Q: I recently had a situation in which an OSHA inspector caught one of my installers using a powder-actuated tool and did not have their operator’s certificate with them. Is there any way that I can have our certificates on file at the office as the techs often forget to carry them with them as required?
A: Technically, they should have their certificate with them. However, here is a good suggestion that might help. Make a copy of all your techs certificate cards for a particular tool. Keep the copies in a sealed plastic Ziplock-type bag in the tool’s case. Then a tech can show their copy if requested by an OSHA inspector. This suggestion came from “Big Ed” Terry, an account manager and trainer with Hilti in Orlando, Fla.

Q: Had a residential customer the other day that complained that their alarm system was not working. When I got to the house, I found that the system had no AC power from a faulty circuit breaker. Any suggestions to eliminate this service call problem in the future?
A: The first thing that comes to mind is to stock some standard 40-50VA “wall wart” plug-in transformers that have both a resettable fuse and, most importantly, an AC power LED. One that comes to mind is the ELK-TRG1640. Next time the customer calls and says their panel is dead, you can simply ask them if they see the green light on the transformer. Every time you run across an old transformer on a battery service call, just upgrade.

 

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