Registration is now open for the OSHA 10-Hour Construction Outreach Course to be held at IAMU on January 24th & 25th.

This course will explain OSHA’s role in worker safety and health, jobsite hazard recognition, correction and prevention methods and how to read the OSHA standards. Participants will receive a completion card from the U.S. Department of Labor OSHA certifying successful completion of this OSHA 10-Hour course. 29 CFR 1926 CFR Book & course material furnished.

Topics Covered:

• Introduction to OSHA
• Electrical Hazards
• Fall Protection
• Caught-In and Struck-by Hazards
• Personal Protective Equipment
• Health Hazards in Construction
  

Who Should Attend:
This basic safety course is recommended for workers and supervisors, or those who have been given the task of developing and managing their employer’s safety program.

A Certificate of Attendance will be provided to attendees.

If you hire Contractors: Many cities also require their contractors to maintain a safety program to be eligible to work for them. The OSHA 10-Hour course will help those owners, managers, and employees develop a solid safety foundation at their company to hopefully avoid incidents while working for the city or utility. Hiring a contractor to perform work for the city/utility does not eliminate all liabilities to the city.

For more information, and to register click here.

Registration is now open for the OSHA 10-Hour General Industry Outreach Course to be held at IAMU on January 29th & 30th.

This course will explain OSHA’s role in worker safety and health, job-site hazard recognition, correction and prevention methods and how to read the OSHA standards.  Participants will receive a completion card from the U.S. Department of Labor OSHA certifying successful completion of this OSHA 10-Hour course. 29 CFR 1910 CFR Book & course material furnished.

Topics Covered

• Introduction to OSHA - 2 hours
• Walking & Working Surfaces & Fall Protection - 1 hour
• Emergency Action Plans - 1 hour
• Electrical - 1 hour
• Personal Protective Equipment - 1 hour
• Hazard Communication -1 hour
• Machine Guarding - 1 hour
• Lockout / Tagout - 1 hour
• Permit Required Confined Space - 1 hour

Who Should Attend
This basic safety course is recommended for workers and supervisors or those who have been given the task of developing and managing their employer’s safety program.

If you hire contractors: Many cities also require their contractors to maintain a safety    program to be eligible to work for them.  The OSHA 10-Hour course will help those owners, managers, and employees develop a solid safety foundation at their company to hopefully avoid incidents while working for the city or utility.  Hiring a contractor to perform work for the city/utility does not eliminate all liabilities to the city.

For more information, and to register click here.

Select presentations from the 2017 Energy Conference are now available online. 

To view them, click here.

*If you need your member sign-in information, contact Josh Trout at [email protected].*

The minimum random drug and alcohol testing rate is increasing for 2018. This means that 50 percent of covered employees will be tested. 
 
While the minimum annual random drug testing rate was 25 percent of all covered employees for calendar year 2017, paragraph 49 CFR 199.105(c)(4) requires the Administrator to raise the minimum annual random drug testing rate from 25 percent to 50 percent of all covered employees when the data obtained from the Management Information System (MIS) reports required by §199.119(a) indicate the positive test rate is equal to or greater than 1 percent.  In calendar year 2016, the random drug test positive rate was greater than 1 percent. Therefore, the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) minimum annual random drug testing rate shall be 50 percent of all covered employees for calendar year 2018.

It has come to IAMU’s attention that some members may be receiving phishing emails that appear as if they are coming from IAMU. The emails in question include alleged invoices. IAMU is investigating the origination of the phishing emails. IAMU will keep you up-to-date on this issue as we have more information to share. IAMU is working diligently to ensure continued safe electronic communication with its members.
 
If you have received a suspicious email that appears to be from IAMU, please contact Russ Saffell, IAMU Director of Member Security and Critical Infrastructure Protection, at [email protected].
 
Here are some tips for identifying other suspicious email:
 
Tip 1: Don’t trust the display name
A favorite phishing tactic among cybercriminals is to spoof the display name of an email. Return Path analyzed more than 760,000 email threats targeting 40 of the world’s largest brands and found that nearly half of all email threats spoofed the brand in the display name.
Here’s how it works: If a fraudster wanted to spoof the hypothetical brand “My Bank,” the email may look something like:

Since My Bank doesn’t own the domain “secure.com,” DMARC will not block this email on My Bank’s behalf, even if My Bank has set their DMARC policy for mybank.com to reject messages that fail to authenticate. This fraudulent email, once delivered, appears legitimate because most user inboxes only present the display name. Don’t trust the display name. Check the email address in the header from—if looks suspicious, don’t open the email.
 
Tip 2: Look but don’t click
Hover your mouse over any links embedded in the body of the email. If the link address looks weird, don’t click on it. If you want to test the link, open a new window and type in website address directly rather than clicking on the link from unsolicited emails.
 
Tip 3: Check for spelling mistakes
Brands are pretty serious about email. Legitimate messages usually do not have major spelling mistakes or poor grammar. Read your emails carefully and report anything that seems suspicious.
 
Tip 4: Analyze the salutation
Is the email addressed to a vague “Valued Customer?” If so, watch out—legitimate businesses will often use a personal salutation with your first and last name.
 
Tip 5: Don’t give up personal information
Legitimate banks and most other companies will never ask for personal credentials via email. Don’t give them up.
 
Tip 6: Beware of urgent or threatening language in the subject line
Invoking a sense of urgency or fear is a common phishing tactic. Beware of subject lines that claim your “account has been suspended” or your account had an “unauthorized login attempt.”
 
Tip 7: Review the signature
Lack of details about the signer or how you can contact a company strongly suggests a phish. Legitimate businesses always provide contact details.
 
Tip 8: Don’t click on attachments
Including malicious attachments that contain viruses and malware is a common phishing tactic. Malware can damage files on your computer, steal your passwords or spy on you without your knowledge. Don’t open any email attachments you weren’t expecting.
 
Tip 9: Don’t trust the header from email address
Fraudsters not only spoof brands in the display name, but also spoof brands in the header from email address. Return Path found that nearly 30% of more than 760,000 email threats spoofed brands somewhere in the header from email address with more than two thirds spoofing the brand in the email domain alone.
 
Tip 10: Don’t believe everything you see
Phishers are extremely good at what they do. Just because an email has convincing brand logos, language, and a seemingly valid email address, does not mean that it’s legitimate. Be skeptical when it comes to your email messages—if it looks even remotely suspicious, don’t open it.

Do you follow us on Facebook, Twitter, or LinkedIn? We’re on all three social networks and post frequently (but not too often that it would get annoying; we promise). We share information about IAMU trainings and events, news from the national associations, and public service announcements that you can share with your customers on your own social networks.

Connect with us today!

• Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/IAMUpage/
• Twitter - https://twitter.com/IAMUTweets
• LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/company/iamu

Deadline is Friday, Dec. 15.

IAMU is working collectively with other state organizations and entities to develop a public awareness campaign on the importance of energy infrastructure and the impact the electric industry has on the labor force and the economy. To help us in our data compilation, we are asking all members to take a few minutes and complete the Economic Impact Survey.  Many of the answers to the survey questions can be found in your last audit or year-end financials. For a copy of the survey, click here.

IAMU will keep all individual responses confidential and will be selective in sharing the aggregate numbers with outside parties. Should you have questions on this survey, please feel free to contact Krista Allen at [email protected] or 402.441.1684. 

Respondents who return their surveys by Friday, Dec. 15 will be eligible for a drawing for a $100 Target Visa, which can be used anywhere. The drawing will take place Monday, Dec. 18.

Presented by Nelson Technologies

The Iowa Association of Municipal Utilities Gas Department and Nelson Technologies will offer a one-day Natural Gas Odorizer Training Workshop.  The class will take place on Wednesday, December 13 at the IAMU Training and Office Complex.

For more information, and to register, click here.

Why You Should Attend:
In recent years, the ability to maintain and/or correct deficiencies with odorizers has been difficult. The lack of company support systems, parts, and knowledge of “older” odorizers has been a common problem among municipal gas systems.  This workshop will provide hands-on training from industry experts specific to odorizers and odorization. Operators will gain a better understanding of principle odorizer functions and will be provided with replacement options for possible Capital Improvement Projects.

The following topics will be covered in detail, as well as additional hands-on training:

• Overview of Odorization
• YZ Systems of LVO (Low Volume Odorizer) Injection System
• Principals of Operation
• Breakdown of parts/components (Actual demo will be present)
• Discuss transfer of odorant from bulk storage tank to day tank
• Slideshow of past & current LVO installations
• Hands-on, 6000B pump seal rebuild
• YZ LVO Spec Sheet (Walkthrough how to fill out spec sheet)
• Nelson Technologies Commissioning & Services provided
• Q & A Session

Who Should Attend:
All gas operating personnel who are responsible for the periodic maintenance, troubleshooting, and PHMSA required testing of natural gas odorization systems.