The New Accuform Blog

Accuform Signs has been blogging about products, services, regulations, industry information and other timely material for over two years now. We've attempted to lead the way technologically and socially in the safety industry, adopting best practices along the way and plotting the course to providing our customers with the solutions they need not only for their plant and facilities, but for how their businesses can run more efficiently. We look at ourselves as early adopters if not innovators, and believe that working on the cutting-edge is essential to growing our business and yours.

All that said, we've raised the bar again in 2012 and elevated our blogging to a whole new level. The New Accuform Blog is made up of a team of 15 Accuform employees from different departments willing to share a little about what makes us tick, what we've found works and what doesn't. After all, we are a B2B company, supplying not only solutions to the safety industry that Inform Protect and Motivate™ your workforce, but also marketing materials and general industry insights whenever and wherever possible.

Often, early adoption starts at the top, and that’s what we have here at Accuform; buy-in from the top level, as shown in CEO Wayne Johnson’s blog, “View from the Top.” Mitch Fein, VP of Sales, will provide insights on “Growing Your Sales” and Marketing Director Brad Montgomery talks “Marketing Trends.” But we don’t focus only on the front of the house, as you’ll see after perusing Fred Bohinski’s “Production and Materials” or Merchandising’s Kristen Hogrefe on “Notable Safety Regulations.”

Keep coming back to the new Accuform Blog, subscribe to the feeds and leave us your feedback. We want to continue to be your source for relevant business and manufacturing insights in the safety and signage industries. And if you like this one, don't worry, it isn't going anywhere!

Accuform at the NSC 2011 Congress and Expo

The National Safety Council saves lives by preventing injuries and deaths at work, in homes and communities, and on the roads through leadership, research, education and advocacy.

By 2014, the council will save an additional 10,000 lives and prevent 1 million injuries. To achieve this goal, the NSC continues to partner with businesses, elected officials and the public to make an impact in areas such as distracted driving, teen driving, workplace safety, and safety in the home and community.

Workplace safety and transportation have been critical areas of focus to the council since its inception in 1913. Over the years, increases in unintentional injury and death rates in the homes and communities have resulted in the council expanding its focus to include safety in homes and communities.

The NSC Congress and Expo is one of Accuform’s biggest tradeshows of the year. With a huge 20’ x 40’ booth showcasing our newest and latest products, we “WOWed!” attendees and fellow exhibitors with a dazzling booth that drew over 1,000 leads!

“The show had a fantastic turnout,” said Brad Montgomery, Accuform’s Communications and Marketing Director. “Workplace safety is always a fundamental message here, along with the unveiling of OSHA’s 2011 top 10 recordable incident categories, new innovations in safety on the road and so on.

“It was truly a team effort to bring a concept like this to life,” Montgomery continued. “From our Store-boards™ to the cool booth graphics, the new case study, STOPOUT™ demo center and of course, R and D of all of our new products. The team on the show floor was totally engaging, and they worked tirelessly to capture the attention of all the attendees. It was a true win for the entire organization.”

NFPA 70E® 2012 Edition: Equipment Labeling Requirements

The National Fire Protection Agency (NFPA) has released the 2012 Edition of the NFPA 70E® Standard for Electrical Safety in the Workplace. Article 130.5(C) outlines the requirements for Equipment Labeling, effective September 30, 2011.

The standard states: Electrical equipment such as switchboards, panelboards, industrial control panels, meter socket enclosures, and motor control centers that are in other than dwelling units, and are likely to require examination, adjustment, servicing, or maintenance while energized, shall be field marked with a label containing all the following information:

1. At least one of the following:

• Available incident energy and the corresponding working distance
• Minimum arc rating of clothing
• Required level of PPE


• Highest Hard/Risk Category (HRC) for the equipment

2. Nominal system voltage
3. Arc flash boundary

Labels applied prior to September 30, 2011 are considered acceptable if they contain the available incident energy or required level of PPE.
Accuform offers several arc flash labels that comply with new equipment labeling requirements.

For our full selection of general safety arc flash equipment labels, as well as arc flash signs, click here.

For more information on the revised labeling requirements, refer to the official NFPA 70E® Standard, available at NFPA® Catalog.

Seahorses and Safety

Accuform Signs has spent part of 2011 introducing its facility identification solutions to new markets, now including parks and zoos to its repertoire. Recently, Accuform helped the Florida Aquarium and Lowry Park Zoo earn accreditation with the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA) by supplying them with over 300 exhibit signs in a very short amount of time. Accuform’s proprietary material, Accu-Shield™, is a big hit in these Tampa parks, and was equally well received at the AZA 2011 Annual Conference two weeks ago in Atlanta.

Working on a budget? We digitally print on over 30 different materials. Digital printing is also better for the environment and so is RE-Plastic™, a material made from 50% post-consumer recycled (PCR) material.

“The CEO of the Lowry Park Zoo, Craig Pugh, was our biggest fan at AZA,” said Jim Redmile, Accuform’s representative at this year’s conference. “Mr. Pugh was instrumental in sending many qualified leads to our booth, including other zoo CEO’s, purchasing managers, zookeepers, and facility operations officers.”

“At a smaller, niche-type of show like AZA, most of the attendees are already well-qualified leads, so creating personal relationships with attendees and other exhibitors, as well as consistency in attendance, becomes vital to creating new business,” Redmile explained. “It’s an aspect of sales and marketing that Accuform is extremely good at.”

The 2012 AZA Annual Conference will be held next September in Phoenix, Arizona.

You can see some examples of the signs Accuform created at www.accuform.com/zoo.

For more information on how to get started with your zoo and aquarium signs, you can contact a customer service agent.