly well done and modern.  I'm no industrial engineer, but I am reviewing this as a person who was not as familiar with the subject matter before, and now, through the educational material presented on these videos, I feel I may understand it better.

I'm not saying these videos are PERFECT, though.  In my opinion, they could both use a bit more editing.  But, then again, I am pickier than some.

These two videos focus on educating the audience about the 5S Japanese management methodology:

This head to head comparison slates "5S into Action " by Enna  VERSUS  "5S Garage - An Introduction to 5S and Lean Principles " by Old Iron Media.

     

Out of the two industrial training courses,  I would honestly have to say that, while it looks a bit lower in video production values, my favorite video of these two is "5S Garage."  I felt that Garage explained the process without all the "glamor" shown in Action--where a group of actors pretended they were workers and with a staged board meeting with an "executive" narrator who clearly did not really understand what she was reading from the cue cards. Garage explained the idea of 5S from the perspective of a homeowner's garage (much like Hamilton does in "Toast Kaizen") and how we can achieve more efficiency and less waste via the 5S pillars, which the narrator/actor clearly understands and explains--like a real instructor would.

Where Action is more effective is in its re-enactments of a factory shop and how 5S can be implemented into any facility.  I just thought the narrator was very ineffective and they displayed her face staring back at me for way too long. 

Either way, I think I learned a bit more about 5S from watching both of these videos, so it's not a total wash, and, frankly, there's not a lot of other choices out there--until I make one ;)

A Label Maker Review : The LabelTac Thermal Labeling Printer (part 2)

 I realized that I should have included a video with my previous label maker review, so here it is:

A Label Maker Review : The LabelTac Thermal Labeling Printer

So, I got at chance to try out a REAL label maker at my work yesterday, and I was so impressed, I thought I would write a review and show people how much more awesome these kind of labeling machines are versus those rinky-dink ones people buy to make labels for their filing cabinets and their scrapbooking boxes.  There really is no comparison.  These are for people who need to get some serious work done!

First off, these labeling systems are a bit more costly.  The LabelTac 4 Industrial Thermal Label Printer System starts at about $799 USD (although you can find it for less online), and it uses thermal printing to attach the printer ribbon film onto various kinds of labeling and sign  roll materials.

I used MS Word to make the label shown in the photo, and it can spit them out in a few seconds.  This brand comes with Bartender template software, but you can basically use any image or word type software to do it.


Apparently, it can be used with MS Office, Photoshop, Gimp (a free open source Photoshop-clone), Inkscape (open source illustrator),  the real Illustrator, OpenOffice, and one of the guys at work said he even printed it out one time with Powerpoint -- but I don't see why anyone would be in such a hurry that they couldn't take the time to use a more appropriate program.

These machines are way more robust that those little ones, like the Brother labeling machine my mom used to have--of course, she never had to print out thirty arc flash blast signs, or pipe-marking labels! I also think it's so cool that they can fit up to 4 inch wide rolls of label material in them, because I totally can see some fun applications (like making funny bumper stickers for myself) other than work safety slogans, and what not.

I've put a couple photos onto this post to show what it looks like. Here is a video