Argon vest with warming insulation for wind workers

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Excerpt: Ergodyne says their N-Ferno 6900 Warming Vest with NobleTek Insulation provides remarkable warmth, comfort, and flexibility, without the added bulk of natural or synthetic fiber. The vest uses flexible, airtight, yet breathable chambers filled with Argon gas. The 4.5-mm layer of Argon has the same t …

Network detects one billionth lightning stroke

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Excerpt: Vaisala's Global Lightning Data GLD360, has recorded its one billionth lightning stroke. The GLD360 network provides more lightning information than any other comparable dataset in the world, with daily counts routinely exceeding 1.5 million events. The network has detected 33,258,377 strokes per mo …

A cool hat and bandana for really hot days

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Excerpt:   The Chill-Its line uses the 6602 Cooling Towel in three versions of clever personal cooling head wear. It uses polyvinyl acetate (PVA) material in a lightweight, low-profile device that activates quickly by submerging it in water for less than one minute. The result, says the developer …

Safety: Making MET towers more visible

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Excerpt: Meteorological Evaluation Towers (MET) are placed in remote locations to gather wind resource data for one or two years. These MET towers vary in height from 60 to 100m (197 to 328 ft) above ground level (AGL) and are getting taller to provide the best wind data. Typically, towers under 200-ft AGL r …

Functional safety program scheduled in Chicago

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Excerpt: TÜV Rheinland is holding a Functional Safety Training Program, an opportunity for professionals in functional-safety-product development to deepen their knowledge and experience within the area of functional safety, as described in IEC 61508. The program is for engineers and those developing pro …

Tethers for heavy tools

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Excerpt: A pair of tool tethers for heavy tools and instruments attachment to a fixed structure rather than to a person. The TL1-3025 Fixed Loop and TL1-4025 Fixed Loop Tethers are rated at 15 and 25 lb to keep drills, power drivers, electronic meters, and other heavy tools and instruments safely tethered to …

Reducing arcing faults and their costs with arc-flash relays

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Excerpt: OSHA is stepping up wind-turbine inspections to prevent worker injuries due to arc flash and other hazards. Special protective relays activated by light work well to mitigate the effects of such hazards. By: Tony Locker, Littlefuse, Inc., www.littlefuse.com   OSHA has stepped-up …

Long overdue: A national standard for wind tower service lifts

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Excerpt: “Recent wind towers 100-m tall are the new norm,” remarked an attendee at a recent wind conference. Towers are likely to reach even higher in coming years. That’s good for power production but not so good for the techs who must climb the towers to service equipment. It makes sense that in addi …

Retractable tether keeps tools close at hand

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Excerpt: The RT3-5601 retractable tether, for tools up to two pounds, is valuable when working in close quarters or climbing. Available in high-visibility orange, the retractable tether’s ultra low profile keeps tools close to the body when stored while still allowing complete accessibility in all dire …

Certified eyewear comes with blue-mirror lens

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Excerpt: Conqueror Safety Eyewear has been certified by Underwriters Laboratories (UL) to meet the ANSI Z87.1+ high impact standard. This independent, third-party certification by UL is the extra step developer Gateway Safety takes to ensure quality and differentiate its products from alternatives. An a …