You know, as a plumbing engineer, it can be an extremely risky industry, and it pays for everyone to be aware of the risks that you can come into contact with by joining your day-to-day job. Working as a self-employed plumbing engineer involves infinitely more risks because, as a sole person, you are responsible for staying Read more
American Society of Plumbing Engineers (ASPE)
You know, as a plumbing engineer, it can be an extremely risky industry, and it pays for everyone to be aware of the risks that you can come into contact with by joining your day-to-day job. Working as a self-employed plumbing engineer involves infinitely more risks because, as a sole person, you are responsible for staying safe at all times and working through the correct safety laws and protocols put in place to ensure the safety of both yourself, your clients, and your working environment.
So whether you find yourself working on plans to install brand new plumbing on a new residential property, working with people to extend their homes, or your work takes you to a construction site, being aware of your responsibilities as a plumbing engineer can help to keep you safe at all times and ensure that the work you carry out as completed meets the highest standards and doesn’t pose any safety risks to the environment or to the users.
So what do you need to know, and what do you need to do to ensure your safety at all times?
OSHA
OSHA, the cornerstone of workplace safety, controls and sets the standards for all health and safety initiatives for workplace employers and employees. For plumbers and plumbing engineers, specific sets of standards are in place and designed by OSHA to ensure that you can work safely, especially in hazardous environments. These standards include hazard protection, materials protection, and confined space regulations, providing you with a secure framework for your work.
Use Proper Tools and Equipment
As mentioned, during the course of your working day or week, you can face a range of different environmental scenarios and hazardous materials. Ensuring you’re using the correct tools and equipment for the job can help you minimize and reduce any potential risks or impacts of an incorrect job being carried out.
As a plumbing engineer, you will be responsible for designing, instaling and the maintenance of plumbing systems in various scenarios and environments, whether residential properties, chemical plants, hospitals, shopping malls, or anything else.
This means that you need to know what tools and equipment are required for the job at hand. So whether this is knowing the right gasket material types for the type of plumbing work and substances flowing through the plumbing or you need to understand the intricacies of navigating different construction materials to implement the right plumbing structure and connections and being able to understand the scope of the work can help you to ensure that you’ve got the right tools and equipment for use at all times.
PPE
Everyone is aware of what PPE is; however, due to the nature of the work you’ll be carrying out, ensuring you have the correct type of PPE for every single type of job is paramount for health and safety. As a self-employed engineer, the last thing you want is to be injured at work due to being negligent and then not being able to work for prolonged periods while you recover from accidents or injuries. The correct PPE will, of course, depend on the work you carry out, but at a minimum, this includes safety gloves, glasses, protective clothing, and even still cap boots to protect your feet while working.
Watts will unveil solutions for a Safer, More Sustainable World at the American Society of Plumbing Engineers’ (ASPE) Convention & Expo, September 16-21, in Indianapolis, IN. Watts representatives will be on hand in Booth #1133 to discuss solutions supporting sustainability in the areas of heating and hot water, drainage, backflow & mixing, data centers, and Read more
Watts will unveil solutions for a Safer, More Sustainable World at the American Society of Plumbing Engineers’ (ASPE) Convention & Expo, September 16-21, in Indianapolis, IN.
Watts representatives will be on hand in Booth #1133 to discuss solutions supporting sustainability in the areas of heating and hot water, drainage, backflow & mixing, data centers, and water management. They will represent such brands as AERCO, BLÜCHER, Lync, ORION, POWERS, PVI, The Detection Group, and Watts.
Watts experts will also be featured speakers at two technical sessions:
- David Desjardins, Business Development Manager-Mixing, Wholesale East, will present Smarter, Safer, Hot Water (Track: Codes and Standards/Water Quality) on September 20 from 8:30–9:45 am.
- Laurie Conner, President, The Detection Group, will present Wireless Water Leak Detection Systems for Commercial Applications (Track: System Design) on September 21 from 10:00–11:15 am.
For more information and to register for the ASPE Convention & Expo, go to: 2022 ASPE Convention & Expo – September 16-21, 2022 .
Mechanical Hub Media is proud to be a media sponsor for the Seventh Emerging Water Technology Symposium (EWTS). The EWTS, a biennial symposium co-convened by the Alliance for Water Efficiency (AWE), the American Society of Plumbing Engineers (ASPE), the International Association of Plumbing and Mechanical Officials (IAPMO) and Plumbing Manufacturers International (PMI), continues to provide critical Read more
Mechanical Hub Media is proud to be a media sponsor for the Seventh Emerging Water Technology Symposium (EWTS). The EWTS, a biennial symposium co-convened by the Alliance for Water Efficiency (AWE), the American Society of Plumbing Engineers (ASPE), the International Association of Plumbing and Mechanical Officials (IAPMO) and Plumbing Manufacturers International (PMI), continues to provide critical insight into the future of our water-related industries. Join with your colleagues May 10-11 in San Antonio at this must-attend event. The speaker lineup this year is the strongest ever!
Two keynote speakers: Robert Puente, CEO of San Antonio Water Systems, will discuss how San Antonio Water Systems is cultivating a culture of technology to address water scarcity. The second keynote will be provided by Don Johnston, senior operations director, Indonesia, at Water.org.
Attendees will also hear from Sun Gil Kim, program officer at the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation; Edward Osann, senior policy analyst at the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC); C.J. Lagan, Product Testing & Compliance leader at LIXIL; and Clement Cid, PhD, senior research engineer at Linde+Robinson Lab as they discuss the safety and performance requirements, and the likely regulatory framework, for the Reinvent the Toilet project.
Natascha Milesi-Ferretti, mechanical engineer, National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), will discuss several new research efforts that NIST will be addressing in the premise plumbing area — including a newly installed laboratory to characterize the pressure-flow relationship of plumbing fittings, a facility to study the growth of opportunistic pathogens in hot water systems as a function of temperature, water usage patterns and other factors, and other initiatives.
Learn the latest on keeping building water systems safe! Janet E. Stout, PhD, president and director, Special Pathogens Laboratory, will discuss new approaches for the control and spread of Legionella and other waterborne pathogens such as non-tuberculous mycobacteria. Kurt Steenhook, international representative, and Robert Viches, training specialist for the United Association, detail a compliance pathway for facility managers, contractors, and craftsmen to operationalize an appropriate response to the exposure of metals, chemicals, and bacteria to building occupants.
Dr. Markus Lenger, principal at Clean Blu, Inc., will be back at the EWTS to discuss advancements in the design and monitoring of water reuse systems, and the need for new standards that will result in more affordable and reliable applications that can help to make direct potable reuse a consumer product!
Hear from Academia! Professor Michael Gormley of Herriot Watt University will discuss virus presence, prevalence and fate within building wastewater sanitary systems; Professor Andrew Whelton of Purdue University will provide a presentation on predicting faucet water quality and predicting plumbing system contamination and recovery; and Professor Steve Buchburger of the University of Cincinnati will discuss the application and potential of the Water Demand Calculator.
Both days at the EWTS will include an informative panel discussion with today’s most notable subject matter experts. Day one’s panel will address the Effective Risk Management of Building Water Systems and Pathogen Control and day two’s panel will provide a discussion on the Implications of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act on Drinking and Wastewater Systems.
Finally, the EWTS will again feature a Young Water Specialists presentation. This year, “Team HydroPuris” will present remotely from Washington, D.C., on their eCybermisson competition project, Enabling Access to Clean Water Using a Portable Water Purification and Testing System. Hearing from the water experts of the future is a fun and great way to conclude the symposium!
There’s so much more! See the full program at www.ewts.org, and register for the EWTS at https://www.aspe.org/2022-ewts-registration/. We hope to see you in San Antonio!