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NAIMA Releases "Play It Smart, Play It Safe" Training Video

ALEXANDRIA, VA – August 2, 2000 – The North American Insulation Manufacturers Association (NAIMA) is announcing the release of new training materials to support the Health and Safety Partnership Program (HSPP). The training resources available from NAIMA, including a new video, are designed to provide important information in an innovative and entertaining way about working with insulation products. The HSPP is NAIMA’s voluntary cooperative effort with the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) providing recommended work practices to workers and others handling fiber glass, rock wool and slag wool insulation products (also known as synthetic vitreous fibers or SVF).

Centered around a pick-up basketball game, the Play It Smart, Play It Safe video features two insulation workers discussing specific and general work practice recommendations for the installation of SVF insulation products. As an integral part of the HSPP initiative, the video is designed to provide an entertaining and informative way to educate people about the right way to handle fiber glass, rock and slag wool insulation products. It also features a guest appearance by OSHA chief Charles Jeffress in support of the program.

Accompanying Play It Smart, Play It Safe will be a brochure titled Working Smart with Fiber Glass, Rock Wool and Slag Wool Insulation Products. The brochure presents a detailed compilation of work practice recommendations from insulation manufacturers, contractor organizations, and OSHA as part of the HSPP. The recommendations apply to all work involving fiber glass, rock and slag wool insulation and address the broad categories of general housekeeping, personal protection, and clean up.

NAIMA President Ken Mentzer said, "With these training materials, we have succeeded in our objective of creating educational tools that are informative and fun to watch. The video takes a slice-of-life approach, incorporating a little humor and a lot of important information about how to properly handle insulation and it reinforces NAIMA’s commitment to workers who handle fiber glass, rock wool and slag wool products."

Contractors nationwide can use the video and the brochures to properly train their employees about recommended work practices and the HSPP. Implementation of the HSPP is well underway with NAIMA and its member companies conducting training sessions and workshops to promote the comfort and safety of workers who handle fiber glass and mineral wool insulation products.