The American Institute for Steel Construction (AISC) has updated its steel fabrication standard, now titled Standard for Certification Programs 207-20, which supersedes the prior Certification Standard for Steel Fabrication and Erection, and Manufacturing of Metal Components 207-16. The new standard takes effect on June 1, 2021 and is available for download. A brief summary of the changes to the standard is available here.

Is your company seeking to become certified in the standard? Do you need to update your current management system to comply with the new standard? Freer Consulting can help – contact us at …

The American Welding Society (AWS) has released the 2020 revision of the D1.1/D1.1M Structural Welding Code for steel. You can find a summary of the changes on the American National Standards Institute website here and a YouTube video from the AWS describing the changes in more detail here.

If you would like help becoming certified in this or other industrial and international standards, contact us at 206-285-9044 or info@freerconsulting.com.…

The American Waterways Operators (AWO) has implemented changes in its Responsible Carrier Program (RCP). If your company is a participant in the RCP, it might be a good time to review your safety management system to ensure that you’re in compliance.

According to The Waterways Journal Weekly, changes to the RCP include:

AWO members may use any safety management system that meets the minimum requirements of 46 CFR Part 138 to meet AWO’s SMS membership requirement and secure certification as a Responsible Carrier;

Companies using the TSMS option for Subchapter M compliance can simply supply AWO with

Last month, The Seattle Times reported that, in a paper published in Science magazine, researchers have identified an antioxdiant chemical used in tire rubber that causes deaths of coho salmon, particularly in the Puget Sound region:

More specifically, a single chemical, 6PPD-quinone, derived from a preservative that helps tires last longer.

Through painstaking analysis and building on years of prior research, the team, including researchers from the Center for Urban Waters in Tacoma, the University of Washington and Washington State University, isolated the killer from a witch’s brew of some 2,000 chemicals in roadway runoff.
The chemical is a globally

Many businesses use Excel to track, collate, and process data, and it’s easy to understand why. Excel is ubiquitous and is easy to use. Excel’s strengths, however, can also become serious risks. Last October, Public Health England lost 16,000 COVID-19 test results because of limits on the number of rows Excel can handle:

A million-row limit on Microsoft’s Excel spreadsheet software may have led to Public Health England misplacing nearly 16,000 Covid test results, it is understood.

The data error, which led to 15,841 positive tests being left off the official daily figures, means than 50,000 potentially infectious people may