As a writer covering HVAC and plumbing, I was often the only woman in the room. But that's changing, and more women are finding success in these industries. As Judaline Cassidy said, "Jobs don't have genders."

Retaining skilled employees is vital for plumbing and HVAC contractors. High turnover leads to disruptions and decreased customer satisfaction. To address this, many are finding innovative ways to encourage retention, including unique approaches from new companies.

No tropical cyclones as of Wed, 13 Nov 2024 12:37:46 GMT

Housing market, inflation rates and the upcoming midterm election will influence the economy in 2018.

Working with the media can help boost your company image.

Are you being proactive about your marketing plan?

Sometimes, love isn’t all you need.

According to a white paper authored by venture capital firm ARD Ventures, each fleet vehicle, on average, receives between 30,000 -70,000 impressions daily. 

One of the toughest calls I receive as the owner of a public relations agency specializing in the home services industry is from a plumbing or mechanical business owner asking for my help after they find themselves, or their business, in the middle of a crisis.

Plumbers and their customers are living in a digital age, which means more potential clients are finding a plumber online via Google searches. If more customers are finding plumbers on Google, then it is important that you take the right steps to ensure you are the plumber they find. 

Let me clue you in on a poorly kept secret: Traditional advertising is expensive. I know, this isn’t exactly shocking. Depending on your market, a month-long rental of a billboard could cost five figures. A week’s worth of 15-second radio ads can run up to $8,000 — and that doesn’t include the cost of producing them. And television? Forget it.

Thanks, Fred.

From Roman baths to modern water-saving showerheads, plumbing has come a long way.

Third-party listing helps protect you and your customers.

The code-writing organizations are currently finalizing the 2021 edition of the Plumbing Code, which may be adopted in your state or local jurisdiction by 2023. That is how far in advance hot subjects that are being discussed now wait before becoming law.

In March 2010, a nine-month-old boy rolled off his sister’s bed in Jersey City, New Jersey, and got stuck between the bed and a cast-iron, steam radiator that was as hot as it’s supposed to be. The radiator delivered third-degree burns to the infant and left him with permanent scars.

A homeowner posted a question on The Wall at HeatingHelp.com about a drumroll sound that was coming from his brand-new steam boiler. What could it be? He included a video so all could hear, and sure enough, it sounded like a snare drum.

My iPhone pinged a text: “Hi, Dan. How are you and Marianne, and the family? I’m sorry to bother you. I can’t get my steam heat to go on. I can’t get a plumber to come quickly. I guess they’re busy with the weather. Can I call you later to ask you something about the burner?”

I have heating (plumbing, fire suppression, etc.) shops in New York and New Jersey. This is very much steam country, and we repair and replace steam boilers and systems all week long and have been for decades. All that is fine, but what I find incredibly odd is the polarized perception of the automatic water feeder.

I love all the advances taking place in the world of hydronics, but I’m still seeing plenty of steam systems out there in our older cities, so knowing about dry steam will help you if you’re replacing a steam boiler. The dryer the steam is, the better you’re going to look to your customers.

In 1885, when you could still buy a milk cow for $29.70, Albert Butz, a Swiss immigrant living in St. Paul, Minnesota, invented what he called the damper-flapper. He patented it the following year. The flapper opened a damper that allowed outside air to enter a coal-fired home furnace. This increased the oxygen in the furnace and made the fire burn hotter. When the temperature rose to a desired point, the damper closed.

It was one of those days at HeatingHelp.com when the old guys had the floor. One of the regulars, a retired (and understandably crotchety) fella from Canada had this to say:

Not long ago, Ray asked the Wallies who post daily on The Wall at HeatingHelp.com what advice they would give someone just starting out in this business. Here’s some of what they had to say. There’s a lot of street-smart experience here.

I spotted a story in the newspaper last year that made me smile with a memory that was bittersweet. 

Safety professionals work diligently to engage both leaders and employees. But there is often a challenge: leaders wish their employees would just "be careful" without doing diligence to hazard identification, assessment and control. The result: workers claim leaders are only concerned with productivity and budgets.

Obese teenagers can have certain brain differences from their thinner peers -- changes that might signal damage from inflammation, a new, preliminary study suggests.

This article is really about putting all of the concepts in the previous articles together to come up with what will hopefully be the most significant change in thinking so far.

What’s that one worksite habit that really grinds your gears? Every safety pro has one pet peeve they hate to see but can’t seem to eliminate. Bad safety habits happen on every job site, but breaking those habits isn’t as easy as slapping workers on the wrist or offering them rewards.

Aqueous Film-Forming Foam has saved numerous lives with its effectiveness, but recent studies have revealed just how dangerous it is, chiefly due to the presence of PFAS.

Ergonomics principles can guide employers towards systems that adapt to workers’ needs and decrease the potential for discomfort and harm.

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? 

A dockworker strike that could affect up to 36 ports along the U.S. East and Gulf Coasts would significantly impact the economy; the roofing industry would not be spared.

It’s a fact of life in every industrial facility: Heavy machinery and a cavernous room are a bad combination. The noise generated in such an environment quickly becomes intolerable, not to mention dangerous for those working there.

The SCHACHTBAU Group, headquartered in Nordhausen (Northern Thuringia, Germany), looks back on a tradition spanning more than 110 years of business in the sectors of mining industry, machine-building, steel construction, plant technology and building industry. Starting as a technology supplier for the specialist mining sector, the company evolved into a globally acting business with more than 900 employees in several branches.

The natural gas meter may be the textbook example of something that is said to be “hidden in plain sight.” Every structure – from house to hospital and grocery store to commercial warehouse – that uses natural gas as the feedstock for its furnaces, stoves or water heaters has at least one of the (usually) gray boxes bolted to its exterior.

A manufacturer of robotic road painting systems, RoadPrintz Inc., based in Cleveland Heights, Ohio, unites pioneering innovation with sound engineering to produce operator-driven vehicles equipped with cutting-edge technology for the painting of road symbols without the use of stencils.

How many years will it take for AI applications to trickle down to small contractors? The odds are the OSH benefits will not be equitably distributed.

As the U.S. has begun to reopen with the coronavirus continuing to affect the country six months after many shelter-in-place mandates developed, workers across a multitude of industries — from manufacturing plants to agriculture to meat processing — are getting sick.

Through cross-industry partnership, Blackline Collective empowers leaders with a forum to share experiences, best practices and strategies that improve worker safety, efficiency and quality

Whether you agree or not with the increasing ESG scrutiny on companies, your business and bottom line are in jeopardy if you are not as attentive to ESG as you are ensuring your workers and contractors are safe.

With climate change in mind, it is imperative that industries evaluate current heat safety practices and explore the potential of core body temperature-sensing wearables that accurately predict heat strain, improve worker productivity, and mitigate adverse heat-related health outcomes.

The ticket shop for A+A 2023 is now open! Secure your tickets now and be part of an unforgettable trade fair experience. Discover the latest innovations, make valuable contacts with decision-makers from the industry and immerse yourself in exciting specialist lectures and workshops.

The Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety (CCOHS) has launched a suite of free resources.

Generative AI, a subset of AI that can produce human-like content, has emerged as a pivotal tool in enhancing workplace safety.

Cold stress may not be as well-known as heat stress, but when the temperature drops, it can pose a significant danger.

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.

Bulwark, the world’s largest flame-resistant (FR) apparel brand, was recently sold to Redwood Capital Investments, LLC, marking a new era for the company as it transitions into a stand-alone workwear organization.

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.

In 1998, according to a Bureau of Labor Statistics report, 413 workers were struck and killed by vehicles. That was “the highest number in the 7-year period that the fatality census has been compiled.”₁ Without a standard in place, the numbers were steadily rising.