Kelly S. Coyner, Research and Special Programs Administrator, announced the appointment of Robert (Bob) A. McGuire as the Associate Administrator for the Office of Hazardous Materials (HAZMAT) Safety. McGuire returned to the US-DOT‘s RSPA in 1991 as deputy associate administrator for hazardous materials safety. Previously, between 1983 and 1988, he had been a policy analyst supporting RSPA’s hazardous materials and pipeline safety programs. Between 1988 and 1991 McGuire served as a senior program analyst in the then-office of the assistant secretary of transportation for policy and international affairs. McGuire received his undergraduate training in biology, including economics and engineering, from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He also received his master‘s and doctoral degrees in biochemistry from MIT, with a minor concentration in computer science. He received his legal training from Catholic University in Washington, D.C. McGuire resides in Rockville, Md. with his wife, Betty Ann, and their four children.
Drum It Up
STEEL DRUM INDUSTRY NEWS, TRENDS AND ISSUES
Archive for August, 2000
4-high Storage Of Steel Drums Approved
In a recent news release, the National Fire Protection Association approved an amendment to NFPA 30 that allows steel drums filled with flammable and combustible liquids and fitted with "relieving style" plugs to be stacked four high in certain warehouses. The warehouses must be equipped with foam-water fire suppression systems. The NFPA decision nearly doubles warehouse space while safely managing the fire hazards associated with the storage of hazardous materials. The standard was approved following testing which showed that relieving style plugs (e.g., nylon) could be used in steel containers to prevent catastrophic failures, thereby allowing greater storage of steel drums in warehouses protected with advanced fire suppression equipment. The National Fire Protection Association will publish a new Fire Code incorporating the new requirements later this year.
Beware Of Shipping Even Touch-up Paint Via Air
A Chicago based machinery manufacturer needed to send touch-up paint to a customer to refinish some equipment. They took a one-gallon container of paint, a flammable liquid, packed it into a fiberboard box, and shipped the package UPS Air. In route, the package leaked and the UPS employees discovered the non-compliant shipment. As a result of this dangerous error, the Federal Aviation Administration and the Department of Transportation investigated the shipment and found that the hazardous material shipment was not packaged, labeled, marked, classed, described, documented or in a condition for shipment as required by the DOT regulations. A $70,000.00 fine was proposed.
