Here We Grow Again

PLC President Luke Morrison, P. Eng. was pleased to announce the addition of two new staff members in February 2008.  Moving from Mexico City to join the professional team at PLC is Oscar Guerra, who brings almost 15 years of engineering experience in fire engineering and related fields.  Oscar, his wife and three sons are quickly settling into the Fredericton community. Oscar and family look forward to the quieter lifestyle of New Brunswick.

Also joining PLC in an administrative capacity is Calvin Macintosh, who brings almost 30 years of business experience in both the private and public sectors in Fredericton.  Calvin is responsible for financial and business planning, monitoring and forecasting at PLC.  He will also be looking after the availability of resources, facilities and systems to support engineering project operations, as well as the management of administrative staff and functions.

These are just two new members of the growing team at PLC who are helping to better meet the needs of our clients.

PLC Expands to Better Serve Clients

In November 2007 Professional Loss Control established an office in Mississauga to better serve the needs of our clients in Ontario and beyond.  In announcing the new office, PLC President Luke Morrison P. Eng. also introduced Ghaith Qamheiah P. Eng., an experienced fire protection engineer with a chemical engineering degree and additional Fire Protection Engineering training from the Worcester Polytechnic Institute.  Ghaith, the newest Principal of PLC, is responsible for the Mississauga office and is supported by the PLC professional team represnting more than100 years of experience in the fire protection industry.

Professional staff in the Fredericton and Mississauga offices will have the benefit of being connected electronically so they can access the tools, files and software they need, when they need it, to continue to provide the quality service that our clients have come to expect from us.  All projects will continue to be delivered through the Fredericton office quality program which is ISO 9001:2000 certified.

In January 2007 Luke Morrison gave two technical papers to the annual meeting of the Flexible Packaging Association.  The association represents firms in the printing industry.  In its one day session on loss control and safety Mr. Morrison gave one technical paper on Explosion Prevention and another on Managing the Highly Protected Risk.  Summaries of these presentations are shown below.

Explosion Prevention

Explosions in manufacturing facilities have resulted in serious employee injuries and extensive damage to building and equipment.  The risk in printing operations is even greater due to increased speeds and installed control systems.  The presentation will review the hazards present in a typical printing facility and discuss what safety measures are required by applicable standards. The safety measures will provide design guidance for vapour and ignition source control including administrative controls necessary for the protection of employees.

Managing the Highly Protected Risk (HPR)

Highly Protected Risk is a program utilized by business insurers to minimize catastrophic loss potential and prevent extended business interruption to production.  The presenter will describe the critical elements of a HPR program and how its use and rating system can reduce the frequency of loss events, lower the insurance premiums and provide the peace of mind having a safer workplace.

The principals of PLC are very pleased to welcome Ghaith Qamheiah to its professional staff.  Ghaith is a graduate of Chemical Engineering from McMaster University and has been working in the fire safety consulting field for the past eight years with Arencon of Mississauga, Ontario.  His work activities have involved a broad range of industrial clients and special protection measures.