custom signs

Region 2 News Release: 10-1624-NEW / BOS 2010-480
Tuesday, November 30, 2010
Contact: Ted Fitzgerald
Phone: 617-565-2074
E-mail: fitzgerald.edmund@dol.gov

US Labor Department’s OSHA cites Brooklyn, NY, contractor for steel
erection, fall and scaffold hazards after fatal worker fall at Brooklyn jobsite

NEW YORK – The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration has cited Roth Metal Works, a Brooklyn steel erection contractor, for alleged willful and serious violations of workplace safety standards after an employee sustained a fatal fall at a Brooklyn construction site.

On May 27, Roth Metal Works employees were performing steel erection work on the top level of a six-story residential building under construction at 892 Bedford Ave. As a worker was attempting to connect a steel beam to form a balcony, the cantilevered steel beam section he was working on shifted, and he fell approximately 50 feet to the ground.

OSHA’s inspection found that this section and other steel beams on the sixth-floor level had not been stabilized to prevent displacement during steel erection activities, thus exposing workers to the hazards of structural steel collapses and falls. The inspection also determined that the worker lacked fall protection, and that a scaffold lacking cross-bracing and a safe means of access had not been erected and moved under the supervision of a competent person.

“This case illustrates the ultimate cost a worker can pay when required protections are absent or disregarded,” said Kay Gee, OSHA’s Manhattan area director. “Had the proper steel erection and fall protection safeguards been in place, these hazards would not have existed, and this death would have been prevented.”

As a result of its inspection, OSHA issued Roth Metal Works one willful citation for failing to stabilize the steel beams and four serious citations for the lack of fall protection and scaffold hazards. A willful violation is one committed with intentional knowing or voluntary disregard for the law’s requirements, or with plain indifference to worker safety and health. A serious citation is issued when there is substantial probability that death or serious physical harm could result from a hazard about which the employer knew or should have known. The company faces a total of $45,750 in proposed fines.

“One means of eliminating hazards such as these is for employers to establish an illness and injury prevention program, in which workers and management jointly work to identify and eliminate hazardous conditions on a continual basis,” said Robert Kulick, OSHA’s regional administrator in New York.

Roth Metal Works has 15 business days from receipt of its citations to meet with OSHA’s area director or contest the citations and proposed penalties before the independent Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission. The inspection was conducted by OSHA’s Manhattan Area Office, telephone 212-620-3200. To report workplace accidents, fatalities or situations posing imminent danger to workers, call OSHA’s toll-free hotline at 800-321-OSHA (6742).

Under the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970, employers are responsible for providing safe and healthful workplaces for their employees. OSHA’s role is to assure these conditions for America’s working men and women by setting and enforcing standards, and providing training, education and assistance. For more information, visit http://www.osha.gov.

###

U.S. Department of Labor releases are accessible on the Internet at http://www.dol.gov. The information in this news release will be made available in alternate format (large print, Braille, audiotape or disc) from the COAST office upon request. Please specify which news release when placing your request at 202-693-7828 or TTY 202-693-7755. The Labor Department is committed to providing America’s employers and employees with easy access to understandable information on how to comply with its laws and regulations. For more information, please visit http://www.dol.gov/compliance.

Sheridan Production Partners Raises $1.8 Billion to Acquire Onshore U.S. Producing Oil & Gas Properties
Sheridan now has over $3 billion available for investments

Houston, TX, November 30, 2010 - Sheridan Production Partners announced that it has raised $1.8 billion of equity commitments through its second fund, Sheridan Production Partners II, to continue to implement its strategy of funding the acquisition of onshore producing oil and gas properties in the United States.  

The private offering of limited partner interests in Sheridan Production Partners II was oversubscribed and reached its hard cap. Sheridan has raised over $3 billion in equity through private placements of two investment vehicles since its formation in 2006.  

“We intend to use the second fund, combined with leverage, to acquire mature producing properties to complement Sheridan’s existing operations in Oklahoma, Texas and New Mexico. We also will look to expand our footprint to East Texas, Louisiana and the Rocky Mountain region,” said Sheridan’s founder and Chief Executive Officer Lisa Stewart. “Our limited partners share Sheridan’s strategic vision of acquiring a diverse portfolio of mature, predictable oil and gas producing properties, optimizing those assets through operational improvements and cost savings, hedging the production for several years, and enhancing returns through prudent leverage.”  

Sheridan Production Partners II is under common management with Sheridan Production Partners I, the initial series of oil and gas partnerships established in 2007 with a similar investment strategy. Sheridan I has made five acquisitions for an aggregate purchase price of $1.6 billion utilizing a combination of equity commitments and debt financing. Sheridan I has now invested approximately 80 percent of its original commitments.  

“The success of our second fund’s offering in a challenging fundraising environment is a testament to the strategy, execution and strength of the entire Sheridan team,” Stewart said. “With the equity commitments raised in Sheridan II, plus $245 million of equity remaining from our first fund, and our credit facilities, we now have over $3 billion of available capital and are actively reviewing acquisition opportunities that meet our strategic objectives and return profile.”  

About Sheridan  

Sheridan Production Partners (www.sheridanproduction.com) is a Houston-based oil and gas operating company dedicated to building a balanced portfolio of mature properties across diverse onshore basins in the United States. Established by a proven and talented management team, Sheridan acquires mature assets and operates them to enhance recovery through capital reinvestment while focusing on cost control. Its strategy is to build value at the field level in order to maximize overall investor returns. The company’s three districts, staffed by 250 employees, currently produce approximately 19,000 barrels equivalent per day net, of which 90 percent is operated. As of September 30, 2010, Sheridan had approximately 127 million barrels equivalent of proved reserves with an approximate 19-year reserve life.  

Sheridan was established in 2006 by Sheridan Management and Warburg Pincus (www.warburgpincus.com), a leading private equity investor since 1971 and one of the preeminent private equity investors in upstream energy.

For More Information Contact
Operations:
James K. Bass
Chief Operating Officer
Sheridan Production Partners
713-548-1030
—————————————-
Finance:
Matthew J. Assiff
CFO
Sheridan Production Partners
713-548-1064
—————————————-

See all news in General

Nov. 30, 2010—Kerry Logistics, a freight forwarder based in Hong Kong, has begun trialing an RFID system at one of its facilities, to track the kitting and shipping of Canon cameras and their components prior to their shipment to retailers. If the RFID system operates as hoped, it will provide the firm with greater visibility into the kitting of each product (which includes adding accessories and warranties to every item prior to packing it in a carton for shipment), as well as assurance that only the correct products are packed and shipped. In the future, the system will also provide a method for matching paper warranty documents with actual products.

Kerry Logistics provides freight-forwarding services for customers worldwide, and in some instances, the firm also offers value-added services (VAS) that may involve some level of packing or kitting of the products before shipment. The company operates 12 warehouses in Hong Kong, totaling six million square feet of warehouse space.

The RFID system was deployed at a Kerry Logistics facility through which Canon ships its camera products to retailers. When a retailer places an order, Kerry Logistics’ staff gathers the requested pre-packaged cameras and lenses for that particular order, adds the necessary accessories and warranty documents to the individual cardboard box in which each item was pre-packaged, and then packs the boxes in cartons to be shipped. Shipment accuracy, says Wilson Lee, Kerry Logistics’ director of information technology, “is very, very important.”

Until the RFID system was launched this month, verifying that an order was filled correctly required employees to look up each product’s serial number and associated stock-keeping unit (SKU) number, in order to confirm that the items being packed matched the order, and to then scan the bar-coded number printed on the packaging and corresponding to the product’s serial number. While workers rarely make mistakes, Lee says, the process is slow. RFID, he notes, should reduce the time spent ensuring the proper items are being packed.

With the new system, once an order is placed, the necessary products are gathered and moved to the kitting assembly line, where accessories and warranty documents will be inserted into each camera’s cardboard packaging. The order number and details for that order, including the ordered products’ SKUs, are stored in Kerry Logistics’ management system, and are displayed on a screen at the assembly line. An RFID printer at the beginning of the packing line encodes a unique ID number to an ultrahigh-frequency (UHF) EPC Gen 2 RFID label from Avery Dennison, which is applied to the cardboard packaging of each camera or lens as staff members scan the bar-coded number linked to the item’s serial number on the packaging. That RFID number is captured and then forwarded from the reader to the back-end system, via a cabled connection. RFID middleware provided by PCCW Solutions translates the data and sends it to Kerry Logistics’ warehouse-management software, where the bar-code number and the SKU data associated with it are linked to the RFID number and stored. At the same time, the staff prints a warranty card containing that item’s serial number, to accompany the product that has just been tagged.

As the cameras and lenses are packed in a carton according to the retailer’s order, a Convergence Systems Limited (CSL) CS461 fixed reader captures each item’s RFID number and links that information with the order number, thereby creating a permanent record of what has been packed. The staff then adds any necessary accessories, and also places the warranty card for each camera or lens inside its packaging before the carton is sealed. Typically, six to eight boxes of cameras or lenses are packed in each carton.

As a worker loads cartons onto a pallet, the system automatically reads the products’ RFID tags once more, and the ID numbers are compared against the order being filled, to ensure accuracy and also update the database regarding what is being shipped. If there is a discrepancy, such as incorrect or missing items, an alert can be displayed on a monitor in the packing area. The cartons are then shipped to retailer customers throughout Hong Kong.

Nov. 29, 2010
Contact: Office of Communications
Phone: 202-693-1999

OSHA reissues Shipbreaking National Emphasis Program and
updates Shipyard PPE directive to include PPE Payment

WASHINGTON — OSHA issued two directives Nov. 4 updating its National Emphasis Program on Shipbreaking and its Enforcement Guidance for Personal Protective Equipment in Shipyard Employment.

The Shipbreaking national emphasis program (NEP) was initiated in 2000 in support of a 1999 agreement between OSHA, the U.S. Navy, the Maritime Administration, and the Environmental Protection Agency. This November 2010 Shipbreaking NEP replaces the update of March 2005. Inspections of shipbreaking operations will focus on 20 worker safety and health issues, including asbestos and lead exposure, polychlorinated biphenlys, confined spaces, heavy metals, powered industrial trucks, guarding of deck edges, oil/fuel removal and tank cleaning, hearing conservation, fire prevention, scaffolds, cutting and welding, and personal protective equipment.

The revised NEP directive supports the agency’s goal to reduce injuries and illnesses among Latino workers, who comprise a significant part of the shipbreaking workforce. Though OSHA standard 29 CFR 1915.73 does not require guarding deck openings and edges in shipbreaking tasks, the revised NEP provides clarification regarding fall protection requirements during shipbreaking operations. This revised NEP is available in a Web-based format with links to shipyard employment safety and health information.

OSHA also issued a shipyard employment directive on personal protective equipment that includes employer requirements to pay – that is, provide at no cost to the worker – for certain PPE. Steel-toed rubber boots, goggles, hard hats, hearing protection and respirators are some of the protective items employers must provide free of charge. This revised Web-based directive also describes equipment that employers do not have to pay for, such as ordinary clothing used as protection from weather, non-specialty prescription safety eyewear, and PPE that a worker already owns and is allowed to use instead of the employer-provided PPE.

This revised shipyard PPE guidance also recognizes consensus standards updates in OSHA’s September 2009 final rule, Updating OSHA Standards Based on National Consensus Standards; Personal Protective Equipment. It sets forth enforcement policies that OSHA inspectors should use when citing employers for failing to provide the necessary PPE to their workers.

Under the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970, employers are responsible for providing safe and healthful workplaces for their employees. OSHA’s role is to assure these conditions for America’s working men and women by setting and enforcing standards, and providing training, education and assistance. For more information, visit http://www.osha.gov.

###

U.S. Labor Department news releases are accessible on the Internet at www.dol.gov. The information in this release will be made available in alternative format upon request (large print, Braille, audiotape or disc) from the Central Office for Assistive Services and Technology. Please specify which news release when placing your request. Call 202-693-7828 or TTY 202-693-7755.

Topaz Resources to Acquire Barnett Combo Oil Properties in North Texas

Denton, TX, November 29, 2010 - Topaz Resources, Inc. (OTCBB: TOPZ) announced that it is in the process of consolidating approximately 750 net acres in the oil leg of the Barnett Shale in Montague County in North Texas.

This oil leg often is referred to as the Barnett Combo shale oil play, which refers to the presence of both oil and natural gas in certain parts of the Barnett shale formation in the Fort Worth basin, particularly the north side of the Barnett shale in Montague and Cooke counties. Potential reserves for the Barnett Combo play in Montague and Cooke counties are estimated to exceed 70 million barrels of oil and 175 billion cubic feet of natural gas per square mile, including over 280,000 barrels per well.

Like other unconventional oil plays such as the Bakken shale in North Dakota, the Barnett Combo is in the spotlight as prices for oil continue to remain high and therefore very attractive.  

This transaction is scheduled to close in December.

About Topaz Resources

Topaz Resources is an independent oil and gas company focusing on production, acquisitions and developmental drilling opportunities within proven producing areas of north, central and west Texas. The Company’s website can be found at www.topazresourcesinc.com.

Notice Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

This news release contains “forward-looking statements” as that term is defined in Section 27A of the United States Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Statements in this press release which are not purely historical are forward-looking statements and include any statements regarding beliefs, plans, expectations or intentions regarding the future. Such forward-looking statements include, among other things, the development, costs and results of our exploration program at our properties and any anticipated future production. Actual results could differ from those projected in any forward-looking statements due to numerous factors. Such factors include, among others, the inherent uncertainties associated with petroleum exploration and development stage exploration companies. These forward-looking statements are made as of the date of this news release, and we assume no obligation to update the forward-looking statements, or to update the reasons why actual results could differ from those projected in the forward-looking statements. Although we believe that the beliefs, plans, expectations and intentions contained in this press release are reasonable, there can be no assurance that such beliefs, plans, expectations or intentions will prove to be accurate. Investors should consult all of the information set forth herein and should also refer to the risk factors disclosure outlined in our annual report on Form 10-K for the most recent fiscal year, our quarterly reports on Form 10-Q and other periodic reports filed from time-to-time with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

For More Information Contact
Natalie Bannister
Investor Relations
573.631.2193
azureriviera@gmail.com
—————————————-

See all news in General