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3E Helps Amarillo’s Osage Water Treatment Plant Wrangle its MSDSs
City of Amarillo
Background
Located in the center of the Texas Panhandle, Amarillo offers all the conveniences of big city living in a friendly and small town atmosphere. The city’s 180,000 residents rely on the Osage Water Treatment Plant to provide them with clean, potable water. The plant operates on a 24 hour a day schedule, and has a treatment capacity of seventy million gallons of water per day.
Challenges
Ruben Arias is responsible for managing the plant’s Material Safety Data Sheets (MSDSs). When Mr. Arias started working with the plant several years ago, employees were filing MSDSs in a master paper binder. Although the master binder was continually outdated, it was photocopied regularly and distributed to the seven site locations. “To say that papers and inefficient organization were burying us alive would be a huge understatement!” said Mr. Arias.
Also, employees never completely trusted the information in the binders, so they would constantly visit Mr. Arias’ office to inquire about necessary precautions for various chemicals. “While I didn’t mind helping my colleagues,” said Mr. Arias, “the constant interruptions did have a very fragmenting affect on my day. Between the administration, and the referencing of MSDSs for employees, I figured out that it was costing me alone about 10 hours per week!”
Mr. Arias soon began to research ways to automate the plant’s MSDS management and distribution. Before reaching out to MSDS Solutions, since acquired by 3E Company, Mr. Arias tried a competing MSDS management tool, but was discouraged to learn that he still had to scan the MSDSs locally and upload them into the system.
“I was very frustrated that this tool required me to do all the work,” said Mr. Arias. “In the end, the product took up even more of my time! I just knew there had to be a better way.”
Solution
A colleague referred Mr. Arias to what is now 3E Company’s 3E Service group. “I had visited the MSDS.com Web site in the past to find updated or missing documents, and was greatly pleased with the quality of the site, so I was delighted to find out that the company offered a robust MSDS management solution as well,” said Mr. Arias.
With 3E Service® - MSDS Silver, Mr. Arias simply had to submit his MSDSs. Within a few weeks, the team had scanned and indexed the Plant’s library of 700 MSDSs and created a custom database for use by all Plant personnel.
“Now all of our employees can work autonomously – finding the MSDS they need, when they need it. Using 3E Service saves them time and makes them so much more efficient,” said Mr. Arias.
Mr. Arias also appreciates 3E Service’s extensive reporting tools. “The inventory list function, by site location, enables me to ensure that our MSDSs are reflected in our actual product inventory. Our workplace is safer and preparing for regulatory audits is much easier,” he said.
Results
“We have noticed many benefits to using 3E Service. First and foremost, our workplace is safer because our employees have the knowledge they need to safely handle chemicals. We are also more efficient since the time we spend managing MSDSs has been slashed from ten hours a week down to two hours!” said Mr. Arias.
The Plant’s employees now know that the MSDSs they are referencing contain the most accurate and up-to-date information available. “Our employees are not afraid to use certain chemicals anymore. They simply follow the PPE guidelines on the MSDS because they know the information is accurate. It’s very empowering,” said Mr. Arias.
Mr. Arias has also noticed that inspections go much faster. “The inspectors know our MSDSs are current so they don’t tend to have as many questions for us,” said Mr. Arias.
“I am definitely a satisfied customer,” he continued. “If you are looking for a comprehensive MSDS management solution with great customer support, I would definitely recommend 3E Company!”
Location: Amarillo, TX
3E Services: 3E Service - MSDS
Industry/Market: Municipality
Company Web Site: http://www.ci.amarillo.tx.us/