Safety Director Ed Bernard welcomes nearly 300 Linde employees to its 2012 Annual Safety Meeting, Thursday, April 14, 2012.

The Annual Safety Meeting is the one day in the year when all Linde field employees gather in one place for a day of information, review and training.

Linde Corporation takes job safety very seriously.  The more safely we do our jobs, the healthier our employees will be, the more productive they will be and the more profitable Linde Corporation will be.

Linde Corporation has experienced significant growth with the result that many attended their first Safety Day this year.

Ed Bernard is an experienced hand in the job safety field.  Ed has presided over Safety Day since he joined Linde since 2002.

Ed Bernard—Safety Director Experience and Qualifications:

BS in Safety Science from Indiana University of Pennsylvania

20 Years of Continuous Employment in the Safety Field

OSHA 10 hour Hazard Recognition

Crane Safety Seminar

Confined Space Training

OSHA 500 Certification

CPR/First Aid Certification

Linde’s new Health Safety Manual is a hefty 576 pages.  The manual’s size reflects the wide range of construction challenges and the sheer number of problems our people face on the job.  Below are the programs and training we engage in to more effectively manage company safety.

HEALTH SAFETY ENVIRONMENT (HSE) MANUAL

1. Company Safety Policies and Procedures
2. Safety Committees
3. General Safety Rules and Code of Safe Practices
4. Accident Investigation Plan
5. Abrasive Blasting—Sandblasting
6. Aerial Lifts
7. Asbestos Management and Maintenance Work
8. Assured Equipment Grounding Conductor Program And Ground Fault Circuit Interrupters (GFCI)
9. Benzene Awareness
10. Blood-borne Pathogens
11. Confined Space/Permit Confined Space
12. Construction Cranes/Crane Operator
13. Disciplinary Program
14. Driving Safety
15. Electrical Safety: Qualified and Non-Qualified
16. Emergency Action Plan (EAP)
17. Environmental—General Waste Management
18. Fall Protection
19. Fire Protection—Extinguishers
20. First Aid and CPR
21. Forklift and Industrial Trucks
22. Hand and Power Tools
23. Hazard Communication—Hazcom
24. Hazardous Waste Operations—Emergency Response and RCRA
25. Hydrogen Sulfide—H2S
26. Incident Investigation and Reporting
27. Ladder and Stairway Safety
28. Lead—Hazardous Metals Exposure
29. Lockout—Tagout: Control of Hazardous Energy
30. Noise Exposure—Hearing Conservation
31. Personal Protective Equipment—Assessments (PPE)
32. Process Safety Management—Contractor Responsibilities (PSM)
33. Respiratory Protection Program
34. Rigging Equipment for Material Handling/Offshore
35. Scaffolds
36. Spill Prevention and Response
37. Subcontractor Management Plan (SMP)
38. Trenching, Shoring and Excavations
39. Welding, Cutting and Hot Work
40. OSHA Inspections, Log 300 and Posting Requirements
41. Safety Meeting Minutes
42. Behavior Based Safety Program (BBS)
43. Short Service Employee Policy (SSE)

Joe Ciampi is Linde’s Site Safety Coordinator and this was his first Safety Day, having joined the company last June.  Joe has developed site-specific safety plans for Linde clients like Williams, Southwest Energy and Chesapeake.  Joe spoke about the challenges of site work, including managing the environment and equipment.  Joe also addressed Linde’s values.  We do not sacrifice employee safety for faster work.  No one is a number and EVERYONE is important at Linde.

Jay Hamilton, a senior Risk Control Consultant at Traveler’s Insurance, addressed the topic of crisis management when it comes to the media.  He explained that companies must address the media after any accident or incident.  The days of acting belligerently, hiding or saying “no comment” are over.  Jay stressed how important it is for companies to have their own plan for dealing with the media.

Kevin Lynn, Communications Director for Linde, described how companies can “get ahead” of stories about them.   He also outlined Linde’s approach to media management.  Lynn is a former TV news anchor, newspaper columnist and radio talk host who described himself on Safety Day as a former media “creep.”  Lynn stressed that it is crucial, when dealing with the media, to “get ahead” of the story.  To that end, when something happens on a Linde job site that is or may be newsworthy, it should be immediately reported to the project supervisor and that supervisor should immediately contact Lynn.  He will then consult with the Linde senior staff to prepare a factual statement to be proactively offered to the media.  Lynn explained that if a company waits or avoids talking to the media, that company runs the risk of losing the initiative in the story.  For instance, addressing an issue with a phrase like “this happened and Linde responded in X fashion,” is a positive response.  If a company waits to weigh in, too often the company is correcting inaccurate statements made by others and the answers sound negative, as in “no, it didn’t happen like that, it happened like this.”  The simple keys to media management: Speak early, speak factually, speak pleasantly. 

John Sabo, Oil and Gas Safety/ Risk Management Specialist at Traveler’s Insurance.  John came in from Pittsburgh for the day to speak about fleet safety and offer statistics and advice about “struck-by” accidents in the gas fields.

Clearly they know something….  Tatiana Lascu, Assistant to Scott Linde and Carol Daniels from Human Resources share a light moment during the lunch break at Safety Day.

From the left: UGI Operations Manager Tom Scappaticci talking with Linde Utility Supervisors John Padavan and Bob Bayer.

From the left:  Bill Thomas, Linde Field Mechanic, Larry Wynn, Shop Maintenance, Ron LaPallo, Shop Dispatcher.

Gary Maurer, UGI Damage Prevention Coordinator, spoke about working safely around natural gas facilities.  Natural gas is odorless, tasteless and invisible in its natural state.  It is also heavier than air and extremely combustible.

Allan Fowler, UGI Damage Prevention Coordinator, spoke to the troops about digging safely in the vicinity of natural gas facilities.  At UGI, the Damage Prevention Program is now aligned under UGI’s Compliance Group as part of the Safety and Compliance Department.

Larry Laurynas, Linde Substance  Consultant.  Larry was on hand again this year to remind everyone that the construction industry expects sobriety on the job.  Linde requires drug people, “one beer is too many and a thousand isn’t enough.”

Lester Mackey of Airgas.  One of the most interesting presentations was from Lester Mackey, Manufacturing/Production Manager of Airgas Inc., from the Albany, NY area.  Lester pointed out that often work crews will “clean off” after work by spraying themselves with a hose attached to an oxygen tank.  The problem is, the oxygen stays in the clothing and makes that clothing more prone to catch fire if it is near an open flame, or even an ignited cigarette.

The President Speaks

Scott Linde, President and founder of Linde Corporation, addressed the troops with his annual message.  For the 3^rd year in a row, Linde has experienced record growth, the bulk of which can be traced directly to Marcellus shale.  Scott reiterated that in 2007, no one at Linde had heard of Marcellus shale.  In 2010 it accounted for 67% of our then-record revenues.  Last year, another record year, saw our Marcellus-related activities account for a full 90% of Linde’s revenue.  Also in 2011, Linde International partnered with The Summa Group out of Turkey to build a private hospital in Moldova and a giant convention center in Equatorial Guinea.  Our company has never been bigger and its prospects never brighter.

Saluting Their Service     

The last order of business for the day was acknowledging Linde’s lasting employees.

Receiving 15 year awards:  George Sprague, Rick Avery, Debra Rieutort, Lee Butler, Colleen Danielski, Bob Bayer and Casey Dowd.

A 10 year award went to William Smith of Linde International.

5 year awards were handed out :  Greg Burns, Phil Stout, Lesley Locascio, Pat Dixon, Al Filippini, Bill Thomas, Damien Benzak and Paul Walker.

To see the video press here

For full article click here

For full article press here

Business Services Team Mixer

Scranton Chamber of Commerce

Wednesday, March 7, 2012

“How do we engage?”  That was the theme of the Business Services Team Mixer held at the Scranton Chamber of Commerce.  With business leaders and local trade and training schools present, the morning was all about meeting and sharing opportunities in the growing Marcellus Shale Industry.

Scott Linde (far left), President of Linde Corporation

Linde Corporation Executive Vice President Chris Langel was a member of the panel.  He mentioned that Linde has added more than 100 new people in the last year.  Chris cautioned businesses to stick to their strengths.  He also stressed that while getting the work is important, doing the work is crucial to maintaining a sound relationship with companies providing the opportunities.  Linde has more than a dozen MSA’s (Master Service Agreements) with major companies in the region.

Chris Langel (in jacket), Executive VP, Linde Corp

Several members of Linde’s executive team were on hand for the breakfast.

From left, Joe Grabin, Transload Facilities and Business Development; John Piepoli, Linde International; Vince Bonaddio of Laser Midstream and Linde Corp. President Scott Linde.

The general theme of this breakfast was clear:  be the right person in the right place at the right time.  Establish a relationship which leads to opportunities, do the work, then “work like hell” to keep the work coming.