Wilcox Potato Factory

This past week we had to opportunity to tour Wilcox Potato Factory located in Rexburg. Their safety manager showed us the facility. It was documented and the pictures represent our tour. Enjoy!

The potatoes are placed in a carrying slot and then on a conveyor belt they sort out the dirt and rocks from the potatoes. In this picture rocks are on the left and potatoes are on the right.

Then we went into the main part of their facility where potatoes are weighed and sorted by a machine, and each potato has it's picture taken. As we went through the tour some of the employees are wearing gloves. Also some, not all employees were wearing ear protection–it was very loud in there–OSHA violation? Just some thoughts.

After the tour we took a group picture.

I took a lot more pictures, so if you want a copy of them email lar08031@byui.edu. Thanks!

Recent Events

This past week the University of Utah came to talk to the Occupational Safety class as well as AIHA on campus. Scott Collingwood, Tom Martin, and Jim Johnston informed the class of an upcoming internship and job opportunity available to graduate students from Brigham Young University-Idaho. The opportunity is The National Children's Study in Cache County(Logan, UT area). If you would like more information you can contact those individuals. Their contact information is: scott.collingwood@utha.edu, tom.martin@hsc.utah.edu, jim.johnsont@hsc.utah.edu.

The AIHA has a great schedule for this Winter Semester
(schedule is still subject to change):
March 10-Internship and grad school seminar [BRING FRIENDS]
March 24- Dorm Fire
March 31- Closing Social; food, drinks, and a game will be provided

Join us for a good time!
Thanks

Spring 2010 Closing Social: BYU-I Center Walk-thru

Closing pizza social

New AIHA Shirts

Jessica Moore has designed these new shirts for members. These would be pretty sweet if our society was wearing these while on field trips. Ask about color options, these will normally be charcoal gray. The shirts are $14 and the sweatshirts are $25.

Grand Targhee - Risk Managment

Justin Day, Will Newkirk, and Derek Steiner made the trip to Grand Targhee to meet with some of their managemnet team to find out what kinds of risks and chalenges Targhee had to deal with. While we were there we visited their small water treatment plant. There was even a toilet with a window view and a direct deposit.

We were very well received and invited back by one of their mechanics to ride on one of their snow cats some time this coming winter.

INL Tour

We went on our INL tour yesterday with a EHS manager that takes on about two interns per summer. He took one of our students over the summer (Michael Watkins), and we were able to organize the tour accordingly. Brian Perkes, CIH, CSP took us on a tour through MFC (Materials and Fuels Complex) where we saw EBR-II reactor. This was one of the very few sodium cooled reactors in the world, with others in Detroit, England, Scotland, and France. It was a great tour, and we talked with Brian about resume building tips and industrial hygiene interns at the site.

Things we saw:

1. It was figured that one building contained more than 1.5 miles of asbestos
2. Rope made of asbestos
3. One of the very few liquid sodium cooled reactors in the world

Lessons learned:

1. Network with college peers for future job opportunities
2. Get as much experience as possible at this stage of our careers, and don't be too picky about our first job. After we get a few years experience, then we can be a little more picky
3. Benefits and safety of nuclear energy

It was a cold and windy day. You can see us all squinting. Rex was smart to put on his safety glasses for the pic! Right to left, Justin Day, Rex Steel, Jessica Moore, Tom Bascom, Micah Blake, Michael Watkins.

In the background, you can see MFC with a silver dome (EBR-II) prominent.

Mock Dorm Room Fire

On November 5, 2009 we held a mock dorm room fire demonstration. It was the third time we have hosted such an event, but this was by far the most successful. There were easily 300 people in attendance. The biggest improvement we had this year was we got a group from the construction management program to build it for us. They had to do it for a class project, so it worked out really well for both of us. We had the Post Register, Standard Journal, and The Scroll all show up. They each provided great exposure for the society, as well as safety in general. Our faculty advisor Larry Shaw requested permission for making the above banner you see draped in front of the fire from AIHA headquarters in which we were granted permission. The contact from the headquarters requested a write-up of the event be sent to them for publication in their magazine The Synergist in a community highlight. Overall, it was a well planned and ran event that got us some exposure and recognition.