The Marine Chemist Association held a Board of Directors (BOD) meeting October 13, 2024. This was preceded by our fall sectional seminar. Information on the seminar, board meeting, along with general information, follows.
Our fall seminar was presented to seven chemists, one guest and included 6 BOD members and presenters. This number is down from our pre pandemic average of 25 attendees. The BOD is not sure why this remains low but the best guess is that it is a holdover from the Zoom seminars during the pandemic. The topics were the same as the spring seminar in Houston and you can only get credit for one seminar per year at the two locations offered. The BOD continues to use the sectional seminars to review the requirements on NFPA 306 and the Standard Safety Designations (SSD). This year the topics were as follows;
Pipelines/Hollow Structures and Hot Work
Business Outline
How to Prepare Pipelines and Hollow Structures for Hot Work. Clean or Inert.
How to Inspect the Pipelines/Hollow Structure and Confined Spaces they May be In.
How to Write a Certificate for Pipelines/Hollow Structures and Confined Spaces and what must be on the Certificate as Outlined in 306.
Certificate Critique Exercise
Open discussion
Members of the Association,
Thank you for the opportunity to serve you. I’ve been a member of the association for 26 years and have served on the Board of Directors previously as a Gulf Sectional representative.
I’m excited for the training agenda we are working on for this year and look forward to the Las Vegas annual. Remember, the association is here to enhance the trading and learning of all association members.
I’m also very excited about the future of our association.
At any time, you have a question or need further information, please reach out to your representatives.
Each section has great representation.
I look forward to seeing all of you at our future seminars.
Geoff Jenny
Seminars
Our next sectional seminar is scheduled for March 22nd 2025 at the New Orleans Hilton Airport located at 901 Airline Drive, Kenner LA. The cutoff date for the room block is February 28, 2025. As usual to register for the seminar and book a room please go through the MCA website under events. A fall seminar will be held in the Atlantic section but a location has not been selected yet.
The SSD to be covered at the 2025 sectionals will be Enter with Restrictions. The topics for the sectional seminars will be;
Enter With Restrictions
- How to prepare a space for this SSD.
- How to inspect a space for this SSD
- How to determine restrictions
- Time
- Contact/clothing
- Respiratory
- Restricting locations
- What is Required on a Certificate for Enter with Restrictions
- Certificate Exercise
- Open Discussion
As in the past the meeting will begin with an MCA business overview.
Your Board of Directors — The following is your BOD. Note that the alternates term on the BOD start when noted below. Each year the sections nominate a new alternate sectional representative.
As of August 2024
| Person | Position | Term Starts/ Ends* |
|---|---|---|
| Phil Giles | Past Chair | July 2024/July 2026 |
| Geoffery Jenny | Chair | July 2024/July 2026 |
| Josh Marshall | Chair Elect | July 2024/July 2026 |
| Greg Gadbois | Pacific | July 2024/July 2026 |
| Max Chou | Pacific | July 2023/July 2027 |
| Eric Moore | Gulf | July 2024/July 2026 |
| Chris Thompson | Gulf | July 2023/July 2027 |
| Mark Bruff | Atlantic | July 2024/July 2026 |
| John Loprino | Atlantic | July 2023/July 2027 |
| Scott Hernandez | Pacific Alt. | Term starts July 2026* |
| Whitney Cerilli | Atlantic Alt. | Term starts July 2026* |
| Jason Taylor | Gulf Alt. | Term starts July 2026* |
*Term starts after Annual Meeting
2025 Annual Seminar
The contract to hold the 2025 Annual Seminar has been finalized. The seminar will be at the Palazzo Hotel in Las Vegas July 28-30, 2025. Information on booking rooms and for the seminar is up on the website soon. Please note the room block dates and the cutoff dates. No refunds will be offered after July 5th when the room block closes. As in the past an incentive will be offered for regular members (those who pay into the fund/program). Since the budget has not been approved the reimbursement amount has not been finalized and the requirements will be the same as last year.
Seminar Incentive Program Requirements
- The seminar fee ($400) will be reimbursed. However, you must register and pay the seminar fee.
- Room fees will/should be reimbursed. (Although the budget has not been approved a request to cover the room fees will be requested)
- Stipulations are as follows.
- You must be a regular member, (Certified Marine Chemist) and attend the entire seminar (100%) and obtain credit for attending. Note: The 90% attendance waiver will not apply to be eligible for the incentive payment. You must attend the entire seminar to qualify for the incentive, however if you only attend 90% you will still get credit for attending the seminar
- You must stay at the seminar hotel under the MCA room block. ( The reimbursement does not include incidentals).
- You will be required to pay the fees up front and then submit your hotel receipt. At the conclusion of the seminar and when credit for attending is obtained, your receipt for the hotel can be submitted. Please email copies of the document to dvraff@comcast.net and a check will be sent out.
- If you sign up after July 5th and are not able to get into the MCA room block you must stay at the same hotel as the seminar to obtain a refund. Stays at other properties will not be reimbursed for the hotel portion.
- You must make your own arrangements.
NFPA 306
The BOD has solicited members of the association to consolidate comments on behalf of the MCA to the next edition of 306. Brian Axelrad will head up the committee assisted by Don Raffo. A site in the forum has been added to permit members to post comments on the suggested changes to 306. As time gets closer the comments will be reviewed and possibly submitted by the MCA. Everyone should remember you can also submit your own comments. The closing date for the next revision of 306 is June 3, 2026. This means that comments should be posted by July 2025 so the committee and BOD can review them in time for submission.
MCQB
The Board will meet November 5-6 in St. Louis where two trainees are scheduled to go before the board. In 2024 nine chemists were completed. In 2025 sixteen chemists are due for recertification. At the last meeting Whitney Taylor, CMC 747 (Pennsylvanian) and Peter Escamilla, CMC 746 (Texas) were certified which brings our number to 95 Certified Marine Chemists.
A rule change requiring a physical examination for initial training and a change to allow Nurse Practitioners to conduct a physical will be voted on by the board.
Finally, all chemists are encouraged to submit your monthly reports in a timely manner. Several are delinquent.
Certificate Information
The certificate count information is as follows;
You may notice that the numbers from NFPA slightly differ from the count as the MCA count uses the number of paid certificates vs NFPA which uses the monthly report numbers.
Seminar and Meeting Dress Code and Information
The BOD reminds you that we are a professional organization and all members are expected to dress properly for meetings. Business casual dress is required at all seminars and BOD meetings. Additionally, when coming before any Board you are reminded to dress professionally and use appropriate language. This is especially true when going before the MCQB.
- Dress for all seminars is business casual which is defined as;
- Neatly pressed tweed, khaki, clean denim or cotton pants/skirts
- Knit shirts, polo shirts, cardigans or long-sleeved button-downs
- Knit sweaters
- Tie (optional)
- Close-toed shoes for men
- No shorts of any kind
The insurance fund reminds every chemist that if appearing before the MCQB for any type of a review you are permitted and encouraged to bring counsel, documentation, or any information to make your case. The MCQB also encourages this practice.
Finally, the MCQB has gotten reports of chemists showing for an inspection not wearing the PPE or dress required by the customer. This reflects badly on the profession and we are reminded that the customer is hiring us and we should abide by their requirements on dress and PPE. Please consider this when showing up for an inspection as poor performance can reflect on us all.
Marine Chemist Physical Ability to Perform Duties
NPFA sends the following reminder to Chemists who may not be able to perform their work due to a temporary physical limitation.
The NFPA Marine Field Service wishes to remind all Marine Chemists, the Rules for the Certification and Recertification of Marine Chemists, as amended 01 September 2023, Section II. Qualifications – General, Paragraph A, requires all Marine Chemists to “be of an maintain good character, and physically able to perform the duties of a Marine Chemist”. In the event that a Marine Chemist is unable to physically perform his or her duties due to injury or illness; the Marine Chemist should be examined by a licensed physician and obtain a statement attesting to the Chemist’s physical ability to perform the duties of a Marine Chemist. The General Medical Examination Form (Form No. CMC-MD-01) may be used for this purpose.
Members of the MCQB have questioned the 5-year physical exam requirements and are looking into changing this requirement to have it done more frequently.
Ethics
Past chair Philip Giles (Ethics Committee Chair) reported that there are no ethics issues before the board.
Insurance
The MCA has both D&O and Liability insurance for the Board and any associated activities held by the MCA. While the Insurance Fund is not part of the MCA many chemists participate in the fund.
Any questions on contracts (for members of the fund) should be addressed to the attorney Matt Peirce. “Matthew F. Pierce” mpierce@gordontilden.com.
Website
The MCA website (marinechemistassociation.com) now has become the central location for all MCA information. If you encounter any issues first contact the support email at support@marinechemistassociation.com. If you still have an issue, email Don Raffo and I will contact the web person for a resolution.
The MCA has acquired the website www.marinechemist.org You may remember it was our old website which was lost upon the passing of Ed Willwerth and it was bought by a third party Recently the domain name became available and the MCA was able to purchase it. If you log into that website, it will direct you to our current website.
The forum is now the primary way for communication with members. Information for chemists is posted on the website. Failure to sign up for the Forum indicates consent to not receive meeting notifications. Any member can post on the Forum and this is the best way of increasing information and interactions.
To access the website, you must log in with your password. Once that is done you will be automatically logged in after that. If you have problems logging in, please contact the webmaster at: support@marinechemistassociation.com.
One of the changes is the ability for more control over your account, information, and membership. You now can change your personal information on the website and no longer need to contact Donald Raffo or the web person. It can be accomplished by going to the My Dashboard section (located in the upper right of the home page) and making the changes. It will then appear on the site.
All information on seminar attendance can be found in the My Dashboard section of our website. Note that you must click on the year tab at the bottom of the spreadsheet to view by year. If you attended a seminar and have a question on attendance, please contact D. Raffo. If you recently attended a seminar, please verify that the information is correct. A screenshot follows;
Members may view the forum section. It is an area where news and technical discussions may be posted. If you are registered, you will get a text message and/or email whenever there is new information. Information on seminars, newsletters, events or general information also can be found on the site. If you have not registered you must enter the site to obtain the latest news and posts. We encourage all chemists to join the forum and obtain notifications.
Additionally, all billing and seminar registration is on the website. You may also book a room via the website to attend a seminar.
Finally, some chemists asked to be able to list additional locations on the website. The web person has made these changes and you can now add an additional location. The first location listed is free, additional locations will be charged at a rate of $50.00/year. Video instructions on how to do it are as follows;
- Additional Locations: Intro
- Additional Locations: Getting started
- Additional Locations: Adding a new location
- Additional Locations: Adding international location
- Additional Locations: Cancelling subscriptions
MCA Committee Appointments
The following individuals represent the MCA on various committees. This is for general information.
Control of Gas Hazards – NFPA 306. (Appointed Positions by BOD)
Greg Grondin, principal, Jim Bruff alternate
John Bell, principal, John Edgar, alternate
Hot Work Operations – NFPA 51B. (Appointed Positions by BOD)
Greg Grondin principal
Robbie Walker, alternate
Tank Leakage and Repair Safeguards – NFPA 326 & NFPA 329. (Appointed Positions by BOD)
Brian Axelrad, principal
Vince Pempeit, alternate
NFPA 350 Guide for Safe Work in Industry Confined Spaces (Appointed Positions by BOD)
Robbie Walker, principal
Vince Pempeit, alternate
MCQB (Voted in by membership)
Brian Axelrad, principal
John Edgar, alternate
Marine Field Service Advisory Committee (Appointed Positions by BOD)
Donald Raffo
Chairman elect
SSRAC (Volunteers)
John Ward, principal
Robbie Walker, alternate
MACOSH (Appointed by BOD)
Donald Raffo
Code of Conduct for Meetings
During any official MCA meeting there should be no discussion of personal matters, private disputes, or business pricing. Discussion should be limited to technical matters and the business of running the MCA.
Facebook Page
For those of you who are on Facebook, visit Friends of Marine Chemist Association. It is a closed group and only chemists, spouses and friends may view and post on the page. If you’d like to access the page, send a friend request to the group. We encourage all to post information, photos, comments or anything else related to our profession, seminars, and events. Please check it out. It proved very popular when posting information about our annual seminar. Please consider sharing some on-the-job photos with the group.
At our recent BOD meeting Chairman Elect Josh Marshall provided the group with a QR code with a link to the association website. It follows;
This QR code can be used anywhere by anyone and it will bring them to the Associations website.
Additionally, Josh showed us his company website with many links to maritime safety publications. He reported it is very popular and has gotten thousands of hits. The references can be found here.
Anyone wishing to view various MACOSH/OSHA publications can use the following link;
These publications can be downloaded or printed and can be used for tool box safety talks and include longshoring links.
Another valuable link is the OSHA link to Maritime Publications.
Training Information
Recently, a chemist was requested to provide a Safe for Hot Work certificate in the following holds.
The yellow circle is a worker to provide scale.
Upon arriving and viewing the holds where they requested a Safe for Hot Work designation the chemist said the holds were not ready for a certificate. He was told that when they did this work in a prior location the chemist gave them a Safe for Hot Work certificate. The crew applied pressure to the chemist who eventually left the vessel without giving them a certificate.
WHAT WOULD YOU DO?
The purpose of the training sessions is to prevent this from happening. While the details may never be known, this is what we see frequently. Please take to time and apply NFPA 306 to your inspections. If you run into a situation like this, ask who the chemist was and call them to find out if what you are being told is correct as the chemist may have another explanation.
Conclusion
If you have any comments, thoughts or ideas on any aspect of the MCA please submit them to me and I will present them to the BOD for consideration. Remember, you are the MCA and without your participation it will not work. Be safe all.
Respectfully submitted,
Donald Raffo
Secretary/Treasurer
Marine Chemist Association
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