SOLICITATION NOTICE
B -- Certification of Intrinsically Safe (IS) Portable Electronic Equipment for Mining (Limited sources)
- Notice Date
- 3/2/2011
- Notice Type
- Presolicitation
- NAICS
- 541712
— Research and Development in the Physical, Engineering, and Life Sciences (except Biotechnology)
- Contracting Office
- Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Acquisition and Assistance Field Branch (Pittsburgh), Post Office Box 18070, Cochrans Mill Road, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, 15236-0070
- ZIP Code
- 15236-0070
- Solicitation Number
- 2011-Q-13271
- Archive Date
- 6/30/2011
- Point of Contact
- Margaret L Mooney,
- E-Mail Address
-
zia3@cdc.gov
(zia3@cdc.gov)
- Small Business Set-Aside
- N/A
- Description
- NOTICE OF INTENT TO ISSUE A PURCHASE ORDER. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), Office of Mine Safety and Health Research (OMSHR), hereby announces its intent to issue a purchase order to both, Underwriters Laboratories and FM Approvals, LLC (limited sources) for Subject Matter Expert (SME) on Certification of Intrinsically Safe (IS) Portable Electronic Equipment for Mining. PURPOSE and OBJECTIVE: The overall objective of this project is to provide a well-reasoned, factual basis to support development of a formal NIOSH position that investigates whether International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) Intrinsically Safe (IS) certification of portable electronic devices provides at least a comparable level of safety, and to recommend whether the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) should accept such certification documentation. BACKGROUND: It is commonly believed that there are many portable electronic devices, which, if available to the US miner, could dramatically increase safety, health and rescue operations. Examples of such equipment are computers, personal digital assistants (PDA), advanced sensors and measurement equipment, and enhanced radios. The limited market of the US underground coal mining industry hampers the introduction of new electronic technology generally available to other industries. The appeal of the US coal mining market is further reduced when new technology must be customized to meet Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) coal mining regulatory requirements. In particular, portable electronic equipment that is used in the working section or other similarly hazardous areas must be permissible, i.e., approved as intrinsically safe (IS), housed in an explosion proof container, or properly encapsulated, as defined by MSHA regulations. The MSHA permissibility regulations represent a significant performance, reliability, cost, and time-to-market barrier to the release of state-of-the-art portable electronic devices to the US mining industry. Outside the US, the international community has its own standards for safe operation in an explosive atmosphere established by the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC). The IEC standards are used in Europe, Australia, South Africa and other major mining countries. MSHA does not recognize the IEC IS certification; a system must be approved by MSHA to be IS in US mines, yet other hazardous US industries such as oil and gas do accept harmonized versions of the IEC standards as established by the IEC certified laboratories in the U.S. MSHA does accept testing and evaluation results from independent U.S. laboratories under 30 CFR Part 6. Underwriters Laboratories (UL) and Factory Mutual (FM) Global are listed on the MSHA website as the only two U.S. laboratories from which MSHA has accepted approval examination reports. There are in fact many international and domestic companies that supply modern communications, instrumentation, and monitoring systems for hazardous environments which are not available to US mining companies because they do not meet MSHA rules. Harmonization of the MSHA and international standards and certification procedures could dramatically increase the availability of current hazardous area products and speed the development of new technology, ultimately improving the safety of U.S. miners. MINIMUM VENDOR QUALIFICATIONS Contractor must represent a laboratories from which MSHA has accepted testing and evaluation results in the U.S. Contractor must have demonstrated experience in certifying portable electronic devices to IEC standards. Contractor must be willing to travel to the NIOSH Pittsburgh facility for up to two weeks to participate in technical discussions. Responsible sources that believe they possess the expertise and capabilities identified above are encouraged to submit to the Contracting Officer within 15 days from the posting date of this notice, their written item description/item characteristics and pricing information in the format they choose, not to exceed 10 pages. Please forward the item description and pricing information to Margaret L. Mooney, CDC NIOSH, 626 Cochrans Mill Road, Pittsburgh, PA 15236, Reference 2011-Q-13271. All vendors must be registered in the Central Contractor Registry (CCR) prior to an award of a federal contract. The website is: www.ccr.gov. The Government will review any/all item descriptions and pricing information submitted and determine if other qualified sources do exist that could provide this requirement. Information received in response will be used solely for the purpose of determining whether to conduct a competitive procurement. If no affirmative responses are received within 15 days, in accordance with FAR 13.106-1(b)(1), negotiations will be conducted with both Underwriters Laboratories and FM Approvals, LLC as the only source and a purchase order will be issued without any additional notices being posted.
- Web Link
-
FBO.gov Permalink
(https://www.fbo.gov/spg/HHS/CDCP/CMBP/2011-Q-13271/listing.html)
- Place of Performance
- Address: Underwriters Laboratories, 333 Pfingsten Road, Northbrook, Illinois, 60062, United States
- Zip Code: 60062
- Zip Code: 60062
- Record
- SN02391366-W 20110304/110302234354-0da5ab31678b33aaccf0df39b002142e (fbodaily.com)
- Source
-
FedBizOpps Link to This Notice
(may not be valid after Archive Date)
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