Developing a strong brand can significantly impact your plumbing company by making it more familiar and less intimidating to consumers. This can lead to more calls and reduced marketing costs. Here are six important factors to consider when building a brand and brand image in your market.

I've had lots of opportunities to review plans for pending hydronic heating systems. I've also been on "forensic" visits to sites with improperly performing systems. Of the two, I much prefer plan review over forensics.

Named after a local mountain and using the colors of the state’s only four year university, Aspen Mountain Plumbing’s trucks remind all the locals of home. 

Ever since the RPA was formed, members have taken advantage of the great benefits the alliance has to offer, such as codes and standards advocacy, a job center network, obtaining and creating valuable education, the annual Radiant Flooring Guide, newsletter subscription, discounts for IAPMO products and services, access to webinars and more. RPA members are professionals from all facets of the radiant profession, including manufacturers, installers, engineers, architects, students, apprentices and inspectors.

Boiler systems are essential for residential heating and hot water. Their efficiency and longevity depend on good water quality. Poor water quality causes corrosion, scale buildup, and higher costs. Maintaining high water quality ensures smooth operation and durability.

Last month, we began discussing the HVAC system installed at my church’s newly-constructed parsonage. In this month’s column, we’ll complete the picture.

For more than 17 years, I’ve been helping contractors learn and practice good habits. It has improved their lives, their employees’ lives and even the lives of the customers they serve.

One of the most common things I see when I begin my work with a new contracting client is the resistance to train employees. 

Bad attitudes are everywhere, or so it would appear. In most cases, it is based on nothing other than your opinion. 

The conversation typically goes like this: The owner tells me, “Al, I don’t know if I can get buy-in here for the operating manuals.”

It’s without question that technology has improved the mechanical world around us. From my smartphone, I can instantly see the health of hundreds of our boiler plants across the country. 

A few weeks back I was having a conversation with a plumbing and HVAC contracting business owner. During the beginning of our discussion, he abruptly told me, “I just use ChatGPT to do your job.”

Don’t make these seven sales mistakes.

This one goes back a bunch of years. The contractor was a good steam man, but he had run out of ideas with this job. It was a typical, five-story, New York City tenement building. Its one-pipe steam system had served generations of tenants for more than 100 years.

I began my career in the HVAC business in 1970 as a truck driver for an AC/refrigeration wholesaler. I stayed there just six weeks because my father — who worked for a manufacturers’ rep — told me there was an opening for a clerk at the rep. It paid $110 a week, which was $10 more than I was getting driving the truck. Plus, I’d get to work with him as my boss.

Nondairy milk may have begun as a lactose-free alternative for vegans or nondairy eaters, but the rise in popularity can be attributed to much more than being a must-have swap. The options are endless: almond milk, soy milk, hemp milk, rice milk, and more.

Cannabidiol (CBD) has been recently covered in the media, and you may have even seen it as an add-in booster to your post-workout smoothie or morning coffee. What exactly is CBD? Why is it suddenly so popular?

This is a voluntary consensus standard. It uses recognized management system principles in order to be compatible with quality and environmental management system standards such as ISO 9001, ISO 14001 and ISO 45001.

Organizations around the world are becoming extremely wary of Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, otherwise known as PFAS or forever chemicals. But why is this important to your organization and how can you control them? 

Companies in the market for personal protection equipment (PPE) should look for products that are UL classified where this is applicable. These items have been subject to specific relevant tests and passed inspections for either personal or industry use.

With the summer months right around the corner and temperatures warming up around the US, workers in a variety of industries are making adjustments to their personal protective apparel kit.

The difference between flame resistant (FR) and arc flash or arc rated (AR) clothing is clear, but many professionals make the mistake of choosing FR clothing with the assumption that they will be safe should a fire occur.

Learn about the different types of confined space rescue procedures and why it is important to develop an effective confined space rescue plan.

The New View is fundamentally the application of systems thinking to workplace health and safety. It considers safety an emergent property of the system. So what does that jargon mean? Instead of focusing on an individual thing, the organization steps back and takes a broader view.

Who makes sure all of that water and electricity continues to flow so it’s there when we need it? There are a million people working at all hours of the day to make sure these resources are always available. 

Truck driving ergonomics is an often overlooked part of vehicle safety. Employee comfort and musculoskeletal health deserve attention, too.

Actions to reduce risk can range from using sensors for better construction fleet management to holding periodic training sessions about emerging issues.

We live, we love, we learn, and we leave a legacy.” This profound quotation from Stephen R. Covey has fueled my motivation to keep teaching at Virginia Tech well beyond retirement age and a comfortable pension.

The hard part is getting teams to buy into the team vision to play selfless and trust that if they focus on all the intangibles, the scoring will come and at the end of the game the scoreboard will reflect their efforts.

The union steward had just recounted an incident where a supervisor asked one of his workers to step into standing water to work on corroded gauges near the coker. The work needed to be done immediately as it would delay ongoing maintenance on the fractionator to take on different stock feed.

For all the COVID-19 safety guidelines circulating, some hundreds of pages long, basic best practices are straightforward and known by most Americans. Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases since 1984, recently recounted them in an interview with the Journal of the American Medical Association.

The Great Resignation, Big Quit, and Big Strike are just a few of the terms used to describe the phenomenon of the large number of people who, during Covid times, took drastic actions to remedy dissatisfaction with their job.

How humans and other animals detect odors is an intriguing topic. Each OHS pro should understand the basics of how to interpret chemical exposures.

The EEOC published proposed regulations to implement the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act on 08/11/2023. Read this article for answers to your questions. 

Sustainability is becoming an important point of discussion in the environmental health and safety space.

A+A Trade Fair director Lars Wismer discusses what it was like to run the massive global event for the first time.

June is National Safety Month. Here’s why it’s important and what it should mean for safety professionals.

The so-called “New View” of practicing safety is HOP. The “Old View” is BBS, and to an extent OSHA compliance.

"Safety for everyone” is the tagline of a 60-second Honda commercial you might have seen this fall. It tugs at the heart strings. A series of images is accompanied by voice-overs:

How to use psychological and behavioral knowledge to improve workplace safety. As a safety leader, it’s important to recognize moments when people are looking to you as an example and ensure that your behavior aligns with the values you’re working to instill in others.

Those working in industrial jobs face unique physical and mental health challenges that employers should be aware of. Most companies care about the well-being of their workers.

Clean label and better-for-you trends have elevated tea ingredients as beverage-makers look to deliver these attributes to consumers.

In a video interview with Beverage Industry, Justin Solomon, category marketing director of alcoholic beverages at ADM, discussed what’s driving innovation in beverage alcohol not only in terms of the products but how consumers are approaching alcohol consumption. 

As more consumers are recognizing the link between immune-health and overall health, experts note that the demand for functional beverages that support immunity has never been higher.

Smart lifestyle with smart light and humidifier — now available on Amazon U.S.A. Store plus all their products can be controlled with smartphones through Bluetooth or Wi-Fi easily by one touch or shake.

While all crimes carry potentially steep consequences, the attorneys at Taracks & Associates say they aren't all made equal.

Gotrax expands service to local repair stores to provide the best customer service and warranty service

Launched on the global crowdfunding platform Kickstarter.

Launched on the global crowdfunding platform Kickstarter.

Launched on the global crowdfunding platform Kickstarter.