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Print ArticleAURORA, CO, May 15, 2010 – During PEARL's recent annual meeting held in Denver, April 24-26, PEARL members present during the members-only business meeting overwhelmingly agreed that the PEARL Board of Directors should explore several changes to site and technician certifications, as well as technician training.
During an open forum section of PEARL's member-only annual business meeting, several board members proposed enhancing the association's site and technician certification, as well as technician training requirements, spelled out in PEARL's bylaws.
"Any changes to our bylaws would require majority approval from the entire membership," explains PEARL President and President of Monster Fuses Inc. (Portland, OR), Brian Corekin. "It's important that our membership and the public understand that, so far, the membership has only agreed that the Board should explore the changes and return with an official proposal. During our brief discussions in the members only meeting, there was overwhelming support for changes that would result in both better safety for PEARL members and their customers, as well as lower barriers of entry for prospective PEARL members. PEARL members would only need to be experts in the apparatus categories where they have expertise, have been site approved for that apparatus category, and can prove adequate and ongoing training for a supervisory technician as it relates to that specific product category. This aligns well with PEARL's standard operation procedure, which lets customers they are getting safe reconditioned electrical apparatus based on the presence of a PEARL Seal on the individual product, which can only be applied by a fully certified PEARL member. So far, the response from the membership has been universally positive."
"This is a large task set before us with potentially wide-reaching impacts," adds PEARL Director David Rosenfield, and President of ROMAC (Commerce, CA). "The Board will carefully consider the changes, soliciting input from both PEARL members and partners, and bring a full proposal to the membership at a future date for their consideration."
PEARL members also discussed the possibility of expanding the membership classes to include a new Electrical Service Shop class as well as a Distributor class. Both categories of electrical companies either recondition electrical equipment as part of field maintenance operations, or purchase reconditioned equipment for customers. Therefore, both groups could benefit from PEARL's more than 100, third-party approved technical standards related to the safe and reliable reconditioning of commercial and industrial electrical apparatus.
PEARL members, or parties interested in comment on these proposed changes, should contact PEARL Association Manager, Mark Stone, at (877) 287-3275, or send an email to pearl@pearl1.org. For more information about PEARL, visit the association's website at www.Pearl1.org.
Captions: Director of the Rochester Institute of Technology's Golisano Institute for Sustainability, Nabil Nasr, discusses electrical remanufacturing during his presentation at the Professional Electrical Apparatus Recyclers League's (PEARL) recent 13th annual Electrical Safety and Reliability Conference and Exhibition held in Denver, CO, April 24-26. About PEARL: Founded in 1997, the Professional Electrical Apparatus Recyclers League (PEARL) creates, collects, and disseminates information, policies, procedures, and standards to ensure the proper recycling and reuse of electrical power equipment. Its 70+ corporate members must meet strict technical, safety, and operational requirements.
Editorial Contact:
Winn Hardin
Marketing Director
Tel: 904-246-8958
winn@hardingroup.com
Mark Stone
Association Manager
Tel: 877-AT-PEARL
Fax: 888-996-3296
pearl@pearl1.org
