VSRA News

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Crane Safety Training for Contractors

As all of us work to ensure that our environment is safe and productive, the latest Crane Safety Memorandum from the Department of the Navy (4330/Ser400SR/199) is a reminder that our industry is one where safety diligence is paramount. We encourage all of our members to be familiar with the directives of the memorandum, specifically training to the requirements of COMNAVREGMIDANTINST 11262.1 and NAVSEA Standard Item 009-40, with conflicts in requirements resolved by control of requirement COMNAVREGMIDANTINSTF 11262.1

We are here for the benfit of our member companies and welcome any input on how we can better ensure our industry holds the highest standard of safety for our workforce and for our companies.

Northrop Grumman to Build Offshore Wind Turbines

Thursday, October 07, 2010
According to an October 6 report from the Daily Press, Northrop Grumman Corp.'s Newport News shipyard and Spanish energy firm Gamesa said they have formed a new partnership to produce offshore wind turbines. Northrop and Gamesa said they are assembling a team of up to 40 engineers in Hampton Roads over the next month to begin preliminary work on the project. Neither company would say where in the region the new venture will be located.
(Source: The Daily Press)

OSHA's New Directions Announced

On July 19th, David Michaels, Assistant Secretary of the Department of Labor and OSHA Director, issued an enlightening and important document as the agency entered its 40th year in existence.  This is important reading for all members of the ship repair industry.

OSHA at Forth: New Challenges and New Directions

Don't Forget to register for VSRA's 15th Annual Safety & Heatlh Seminar - September 30, 2010

Register for VSRA’s 15th Annual Safety & Health Seminar.  Register five (5) or more and receive a 10% discount!  The target audience is Superintendents, Project Managers and Safety Professionals.

Fee -  Member $80; Non-member $135,  AT THE DOOR:Member $85; $Non-Member $150

The 2010 theme is ‘PROCE$$ FOR $UCCE$$’.   The Safety Seminar Committee has planned a diverse and stimulating day for Project Managers, Superintendents, and Safety Professionals.

Thirteen (13) different presentations are listed among three (3) tracks.  Attached is the 15th Annual Safety & Health Seminar Agenda - September 30, 2010 

Highlights of Seminar Presentations include:
  1. Opening keynote speaker, Jim Brice, Assistant Deputy Commander, Maintenance, Modernization, Environment & Safety, Naval Sea Systems Command (SEA 04R)- Maintenance, Modernization, Environment & Safety
  2. Leo Edwards, OSHA local area Director, OSHA Update
  3. Colleen Becker, Marine Chemist Services Inc., Noise & Industrial Hygiene Sampling
  4. James Sammons, Signal Administration, Inc., Let$ Find the Hazard$ Before They Find U$
  5. Walt Pristou, NSSA Environmental Health & Safety Director - NAVFAC
  6. Scott Shirley, CTR Corp, Shipyard & Contract Labor Risk Mitigation Best Practices
PLEASE NOTE:
  • Participants will receive a training certificate reflecting 8.0 Safety Training Hours and 1.0 Safety ABIH CM Points – Approval # 10-3143
  • Continental Breakfast and lunch are included in the registration fee
Silver Sponsor:  Signal Administration, Inc.
Bronze Sponsors:  Crofton Diving Corp., Norfolk Physical Therapy, OBBCO Safety

 

 

JINII Registration Information Posted

The JINII conference, in conjunction with FMMS 2010, will be held, Thursday, September 16, 2010 at the Virginia Beach Convention Center . Virginia Beach, VA, 1000 19th Street, Virginia Beach, VA 23451.  The 2010 JINII Agenda will give you an idea for the topics for discussion.

Please use JINII Registration Form for subject registration: Registration fees will be $40 which will include lunch

You may submit registration via mail/fax to:

ASNE . 1452 Duke Street . Alexandria . VA 22314 Phone: (703) 836-6727 . Fax: (703) 836-7491 or

E-mail: registrations@navalengineers.org

You may also register online at: http://www.asne-tw.org/asne/FMMS10 and follow the link to JINII Registration under "Breaking News" 

Also provided in the above link you will find information for FMMS 2010 lodging:

Doubletree Hotel Virginia Beach

1900 Pavilion Drive

Virginia Beach, VA 23451

757-422-8900

Hilton Virginia Beach Oceanfront

3001 Atlantic Avenue

Virginia Beach, VA 23451

757-213-3000

Additional lodging information may be found by following the Visitor Guide link on the ASNE link above.

FY10 OSHA Site Specific Targeting Plan

OSHA has issued its Site-Specific Targeting inspection plan for FY 2010 (SST-10). SST-10 went into effect on August 18, 2010, and will expire in one year unless replaced earlier by a new directive.
The SST program is OSHA’s main programmed inspection plan for non-construction workplaces that have 40 or more employees.  It is based on the data received from the prior year’s OSHA Data Initiative survey. The Data Initiative survey and the SST program help OSHA achieve its goal of reducing the number of workplace injuries and illnesses by directing enforcement resources to those workplaces where the highest rate of injuries and illness have occurred. 

Innovate! Hampton Roads

Innovate!HamptonRoads launched as Hampton Roads Research Partnership re-organizes
 Innovate!HamptonRoads
Mission:  To promote organic, i.e., “locally grown business,” technology-based economic developmentin Hampton Roads.
Vision:  Hampton Roads is recognized internationally as a region for clusters of excellence fueled by a culture of innovation, entrepreneurship, and economic opportunities.
 Ten years after its founding and as a result of the Vision process, the Hampton Roads Research Partnership (HRRP) transforms into Innovate!HamptonRoads (I!HR) with a renewed commitment to diversify the regional economy.
According to the report, What Makes a City Entrepreneurial?, from the Rappaport Institute/Taubman Center for State and Local Government, housed in Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government, “high levels of entrepreneurship are closely correlated with regional economic growth.”
The strong connection between a culture of innovation and entrepreneurialism and the region’s economic success was a significant outcome of Vision Hampton Roads. This first region-wide comprehensive economic development strategy (CEDS), developed after a year-long federal Economic Development Administration (EDA) process, provides a roadmap of strategies and actions to position Hampton Roads as a leader in the global economy.
Rick Lally, President of Oceana Sensor, serves as Interim Director of I!HR, and Dr. Joseph F. “Joe” Bouchard, Cox Communications’ Director of Government Sales and Carrier Access, takes a leadership role as Chair of the Vision Hampton Roads Innovation Task Force, which identified the need for the transformation.
At the first organizational meeting of I!HR held on August 31st and as he turned over the reins in retirement, HRRP’s Executive Director Dr. Lee Beach said, “It’s an exciting time to be in Hampton Roads.”
Read more by downloading the Press Release:  http://www.hrp.org/Site/docs/ResourceLibrary/PR-InnovateHR_07Sep10.pdf
 Missy Schmidt, Communication Manager at Hampton Roads Partnership
Serving Hampton Roads:  America's First Region in the heart of the Mid-Atlantic
 Office:  (757) 625-4696
Mobile/Text:  (540) 325-3060
Work Email:  Missy@HRP.org
Visit SmartRegion.org, sign-up to receive the Hampton Roads e-News

Preliminary FY-12 Standard Items Posted

The results of the 2010 SSRAC Meeting have been posted on the SSRAC website for review and comment in accordance with SSRAC milestones. Results include preliminary FY-12 Standard Items (SIs) and SSRAC-responsible Standard Work Templates (SWTs) 077-001 and 992-031, as well as Appendix 4-E to the Joint Fleet Maintenance Manual (JFMM) Volume VII, Chapter 4. Also, indexes of Category I and Category II Standard Items by "trade" were added to the website.

These documents are PRELIMINARY and are not intended for immediate distribution or invocation, nor do they authorize any change in terms, conditions, delivery schedule, price, or amount of any existing Government contract.

Visit http://www.sermc.surfor.navy.mil/ssrac1/whatsnew.htm and click the links to view the items. If you don't see the files, "refresh" your browser and try again.

Please review these products and provide any comments you may have NLT 27 SEP 2010, using the 2010 Preliminary Review Comment Form (also available on the website). COMMENTS WILL ONLY BE ACCEPTED USING THIS FORM.

 Comments must relate only to proposals considered at the 2010 SSRAC Meeting and the resulting actions. Comments relating to subjects not reviewed by the subcommittees will be rejected back to the author for submission for the 2011 SSRAC Meeting.

Only those SIs reviewed and/or changed have been posted. Changes or additions are identified by showing added or changed verbiage in bold Italics. Deletions are identified by a vertical line in the right-hand margin beside the deletion. New or completely revised SIs are identified by a vertical line in the right-hand margin beside the ITEM NO, DATE, and CATEGORY lines.

NOTE: An item with a 30 JUL 2010 date but no visible changes indicates that the item was reviewed but no changes were made.

Please complete, attach, and e-mail comment forms to linda.mayle@navy.mil or ssrac@navy.mil.

Linda D. Mayle

NAVSEA SSRAC Program Asst Coordinator

SERMC Standards Program Manager Code 106C

Ph: 904-270-5593/904-270-5126 Ext. 3239 linda.mayle@navy.mil

SSRAC 2010 Changes: Prelim Report

The 2010 SSRAC Changes to Standard Items Preliminary Report can be found on the VSRA website at http://www.virginiashiprepair.org/research.asp

Questions or comments may be directed to the QMB Committee.

Surface Fleet Reorganization - CLASSRONs Will Go

Surface fleet shuffle Latest reorganization would dump classrons in favor of readiness command
Stories by Philip Ewing
pewing@militarytimes.com
Sailors should stand by for another reorganization of the surface force as Big Navy plans a new set of bureaucratic changes it hopes will help set the fleet right after years of slowly degrading readiness, a top admiral said July 28.
Specifically, the “class squadrons,” a centerpiece of the Navy’s attempt at corporate-style “enterprise” man-agement, likely will be replaced by some kind of major “readiness” command, according to written testimony submitted to Congress by Adm. John Harvey, head of Fleet Forces Command.
Details for the new arrangements aren’t clear — Harvey did not elaborate in his discussion with law-makers, and he declined to take questions from reporters after the House Armed Services Committee hearing. A spokeswoman did not have specifics as of press time.
What is clear is that Harvey and the fleet are acting on some of the recommendations of the independent review panel that Harvey charged with assessing the state of the surface force. One of the panel’s key findings was that the Navy’s abstruse layers of oversight make it difficult for crews to understand which command is responsible for which aspects of what they do. Eliminating the classrons might make things simpler, Harvey wrote.
The fleet will “clear lines of authority and accountability” for ship manning, training, equipping and maintenance issues, according to Harvey’s written testimony. “Specific corrective actions include establishing clear and unambiguous type com-mander accountability ...
and standing down classrons and transferring manpower/functions to a readiness [immediate superior in command], afloat training group and type commander as appropriate.”
Classron autopsy
This death knell for the classrons seems to be a concession they did not succeed as clearinghouses for maintenance and expertise. Initially, the Navy wanted offices whose job was to accrue information on all the issues specific to the ship classes. In 2008, for example, the mine countermeasures classron ordered structural changes for all 14 ships after two of them suffered fires caused by leaky engine exhaust. Last year, the frigate classron hosted an international symposium for all the navies that operate variants of the Oliver Hazard Perry class, so commanders could share tips on how each of them run their ships.
This notion was part of the wider Surface Warfare Enterprise, with warships as “products” to be “delivered” to “customers,” the operational bosses who assign them real-world missions. But according to the fleet review panel, this “enterprise” is so complicated that few people understand it. Bottom line: This dense bureaucracy means sailors have trouble keeping ships ready.
“The fleet review panel has observed confusion and frustration throughout the surface force, including at the unit level, concerning the authority and responsibility of classrons, ISICs and type commanders. From commanding officers to chief petty officers, it was unclear who is responsible and accountable to deliver surface force readiness,” the report stated.
To solve this problem, the panel recommended standing up a new readiness command that would consolidate all the surface force’s disparate responsibilities — to “maintain, equip, train, man and administer” the fleet — and centralize authority, funding and responsibility. This recommendation jibes with the “readiness ISIC” mentioned in Harvey’s writ-ten testimony.
Big Navy is also counting on a new, beefed-up version of the small office charged with making sure ships serve for their entire design lives. The newly renamed Surface Ship Maintenance Engineering, Planning and Procurement Activity will help the surface force catch up with the nuclear Navy, which is much better at keeping its carriers and submarines in good shape, said Vice Adm. Kevin McCoy, head of Naval Sea Systems Command.
McCoy cited the attack submarines Philadelphia and Los Angeles, both decommissioned earlier this year. Those boats left the fleet in better shape than they entered it 33 years before, he said, because engineers knew exactly what maintenance they needed to stay in top condition — and made sure the ships got it.
“For the past two years, we have been working on just that and putting that in place for the surface force — because budgets are no good and budget problems tend to impact those who have the least data [on ship maintenance] the most. And so, in fact, because we have not had the technical underpinning of, ‘What should a selected restricted availability on a DDG 51 [include]? What work should be done to get the ship to its full design life?’ When budget times got hard, because we didn’t have the under-pinning, we cut it, and there was no impact to that because we didn’t have the fidelity.” SURFMEPP will likely become a sort of super-classron, using detailed engineering surveys of warships to inform the kinds of regular, deep repairs that ships need to prolong their service lives.
A two-year plan
Overall, Harvey said, the Navy can reverse the problems that have troubled the surface force in about two years, provided it can get the funding it needs and put in place the changes it now has it the works.
He told lawmakers that the fleet would put a new priority on maintenance money, which it has low-balled in the past — including to such a point last year that the fleet had to briefly postpone yard work for some ships.
Rep. Gene Taylor, D-Miss., asked who would be responsible for ensuring all the tasks ahead for the surface force were carried out.
“Sir, the answer to that one’s pretty easy,” Harvey said. “I am responsible. It is my job to ensure the readiness of the surface fleet. And if I can’t do it, I get moved out and they bring in somebody who can.”