The Great Resignation is the term that has been applied to the economic trend of members of the workforce voluntarily resigning from their jobs in large numbers. It started during the pandemic in early 2021 and continued into 2022.

Planning a capital project can be a complex undertaking. Add in something like blast-resistant buildings and there are even more parts to the planning process. Goals must be set. Timelines must be arranged to avoid upsetting workflow. And you have to find a vendor with turnkey services and experience with all the intricacies of your project.

If you have a blast-resistant building on your site, you know that they require occasional service and maintenance. You may not know that there are alternatives to having the service performed by the company you purchased it from and that there could be a few minor ways to get the most out of performance. And, if you are considering a blast-resistant building purchase, you may be curious about what to expect.

Right now, essential businesses are learning to fulfill business needs in ways they never dreamed. And other businesses have been put on hold indefinitely, hopefully to return in the future. These are all in an effort to keep the country running, while we flatten the curve against the coronavirus. RedGuard has been providing workplace storage and mobile office space since 1998 and started focusing on safe space in 2005, after a refinery accident necessitated the birth of the blast-resistant building industry. We championed that cause, and now you could say that, as a company, we are the leaders in providing a variety of workplace safe spaces.

This content was created for and originally published in the April 2020 issue of BIC Magazine. It was written by Dean Alcott, one of RedGuard's subject matter experts and our Market Development Manager. The bulk of blast-resistant buildings are utilized in large refinery and petrochemical facilities. Recently, there has been a dramatic increase at midstream facilities, like fractionation plants and compressor stations, of buildings for temporary use (rentals for turnaround and maintenance) and permanent use (control rooms and operator shelters).

We’ve written recently about the problems with blast-resistant buildings, and one problem that we hear about sometimes has to do with blast-resistant doors. Blast-resistant doors are made of steel and weigh-in at around 450 pounds. That’s a lot of weight for a door, considering the average solid-core door on a home weighs well under 100 pounds.

Purchasing a blast-resistant building is no small responsibility to undertake. It involves months of planning (sometimes more than a year), depending on the scope of the project. Part of the due diligence on an investment of this size and magnitude is not only looking for benefits but also in looking at the challenges that one might encounter.

The following article was originally published in the June/July 2018 issue of BIC magazine. It was written by Bryan Bulling, one of RedGuard's subject matter experts and our Northeastern US Regional Area Manager. As a building designer, I watched some of last year’s disturbing events unfold with both great sadness and professional interest — Hurricanes Harvey and Irma; the mass shootings in Las Vegas and Parkland, Florida; and the seemingly endless list of cyber-related breaches. These all revealed areas where we can and should begin to address new safety and security measures. During this critical moment in environmental health and safety, I would like to offer some topics and insights that might prompt engineers and designers to improve the safety and security for the occupants of your buildings.