#mitigations

YOUR PRIVACY IS COMPROMISED, AND YOUR SECURITY IS MAINTAINED

People need safe access to healthcare and workplaces. They should not have to worry about leaving a medical facility/workplace with a COVID infection or other respiratory or respiratory route illness.

Fight to make masking a permanent requirement in medical settings, care homes, group homes (for any staff and residents who can mask) and pharmacies!

Removing masks will also endanger vulnerable, disabled and or immunocompromised people -- tens of millions --, this includes massive growing wave of those with long covid. As well as increasing and further worsening those delaying care or avoiding it all together.

Check if your state still has requirements/mandates in place:

New Post has been published on http://entirelysafe.com/work-stoppage-during-summer/

Work Stoppage During Summer

As you might know in Gulf countries where temperatures rise tremendously during day time in Summer, the Governments in order to protect the workforce mandates work stoppage from 12:30 up to 3:30 throughout June, July and Augusturs, if some mitigations are not put in place.

In Oman the Ministry of Manpower is requesting the compliance to the summer working hours requirements

MD 286/2008 Article 16

MD 322/2011 Article 1

Work Stoppage During Summer of 2018

For situations where companies hold the opinion that the activities cannot be stopped during the mandatory rest hours for operational purposes they ensure that additional mitigations are implemented and waiver applied for in timely manner. Otherwise the work must be ceased.

Last day of accepting any submission in the Ministry is the 31st March 2018.

Additional Summer Mitigations

Below are the addtional Controls that are aggreed to be put in place for Drilling/WorkOverover companies in order to be approved for continous operations in day time during Summer:

Safety Requirements

>1000 hp drilling rigs

<1000 hp drilling rigs

1 Provide enough cool water to workers Agreed 2 Provide shaded areas in the areas close to the workplace. The area should be shaded from four sides, furnished, air-conditioned and large enough to accommodate workers. Provide customized comfort rooms (such as tea rooms, rest areas, etc.) 3 Provide first aid kit Agreed 4 Provide water at a temperature suitable for human use in the workplace. • Water must be stored at the site at a temperature suitable for human use (16-37 degrees Celsius)

• Provide cover / isolation units for eyewash (explosive pressure) to keep them cool.

5 Provide air-conditioned vehicles for the transfer of workers (in line with Opal road safety standards) Vehicles used for the transfer of workers between camps and workplace must comply with Opal road safety standards, including air- conditioning requirements. 6 Provide water cooling fans or water spray machines to cool the work site. Provide safe water cooling fans Inapplicable- the use of water for cooling and water spray machines will remain suspended until more instructions obtained from Opal based on a study which will be conducted to explore the possibility of application/ practical side, in coordination with the Ministry of Manpower represented by the Department of Occupational Safety and Health starting from June. 7 Assign physical hard labour to be carried out during the cool period of the day. Agreed 8 Provide various kinds of drinks (such as energy drinks, juices, water, etc.) Agreed 9 Someone must be appointed to carry out first aid in the workplace, and should be a well-trained to deal with cases of heat exhaustion. Someone will be available to do first aid in the workplace, and well-trained to deal with cases of heat exhaustion.

Provide training to deal with stress because of the heat for each team.

10 Provide additional clothing / accessories appropriate to increase cooling during work, such as cooling jackets, scarves, wrist ribbons and others. They should be provided without affecting the minimum mandatory requirements for personal protective equipment and / or threatening personal safety, during the work performance. 11 Develop and implement a program to deal with stress because of the heat, based on the best practices in the sector to include effective communication about the heat indicators and weather during working hours in summer. Alerts will be daily updated by two operators or local meteorological stations, wherever possible through the application of the current program followed in Occidental Oman and the British Oil company bp if a better system in one of the two operators mentioned is not available.

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Driller Cabin

Fiberglass Insulated water tank

Temporary Shade

Water Mist system to cool

Air-Conditioned bus

Operations which do not include drilling rigs (separate units)

Without exceptions:

Work shall stop during the period from 12:30 until 15:30. This includes the removal and installation of drilling rigs and drilling examination units.

Only sampling shall be excluded from non-stop and may continue as usual and as planned.

Consequence

Failure to comply with above Ministerial Decree, without securing a waiver approval, is liable to result in either:

Issuance of a warning letter,

Issuance of a fine, or

Work stoppage.

For further details or clarifications, contractors can contact Mr. Hummod Al-Henai, Head of Safety Section in the Ministry of Manpower (office Tel: 24766016, Email: [email protected]).

New Post has been published on http://entirelysafe.com/risks-of-wireless-devices-in-hazardous-areas/

Risks of wireless devices in hazardous areas

The trend in industrial technology is moving towards wireless devices, resulting in an increase in the number of wireless devices installed in hazardous areas.

The wireless devices are radio devices that emit electromagnetic radiation – clearly a potential source of ignition in an explosive atmosphere. The main risk lies in the induction of currents in metallic objects or inadequately EMI-protected electronic circuits. These currents can result in excessively high temperatures and the formation of sparks.

These devices are in applications that include reading RFID tags, instrument asset management and condition monitoring of mechanical equipment, such as rotating equipment. This article will cover the design of these devices, and the risks that they pose when installed in hazardous areas. The paper will also attempt to give details of the requirements for safe operation of wireless technology in hazardous areas.

With the ever increasing demand for process measurement points, the need for industrial measurement devices is continually rising. Wireless technology is said to be replacing the current industrial cable-based networks as it offers many advantages over its cables counterpart:

Substantial reduction in costs, as cabling costs increase drastically with increasing lengths and flexibility.

Wireless offers versatility in that the devices can be placed anywhere without the need of intensive equipment to carry out an installation i.e. scaffolding, excavation etc.

Reduction in timeline of the projects, spent on installation and reinstallation

Difficult to reach places  or moving measuring points like rotating kilns

Thus the trend to meet the high demand for process measurement is moving towards the installation of wireless instrumentation. With this development comes the need to consider the safety implications for wireless applications in hazardous locations.

The concern arises from the fact that wireless instrumentats are essentially radio devices, and therefore are sources of electromagnetic radiation – a potential source of ignition in hazardous areas. This article will outline the relevant standards, risks and procedures incurred when using wireless instrumentation in hazardous locations.

Wireless applications in hazardous locations

Due to the mobility, cost and ease of installation of wireless instrumentation, it is found in many applications in industry, including hazardous locations. Applications include process measurement indications, RFID tagging and marking; and portable handheld terminals and many more.

Industry standards

There is currently no industry standard that explicitly deals with the risks around wireless technology used in hazardous locations. International standards mainly deal with the exposure levels of RF radiation on the human body.

The USA’s Federal Communications Commission gives guidelines as to the regulations of transmitters but again the emission thresholds they supply are based on settings for human exposure.

Wireless standards such as ISA100 and wireless HART give details of wireless functionality of the devices but don’t elaborate on their installation in hazardous areas.

The standard for hazardous areas namely, IEC 60079-0 gives specific tables that have specific parameters for power and energy levels thatare allowed in hazardous locations.

British Standard BS6656 – assessment on inadvertent ignition of flammable atmospheres by radio frequency radiation gives recommendations to the subject matter but mainly discusses the RF sources outside a hazardous location and transmitting into the relevant area.

Risks of wireless technology in hazardous locations

Wireless instrumentation typically refers to radio devices that operate in the frequency band of 30 kHz – 300GHz. These devices are able to emit electromagnetic radiation, which is a source of ignition in an explosive atmosphere. A risk also exists in the design of the device, i.e, inadequate circuit protection against electromagnetic induction and interference.

Plant construction metal surfaces can act as conductors and absorb energy from radio frequency radiation fields from wireless instrumentation. This stored energy can be released as a spark or arc in hazardous locations.

Other risks involved with wireless instrumentation are the batteries that are used to power the portable devices. Some devices cease to be intrinsically safe when the device is opened to replace the battery, thus the device has to be removed from service in order for the battery to be replaced. Some vendors have opted to use intrinsically safe battery packs that allow the battery to be replaced while the device is in the hazardous location. Battery packs are sealed enclosures that are incapable of causing sparks in the hazardous locations due to power limiting circuitry and should be taken into consideration when evaluating wireless instrumentation.

Wireless adaptors are the new solution for obtaining HART diagnostics from already hardwired instrumentation. These devices connect onto the existing hardwired instrument and extract data/diagnostics from it.

There are concerns regarding the incorporation of wireless adaptors into the instrument loops.

The question is whether this adaptor is part of the existing loop or is it to be considered as a second loop with its own certification?

If it is partof the existing loop, it changes the dynamics of the existing loop and thus the loop needs to be re-certified. The other risk is that some wireless adaptors are loop- powered, thus care must be taken in the loop design to compensate for the power consumption of the device and the rest of the loop, so as to function properly.

Antenna sources – EIRP

Antennas are sources of the power radiation and thus the EIRP of the antenna must be considered.

EIRP – Effective isotropic radiated power is a measure of the power radiated from an antenna. The IEC 60079 standard does not give any indication of the energy limits for EIRP of devices in hazardous areas.

CISCO stated in a technical White Paper “Low power radios operating at less than 100 mW/-10 dBm EIRP for frequency of 2,4/5 GHz should not pose any risk if operated under normal circumstances”.

Methods of risk mitigation

Many of the wireless devices used in industry today are low power devices that are designed according to international standards and specifications.

One should also conduct a general safety assessment prior to installing wireless instrumentation in a plant or hazardous area.

As part of this safety assessment the following should be taken into account;

Identify the classification of the hazardous area in which the equipment will be installed;

Identify the threshold of ignition energy for the area;

Review the instrument certification and specifications to verify that the power transmitted is less than the limits of the hazardous area, even under fault conditions, to minimise the risk of an explosion occurring.

IEC 60079-0 gives tables which detail power and energy thresholds for radio frequency devices in hazardous areas.

[table]

Equipment for Threshold power (W) Thermal initiation time (Averaging period) (μs) Group I 6  200 Group IIA 6  100 Group IIB 3.5  80 Group IIC 2  20 Group III 6  200

IEC 60079:2002 Table 5 – Radio Frequency Power Threshold

[table]

Equipment for Threshold energy Z1 (μJ) Group I 1500 Group IIA 950 Group IIB 250 Group IIC 50 Group III 1500

IEC 60079:2002 Table 5 – Radio Frequency Energy Threshold

Wireless adaptors pose the same risks as that of other wireless instrumentation and must be treated as such. Since some adaptors are loop-powered, the power requirements for a loop must be considered before the adaptor is installed. The adaptor will be an additional load on the loop and must be catered for with regard to power requirements.

Risk mitigation methods for batteries of wireless instrumentation should be included with the maintenance schedule of the instrumentation; batteries are rated to work for longer than four years depending on the update rates of the wireless network.

Battery packs are preferred as they are sealed enclosures that contain a power limiting circuit that give the battery pack its intrinsically safe rating.

Conclusions

You cannot control what you cannot measure.

The need for process measurement points is in high demand to achieve optimum process control. Wireless instrumentation is currently used mostly in indication application however; it will soon be more widely used in control applications.

Thus with the use of wireless technology and  instrumentation being used to meet this high demand we must consider the safety implications incurred by the use of wireless networks in hazardous applications.

In most circumstances, low power devices are used in order to operate i.e. WLAN. These devices use low voltages, less than 100 mW effective radiated power and operate in the 2,4 GHz range and do not pose any risk if operated under normal conditions of use.

However, there are no standards for the end users to comply with for the use of wireless networks in industrial hazardous locations.

Until such a stage that standards are released and accepted for use of wireless technology in hazardous locations, it is recommended to follow the procedures to check and ensure that the radiated power from the instrumentation and ultimately the wireless network falls within the ignition energy levels of the hazardous area.

This will ensure that the wireless networks will not pose any risk to the hazardous location and will ensure the safe operation of the industrial processes.

References

[1] IEC 60079:2002 Electrical Installation in Hazardous Areas

[2] www.fcc.gov 25 July 2010

[3] www.hazardexonthenet.net/ 27 July 2010

[4] w w w. h a z a r d e x o n t h e n e t . n e t / a r t i c l e .aspx?AreaID=4&ArticleID=23206 27 July 2010

[5] Electrical Installations in Hazardous Areas by Alan McMilan

Contact Craig Chetty, Sasol Synfuels

Tel: 017 610-7796,

[email protected]

Since it was too long, and I'd accidentally submitted it, I'll restart. When you'd previously answered my question, you asked what order my prescriptions had been given out. 

It began in early 2012, when I was tested for ADHD. I was positive, with a few different diagnoses. I had ADHD/ADD combined type, of course. Then there was some type of emotional/conduct distortion (I cannot recall what it actually was. I'd have to refer back to the papers, but I have misplaced them. Typical.), a sleeping disorder, and then GAD.  At first, they had wanted to put me on Vyvanse. Since it's so expensive, the insurance company wouldn't approve of it blah blah blah. So instead, they put me on a baby dose of Adderall, which I found to be a tad helpful in terms of concentration. There was one major setback -- I would have multiple anxiety attacks throughout the day, sending me into cold sweats and quite a lot of jumbled thoughts. They changed my medicine to a small dose of Concerta, which seemed to help at first, but then there was another major setback -- I was having abnormal heart arrhythmia. My therapist recommended that I see a psychiatrist in order to straighten that out. So a few months later, we went to Nemours to see my now current psychiatrist. We talked a little, and she sent me to the hospital to have an EKG done on my heart to see if there was anything major going on.  My tests came back fine, and I was on my way to my next visit with my therapist. She took me off the Concerta and put me on Ritalin. I absolutely hated it. It was horrible; my mind was anywhere but on the curriculum during classes and I felt as if I was just wasting my time using it.  I went back to my psychiatrist, and she decided to take another look at my papers. Since my EKG had come back fine, she put me back on Concerta, but this time a little bit higher (27mg I believe) since my body had already let it sink in. By taking another look at my papers, she noticed that I did in fact have a diagnosis of GAD, which turned out to be the root cause of the panic attacks and arrhythmia. It was almost like an ah-ha! moment. She prescribed me with 50mg Zoloft and I promised her I would update her on my next visit.  Upon my next return, I told her I was having a few issues with the Zoloft. She upped my dosage to 100, but recommended that I ease into it by taking a pill and a half (75mg) before going full out. So my body can get used to it since it's such a drastic change. Currently, I am on 100mg of Zoloft because it seems to be doing it's job.  Here's where the tricky part comes in. Concerta, the medicine that I am currently on, had a tendency to leave out one major part of ADHD. It doesn't help at ALL with impulsive behavior. This troubled my psychiatrist on my most recent visit. She decided to try something out, even though she went against her will of putting me on only 2 medicines. Since Clonidine is a whole other realm of ADHD medication, she put me on the smallest dose possible. I desperately needed something to control this impulsive behavior because it was really becoming a problem and always has been. So far, it's been working a miracle. She put me on Clonidine specifically because I have such a horrible time falling asleep due to the fact that my mind is always going in some direction or another. To ease the mental stress, she put me on that because it has the perk of also working as a sleeping pill. It really knocks me right out about an hour after I take my dose. So that's the whole prescription story even though it's very long and confusing.  I'd much rather be on a different antidepressant, though. Like you said, something that would aid the two ADHD meds. I hope it goes away with age, but it's just been a very rocky and tough road since my first diagnosis. My therapist wants to retest me while I'm on the medication, and also recommended that I try something called "CogMed" to improve my working memory. Biggest setback? It's 1,000 dollars and that's not exactly "pocket change" around my household.  If you can't tell by now, it's been quite a hectic road. Please help. This situation is more than frustrating. I want nothing more than to be able to feel.. normal. I want my brain to function properly and I just want to figure out all this dang medication! Too much of it. I feel like they're going to clash with each other and not work the way they're intended to. 

[Well, I'm not a medical professional so I'm not really much help with this particular combination of medications. Your pharmacist will be better able to discuss possible interactions with you.

In my first response, I mentioned Strattera, and that is a medication that is somewhat related to antidepressants. Another option is Wellbutrin, which is an antidepressant that often helps with ADHD symptoms. Something else to consider is that you haven't taken the clonidine without the Concerta, and that may be worthwhile since clonidine by itself may work just fine for all of your symptoms. These are options you should discuss with your psychiatrist.

What I may be more equipped to help you with is strategies for dealing with your symptoms. We have a number of posts that deal with anxiety and the coping skills toolbox may be of help.