Flashings

Dow Polyurethanes increases prices

Dow Polyurethanes, a business group of The Dow Chemical Co., Midland, Mich., raised prices for VORANATE* TDI (toluene diisocyanate) by 8 cents per pound with an increase of 3 cents per pound for tank-truck deliveries. An increase of 6 cents per pound with an upcharge of 3 cents per pound for tank-truck shipments also occurred for VORANOL* polyether and copolymer polyols, VORALUX* polyurethane components and SPECFLEX* polyurethane components. The price changes became effective Sept. 1.

The company says the price increases are a result of rising propylene and natural gas prices; these products make propylene oxide that, in turn, is involved in the manufacture of polyether polyols.

In addition, Dow Polyurethanes reports its TDI supply will be limited for the rest of 2002 because of an equipment failure at its Freeport, Texas, facility. The failure forced the company to shut down it Freeport TDI train. Therefore, Dow Polyurethanes placed its TDI supply on order control in North America and the Pacific.

TDI is one of the most commonly used aromatic isocyanates. Dow Polyurethanes supplies TDI to the flexible polyurethane foam market.

Chicago association and OSHA sign agreement

On Sept. 10, the Chicago Roofing Contractors Association (CRCA) and Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) signed the Chicagoland Roofing Safety Partnership (CRSP), the first partnership agreement between OSHA and a local construction trade. CRSP is designed to benefit roofing contractors, OSHA and the general public by improving safety at Chicago-area job sites.

"The objectives are to focus the efforts, skills and resources of all current and future CRCA members … and OSHA to reduce hazards and serious injuries at job sites," says CRCA Health & Safety Co-chairman Bruce Diederich, president of Waukegan Roofing Co., Waukegan, Ill. "I hope this will result in lowering the national average ratings for injuries, which is a long-term objective."

All CRCA members are eligible for the voluntary program. Roofing contractors who apply for and receive CRSP status will have the opportunity to create better working relationships with OSHA.

For example, a CRSP participant that receives a random OSHA inspection may be inspected for serious violations only. In addition, if OSHA inspects a multicontractor site, a CRSP participant may be excluded from the inspection. And if a CRSP participant is cited for a violation and receives a fine, the fine may be reduced.

The agreement does not prevent CRSP participants from receiving OSHA inspections, citations and fines. Rather, the agreement drives OSHA inspectors to look for hazards and serious violations that can be corrected during inspections and provides a basis for a positive relationship between roofing contractors and OSHA inspectors.

In 1996, NRCA established the Roofing Industry Partnership Program for Safety and Health (RIPPSH) with OSHA to recognize and reward roofing contractors who set high standards for safety and health. (See "Rewarding the safety-conscious," September 1997 issue, page 24, for details about RIPPSH.) RIPPSH—which expired in September—was a successful pilot program, and the lessons learned from it have provided useful information to CRCA.

According to Julie Evans, OSHA's regional coordinator for CRSP, OSHA wants to continue its partnership created by RIPPSH with roofing contractors at a local level. In addition to Illinois, OSHA plans to provide copies of CRSP documents to other states within OSHA's Region V—Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio and Wisconsin—so other local partnerships can develop.

For more information, contact CRCA at (708) 449-3340 or visit www.crca.org.

DOE issues determination for commercial building code

On July 15, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) issued a determination in the Federal Register stating ASHRAE Standard 90.1-1999, "Energy Standard for Buildings Except Low-Rise Residential Buildings," would improve commercial buildings' energy efficiencies compared with ASHRAE Standard 90.1-1989, "Energy Efficient Design of New Buildings Except Low-Rise Residential Buildings." According to the Federal Energy Conservation and Production Act, which mandates DOE's role in determining whether standard changes are needed, all states have two years to adopt Standard 90.1-1999 or issue similar guidelines.

The American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) President Donald Colliver says, "ASHRAE currently is working on the 2004 standard with a goal of increasing the stringency to achieve a significant reduction in energy consumption over the 1999 standard."

For more information, visit DOE's building energy codes' Web site, www.energycodes.gov.