Hose industry veterans passionate about making operations safe

CLEVELAND—There's no doubt that those who have spent their careers in the hose industry are passionate about their business.

And those who have been involved with NAHAD's Hose Safety Institute, helping to write and implement HSI's many guidelines and standards, are equally passionate about making all parts of the hose supply chain safe. From the fabrication/assembly process to the end user, they want what can be a dangerous industry to be safe for its employees and customers, along with everyone else involved in any aspect of the hose sector.

That was the clear message from the four panelists who fielded questions during a discussion of Building a Culture of Safety, which was part of the Hose Safety Institute's recent regional training program in Cleveland.

"I've been in the hose industry for over 40 years," said Sam Foti Jr., CEO of metal hose maker Hose Master. "It's my belief (that) while we're on earth, we're supposed to do something. Some people lay bricks. Some people cut grass. Some people are doctors. We're hosers. We have a responsibility to leave the industry better. We're the stewards of the hose industry. It's our obligation. It's not enough to make money."

Besides having an obligation to make the industry safe, Foti said it's also a matter of good business. "Those in the industry remember a day where there were lawsuits left and right," he said. "That's not the case anymore because we're starting to wrap our arms around it. As a business owner I have to protect the business. The importance of the guidelines and safety in general is just paramount."

Foti was involved in the early days of helping to develop the hose assembly guidelines that is core to what the HSI offers its members. He recalls all the time spent on determining definitions for all the terms and aspects that, at the time, had been taken for granted. But having definitions in place, he said, is vital because it puts all the competitors on a level playing field.

The Hose Master CEO said the marketing advantage of being certified to following the guidelines, or other certifications such as ISO or UL, is another major plus.

"At the end of the day, I want to be able to say that I make good (products)," Foti said. "Even if you espouse these principles, if you don't have something that you can reference, it falls apart. If you can reference something or wear a badge of honor that says you're listed or certified, that's a way to quickly communicate something."

It's also a way for hose manufacturers and distributors to set themselves apart and stay out of the commodity end of the business.

"You, everyday, will be confronted with low price," Foti said. "That's the world we live in. That doesn't mean you have to participate in it. I'm telling you that's one strategy, but if you prepare to differentiate yourself, the world is your oyster. And it can be done. People are using our products in traditionally difficult applications, or dangerous applications. There's an opportunity to sell, and there's an opportunity to be profitable there and do the right thing in the meantime."

Hose an afterthought

While the hose normally is a vital part of the systems in which it operates, such as hydraulic hose in plant machinery, the truth is hose is an afterthought in terms of compliance, according to Jeff Nitz, regional sales manager for Dixon Valve & Coupling. So Dixon has to make safety and product reliability the core competency of what it does both in its own facilities and in terms of training at the distributor, OEM and end user levels.

"Engineers don't want to think about it upfront," Nitz said. "In an hydraulics system, it's the last part to get designed in. We're the experts, so we go out there and make sure they're doing it right, and make sure they have those best practices in place."

He added there also is a duty to warn end users about the inherent danger that can accompany working with hose. "We align ourselves with our distributor partners to make sure we warn of the risks associated with these products, and work with distributors to make sure end users know what they're getting into," he said. "It's not just a hose. A lot more goes into it."

Norm Fye, general manager of distributor Summers Rubber Co., is newer to the hose industry, but concurs that hoses often are overlooked on a daily basis. He told of going into some plant operations and seeing kinked and bent hoses in place, even an occasional hose with a tremendous about of duct tape on it.

Summers sees an obligation to forward its knowledge onto the customers, versus just selling them hose.

"We provide a lot of training for our customers," Fye said. "A lot of them mandate new employees be sent to hose training 101. This class gives them an education on basic hose handling and safety aspects."

Nitz also said the OnGuard hose tracker system, offered by Summers and other distributors that are part of Singer Equities, is an excellent asset in terms of maintaining a hose from beginning of life to end. "It adds a lot of safety value to the customers, and limits maintenance and downtime."

Safety culture

Rob Lyons, president of distributor Tipco Technologies Inc., a former NAHAD president and longtime member of the firm's Standards Committee, said the focus on safety has been a game changer for his company.

"Culture doesn't happen overnight," he said. "Culture is driven each and every day. When we onboard a new fabricating employee, it's a must that they pass the Hose Safety Institute testing protocol."

The adherence to the HSI practices also helped Tipco recently become certified to ISO. "Customers today want to know where you have it written and where you have it referred to," Lyons said. "From a litigious standpoint, we owe that to them and the employees to whom we're responsible."

He added that companies in the hose business fundamentally do a poor job of communicating how safety is an essential part of their products and services. "We tend to tell them all we do for them after they say they're going to fire us," he said. "We need to do a better job of proactively informing and educating the customers on what we do for them to protect the environment and their employees."

Summers also is ISO-certified, and while that dictates a lot of documentation, Fye said the ISO certification is based around the NAHAD standards.

"When I started, I had to learn that hoses are a dangerous thing," he said. "It shouldn't be taken lightly. It took some time to absorb the information. ... We owe it to our employees, and we owe it to our customers. ISO essentially, for us, is NAHAD and the Hose Safety Institute."

Foti said Hose Master was kind of pushed by a business partner in the past to pursue ISO certification. He said it offers an excellent marketing advantage, but in the end that's just something extra. "I will tell you now without hesitation that if there were zero marketing benefit to the ISO program, I would do it all over again," he said. "It changes the way you manage the company."

Dixon's Nitz said that with the hose industry constantly changing, there are no resting on laurels.

"Being a coupling manufacturer, one of our largest challenges is working with all the different hose manufacturers," he said. "Hose is coming from all over the world. We see new hose brands that we haven't seen before. We have to make fittings that (customers) can make assemblies with, whatever your hose choice."

And with technology changes such as directional drilling in the oil and gas industries, there are cases where Texas—home to the traditional oil and gas industry—is much more adept at what to regulate, where states like Pennsylvania have a lot to figure out.

In addition, alternative energies such as liquid natural gas and cryogenics will pose different challenges going forward. "These are demanding applications that are really putting our product engineers and designers to the challenge to make products that will withstand these extreme temperatures and pressures," Nitz said.