Company-Wide Quarterly Safety Meetings & Safety Training Incentives Are Back!!!!!

Good afternoon to all I.D.I. employees:  We are extremely excited and happy to inform you that we have received the approval from the Chicago Carpenter's Union that we can get back to performing Volunteer Quarterly Safety Meetings with all carpenters, framers and drywall hangers.  This means that we can now get back to performing volunteer safety training with all employees and not just the painters, tapers, warehouse and office personnel. 

We also are bringing back the Safety Training Incentives of which you are eligible to receive. The 2014 Volunteer Safety Training Incentive Plan will be sent out to you in your pay check envelope one week from now, which is the week of 12/23/13 to 12/29/13, so you know when to look for it.  The format is similar to the previous format in that you can earn points for each safety meeting/training session that you attend.  What is different about the new 2014 volunteeer safety training incentive plan is that you are now eligible to earn safety training incentive points for attending our I.D.I. quarterly safety meetings and/or for taking approved safety training courses outside of the company offered ones. Here are some of the incentive plan details.  For each approved safety course that an employee completes between the period of November 1, 2013 and October 31, 2014, the employee will be rewarded with points.  At the end of the year we will calculate each employee’s yearly point totals and mail each of you a catalog in December of 2014, for which you can use to redeem your points.  The catalog will contain work wearables, and many other items.  The wearables typically include items such as t-shirts, sweatshirts, jackets, pants, baseball caps, winter knit hats, and much more.  The wearables will contain the International Decorators logo on them. For each safety course you complete, you will be rewarded with 100 points per hour of the course.  For example, if you complete a 4-hour 1^st aid/C.P.R. course, you will have earned 400 points.  If you complete an OSHA 30-hour construction course, you would earn 3,000 points for that course.  If you attend a 2-hour long I.D.I. Quarterly Safety Meeting, you will earn 200 points. 

Where can these approved safety training courses be taken?  They are offered at your union training schools, the Construction Safety Council, Lake County Contractors Association, on-line internet course, International Decorators Inc., and many other locations. 

Below are a listing of suggested courses that would benefit both you and International Decorators:

I.D.I. quarterly safety meeting – (each meeting is typically 2 hours long)
OSHA 30-hour
1^st Aid/C.P.R.
Aerial Lifts
Fall Protection
Scaffolding
Global Harmonization System (G.H.S.) Hazcom course
Health Hazards
Respirator Training
Lead Safety
Asbestos Safety
Confined Space
Electrical Safety
Ergonomics
Material Handling
Crane Rigging and/or Signal Person

To obtain credit for a completed safety training course, you would need to provide our Safety Director, Peter Graham, with proof of training.  You will typically be provided with a training card, certificate or some sort of documentation showing that you completed a course.  You can then send in a copy of your proof of training to Peter Graham via e-mail at pgraham@4idi.com, mail in a copy, fax a copy to (847) 526-7444, etc.  Peter also would need to know how many hours long each course taken was. 

If you are enrolling in a safety course, you are encouraged to call Peter Graham at (847) 417-1689, ahead of time to ensure that the safety course is an approved course that you will get safety incentive credit for.   

Final note – at the end of the year you will receive a catalog along with a letter advising of your accumulated yearly incentive point total so you can redeem your points; please redeem as many points of your point total as you can as the points are not rolled over into the next year.  You will be mailed the incentive catalog even if you are no longer employed with I.D.I. as long as you took an approved safety training course during your employment with I.D.I.

Why are we offering this volunteer safety training incentive program?  Because we care about you!  Because of our Safety Mission Statement which is: “Everyone Goes Home Alive and in the Same Condition as They Arrived; Your Loved Ones Count On It.” 

This is exciting news as we all can get back to coming together under one roof to provide vital safety training to help keep you safe, to have team camaraderie and to help maintain and sustain a positive safety culture!

Our next volunteer company-wide quarterly safety meeting will be held on February 8^th, 2014.  We will be providing more details about the upcoming meeting in the near future. 

If you have any questions about this at all, please contact our Safety Director, Peter Graham at (847) 417-1689.

Have a Safe Day!

 

 

Safety is Like Butter, Because it's on a Roll!!!

Good afternoon to all I.D.I. employees:  I just want to provide a little safety update about our injuries.  We are currently on a pretty good roll as far as our consecutive days worked since our last lost-time injury.  We have worked 203 consecutive days since the last lost-time injury occurred dating back to May 17, 2013.  We have a few milestones ahead of us.  Our next milestone goal would be 300 consecutve days, then the 1 full year mark of 365 days and if we can keep it rolling, the next milestone would be to break our record for the past 15 years which is 435 consecutive days worked between lost-time injuries. 

Lets keep this safety train rolling straight down the track and shoot for our upcoming milestones. 

To do this, we all need to be on the same page and looking out for one another.  If you observe someone not working in a safe manner, please reach out to them for their own well-being and on behalf of their loved ones and talk to them about stopping what they are doing unsafely.  It is in all of our best interest that all of us perform in a safe appropriate manner.  Injuries are no fun for anyone especially the injured employee and his family members.  Your loved ones depend on you to work safely and to come home to them in an injury-free and healthy manner.  The next time you catch yourself working unsafe, ask yourself why?  Why am I working unsafe?  It is because I feel I don't have time to go grab a pair of safety glasses?  Is it because I don't have time to go get safety rails for my scaffold because I have to get the job done?  The jobs always do get done and they get done in a more professional and appropriate manner when done safely.  If an injury occurs at a project, the job won't make any money.  Just like production, when it comes to safety, do it right and do it right the first time! 

Keep in mind I.D.I.'s Safety Mission Statement: "Everyone Goes Home Alive and in the Same Condition as They Arrived; Your Loved Ones Count On It!"

 

Have a Safe Day!

Globally Hamonized System (GHS) Training Update

Good morning to all I.D.I. Safety Coordinators:  We want to provide you with a training update as to how the training is coming along on the new hazard communication program called the Globally Harmonized System or GHS.  We inserted a series of four toolbox talks into your safety coordinators manuals under the HAZCOM tab to help us roll out this OSHA mandatory training which is required to be done by December, 2013.  We have asked all Safety Coordinators to perform this series of toolbox talks over 4 consecutive Mondays which began on 11/11/13 starting with the first toolbox talk in the series which is named, "Training Requirements for the Revised Hazard Communication Standard" and it is numbered in your Safety Coordinator manual's index as HH2.  We have 48 Safety Coordinators and all 48 Safety Coordinators performed the HH2 toolbox talk and turned in their toolbox talk signature roster.  Awesome job Safety Coordinators as you got us started off on the right foot with this training.  The next toolbox talk in the series to be completed on Monday, 11/18/13 is named "Safety Data Sheet Sections" and it is listed as HH3 in your manuals.  So far this week we have obtained the HH3 toolbox talk signature rosters from 44 of the 48 Safety Coordinators.  This training and training documentation is extremely important to the company.  If you are one of the four Safety Coordinators who has not yet turned in your HH3 toolbox talk signature roster, please do so soon to help us get this 100% completed.  For next Monday, 11/25/13, the next toolbox talk in the series that we are asking all Safety Coordinators to train on is named, "Globally Harmonized System Label" and it is listed as HH4 in your manual.  This toolbox talk explains the new label format that product manufacturers will be required to follow.  Product manufacturers are required to be using this new label format by December 1st, 2015, however, employers are required to train on it now as many manufacturers are starting to implement the new label format already.  The new label format has 6 required elements that are to be on the label and you will learn what those elements are during the toolbox talk session.  This new format will bring consistency to all labels to help people to be able to read them easier.  They will also contain Pictograms which are symbols to help quickly identify the chemical's or product's health hazards and/or physical hazards.  This new label format will make it easier for people of all languages and for those that can't read to be able to understand the labels and the hazards associated with using the products.  The last toolbox talk in the series which is to be completed on Monday, 12/2/13, is named, "Hazard Communication Standardized Pictogram" and it is listed as HH5 in your manuals. 

This GHS toolbox talk series is basically helping us to kick-off the training.  It is to help get all of our employees at least familiar with the new hazcom program.  We will be providing more training on this subject through out the year. 

To All Safety Coordinators - Thank you for getting us off on the right foot with rolling out this mandatory safety training. If you have any questions at all about this training or about GHS in general, please contact our Safety Director, Peter Graham. 

Have a Safe Day!

Mandatory Safety Training on the Globally Harmonized System (G.H.S.)

Good afternoon to all I.D.I. Safety Coordinators: 

OSHA has revised their hazard communication standard with the addition of a program called the “Globally Harmonized System” or G.H.S. This system is to help improve the communication of chemical hazards to the employees or workers that use them in a concise clear format.  Some reasons for the G.H.S. program are because chemicals are produced and shipped throughout the world and the chemical labels and Safety Data Sheets all come in different formats.  Under the new system, all labels and Safety Data Sheets must all be produced in English, be in the same consistent format and all contain the same elements on the labels and Safety Data Sheets.  The labels and S.D.S. sheets are to make it easier for people who are illiterate (can’t read) or for people of different languages to understand them.  They are also adding Pictograms to all labels and Safety Data Sheets.  Pictograms are simply symbols that represent either a physical hazard, a health hazard or environmental hazard.  It is mandatory that employers provide training on this new program by December 1^st, 2013.  This is where we need your help.  

There are 3 main components to the G.H.S. program:

1.       Hazard Classification
2.       Container Labels
3.       Safety Data Sheets  (formerly called Material Safety Data Sheets)  

We have inserted 4 new toolbox talks pertaining to the G.H.S. training into your new Safety Coordinator manuals of which you should have recently received over the past 2 weeks.  We need your help in getting this training done.  We are advising all Safety Coordinators to perform the same toolbox talk this coming Monday, 11/11/13 during your morning toolbox talk session.

All Safety Coordinators – on Monday, 11/11/13, please perform the toolbox talk under the Hazcom Tab which is listed as HH2.  This is a 2-page toolbox talk to help kick off the training as it provides an overview of the G.H.S. program.  On your toolbox talk signature roster, where it says: Topic Name and Number, please write  the following:  Revised Hazcom Standard 2013 G.H.S. – HH2.

After you read the toolbox talk to your crew, as always, please have them sign the roster and turn it in as usual.  

We will be sending out e-mails to all Safety Coordinators over the next 4 weeks providing instructions as to what toolbox talk to perform on the given Monday to help us get this training completed.

We thank you in advance for helping to get this necessary and mandatory training performed over the next few Mondays.

 

We will send out another e-mail this Friday, 11/15/13 with information about what toolbox talk everyone should perform on Monday, 11/18/13.  

If you have any questions at all, you are encouraged to call our Safety Director, Peter Graham at (847) 417-1689.  

Have a Safe Day!

Upcoming Safety Training Items at I.D.I.

Happy Halloween to all I.D.I. employees:  We hope that everyone has an enjoyable and safe halloween.  We just want to mention a couple of upcoming safety training sessions to keep everyone in the loop.  We have increased our field safety supervision coverage as we appointed 3 employees to the role of Safety Coordinator for our upcoming new year which starts on November 1st.  These 3 employees have demonstrated safety leadership skills during their tenure with International Decorators and we believe they will benefit our employees in helping to prevent injuries by serving in the role as a Safety Coordinator.  The 3 employees are framer - Dwayne Arneson, framer - Jason Ondera and painter - Dennis Johnson.  We are holding a Safety Coordinator training session with them on Friday, 11/1/13 at 2:30pm.  Please congratulate them and respect their position when they are performing future toolbox talks and performing weekly job site safety inspections. 

We also want to mention that we had a terrific turnout at our 10/26/13 volunteer quarterly safety meeting which was held for tapers, painters, drivers, office and shop personnel.  The meeting topics were back injury prevention, lifting/handling equipment and materials and the new Hazard Communication Standard involving the new Globally Harmonized System (G.H.S.).  We will provide the actual attendance/show-up percentage rate after we have our make-up meeting for those that could not attend.  We truly appreciate the employees who took time out of their busy lives for the sake of their safety and for those working around them to help make themselves and our whole company better and safer by attending the volunteer meeting.  Your actions show what you are all about and that you care!

The volunteer quarterly safety make-up meeting for the tapers and painters is being held on Tuesday, 11/5/13 at 4:00pm and invitations have been sent out to the prospective attendees.  If you have any questions, please contact our Safety Director, Peter Graham at (847) 417-1689 or by e-mail at peterg@4idi.com.

 

Have a Safe Day and Safe Halloween!

Volunteer Quarterly Safety Meeting, Saturday, 10/26/13 - Painters, Tapers & Shop Personnel Only!

Good afternoon to all I.D.I. employees: Just a reminder that our next volunteer quarterly safety meeting is this coming Saturday, October 26th from 7:00am to about 9:00am. The meeting is being held for the painters and tapers only as far as field personnel and it is also offered to the drivers, warehouse and office personnel. We will be providing training on 2 safety topics.  The first hour will be on back & joint injury prevention, lifting techniques, pre-work stretching and it will be performed by our guest trainer, Loren Wolf. We feel this topic is very beneficial as everybody lifts equipment and materials on almost a daily basis. This training may just help you prevent against sustaining a back injury, strain type injuries and other types of injuries caused by lifting. The 2nd hour of safety training will be on the new Hazard Communication Standard know as G.H.S.  This training involves a new chemical labeling system, safety data sheets (formerly known as material safety data sheets) and pictograms.  This is a new OSHA standard that employers are required to train on to help make working around chemicals safer for our employees. 

We provide safety training as a benefit to our employees to help prevent you and our other family members from sustaining injuries. The quarterly safety meetings help us to sustain an overall positive safety culture and help steer us towards achieving our safety goals. As you all know, our #1 and #2 safety goals are to have No Fatalities and Zero Lost-Time Injuries. We are asking you to help us with these safety goals by voluntarily attending the safety meeting. We hold these safety meetings on a quarterly basis in order to help keep safety at the forefront of everyone's mind. 

The meeting will be held at our usual meeting location at our Barrington office located at 28059 W. Commercial Ave in Barrington, IL.

Please help spread the word!

As always, please contact our Safety Director, Peter Graham, with any questions. You can reach him by e-mail at pgraham@4idi.com.

Have a Safe Day!

Chop Saw Safety!

Good morning I.D.I. employees: This article is about a common tool that is used almost everyday at one job site or another. Below contains our I.D.I. best safe practices to help prevent an injury while using a chop saw. 

Chop saws are used to cut a variety of materials, but we most commonly use a chop saw to cut metal studs and track. Chop saws are operated by manually lowering the saw blade into the material from an overhead, hinged position. Chop saw blades turn toward the operator from the top, and the blade can spin at thousands of revolutions per minute. The user must hold the stock/materials at times, creating an amputation hazard. Use holding devices if the saw was provided with them. Verify that hands, fingers and all body parts are out of the line of fire with the chop saw blade.

Never use a chop saw with a missing or defective blade guard as shown in the photo immediately below.

The photo below shows a crew that knows what they're doing.  The blade guard is in place, face shield protection, fire extinguisher and a spark wall.  Great job crew!

·         Use the correct blade for the materials being cut.

·         Ensure the blade has a higher R.P.M. rating than the chop saw does.

·         Ensure blade is not cracked as the blade can explode.

·         Always turn off and unplug the chop saw when performing maintenance or blade changes.

·         Always ensure the chop saw has a working non-defective blade guard.

·         Always wear safety glasses when using a chop saw or working nearby a chop saw.

·         A best practice is to use a face shield in addition to safety glasses for face protection against sparks and flying debris.  Required by many general contractors.

·         Wear hearing protection when using a chop saw more than 2 hours in an 8 hour shift.

·         Always where gloves when handling metal studs or track.

·         Always have a fire extinguisher in your cutting area.

·         Ensure the chop saw’s electrical cord is in safe condition for use.  No cuts in the outer insulation, no exposed wires, etc.

·         It’s best to use the chop saw up off the ground so you are placing your body in good posture and not bent over for long periods of time.

·         Don’t wear loose clothing or jewelry such as necklaces that can get tangled in the blade. 

·         Keep hands, fingers and all body parts out of the line of fire of the chop saw blade. 

 

OrangeTape on All 3-Pronged Electrical Tools & Extension Cords on 10/1/13!

Good morning to all I.D.I. employees: All Safety Coordinators should have been provided a roll of orange electrical tape. We begin a new quarter on Tuesday, 10/1/13 for our Assured Grounding Program. You are to inspect, test and color-code with orange tape all 3 pronged electrical tools and extension cords. All electrical tools and cords need to be visually inspected. If you see any defects in the cords such as bare wires, severe kinks, missing or damaged ground prong, the cord pulling away from the plug end housing, etc., then that tool or cord would need to be immediately removed from service and reported to the lead person. If your tool/cord passes the visual inspection, your next step is to test the cord with a receptacle tester. First, you should test the oulet that you will be plugging your cord into to ensure that it is properly wired. You should see 2 yellow lights lit up on your tester and the red light should be off. This means the outlet is working appropriately. Next, plug your cord into the outlet and then test the cord with the receptacle tester. Again, you should see the same light pattern as mentioned above and this would mean the cord passed the test and it is good and safe to use. Any other light pattern means that there is a problem with the cord and the cord needs to be removed from service and reported to your lead person. If the cord passes the visual inspection and the cord tester test, you should then remove the previous quarter's red electrical tape and install the orange electrical tape about 1" down from both plug ends. Your cord is now in compliance with our 4th quarter's Assured Ground Program. The orange tape shall remain in place from 10/1/13 through 12/31/13. You are not quite done yet! You now need to visually inspect all electrical cords and tools on a daily basis and if any defects are found, the cord needs to be immediately removed from service. Thank you for taking the time to ensure your electrical tools and cords are in safe working order. Your actions may prevent one of our family members from sustaining an electrical shock type injury or worse yet and electrocution. If you have any questions regarding our Assured Grounding Program, please call our Safety Director, Peter Graham, at (847) 417-1689.

Have a Safe Day!

Painters & Tapers Only - Quarterly Safety Meeting Rescheduled to 10/26/13

Good afternoon to all I.D.I. employees:  Due to unforeseen circumstances, we had to reschedule our volunteer quarterly safety meeting.  The new meeting date will be Saturday, October 26th from 7:00am to about 9:00am. The meeting is being held for the painters and tapers only as far as field personnel and it is also offered to the drivers, warehouse and office personnel. The safety training topic will be on back & joint injury prevention, lifting techniques, pre-work stretching and it will be performed by our guest trainer, Loren Wolf. We feel this topic is very beneficial as everybody lifts equipment and materials on almost a daily basis. This training may just help you prevent against sustaining a back injury, strain type injuries and other types of injuries caused by lifting. We provide safety training as a benefit to our employees to help prevent you and our other family members from sustaining injuries. The quarterly safety meetings help us to sustain an overall positive safety culture and help steer us towards achieving our safety goals. As you all know, our #1 and #2 safety goals are to have No Fatalities and Zero Lost-Time Injuries. We are asking you to help us with these safety goals by voluntarily attending the safety meeting. We hold these safety meetings on a quarterly basis in order to help keep safety at the forefront of everyone's mind. At the safety meeting, we will also discuss some injuries that occurred since we last met along with corrective measures to help prevent reoccurrences.

The meeting will be held at our usual meeting location at our Barrington office located at 28059 W. Commercial Ave in Barrington, IL.

Please help spread the word!

As always, please contact our Safety Director, Peter Graham, with any questions. You can reach him by e-mail at pgraham@4idi.com.

Have a Safe Day!

New E.M.R. at .83!!!!

Good afternoon to all I.D.I. employees,

In the safety arena, we often only hear the bad news about how someone was injured or how we didn’t do something correctly.  We sometimes hear the good news and get compliments or pats on the back.  Well today we are hearing some great news!

Our E.M.R. (Experience Modification Rate) for our current year (11/1/12 – 10/31/13) is 1.05. (booo!)

We obtained our new E.M.R. which goes into effect on 11/1/13 and it has dropped signficantly down to .83!!!

This is some much needed good news for many reasons.  We are currently precluded from bidding to at least one large general contactor because of our E.M.R. being above 1.0.  We should be able to start bidding to that general contractor again at least as of 11/1/13.  We will be able to bid more competitively in the upcoming year because our insurance will be less expensive.  This should in turn allow us to obtain more projects which means fewer employees having to sit because we don't have work for them.  This means that will be recognized as being a much safer company than most of our peers or competitors by our general contractors and by our current or prospective insurance carriers.  This means that overall, we are having fewer injuries and less severe injuries than expected.   

Great job team!  It took a lot of hard work on everyone’s part to accomplish this.  The challenge ahead of us is to keep our E.M.R. at this type of level and to never get above 1.0 again. 

Everyone should pat themselves on the back for this accomplishment.  To get our E.M.R. down to .83, it took everyone coming together as a team to help prevent injuries from occuring to yourselves and those around you.  We want to thank everyone for doing your part and working safely. 

 

If you aren't sure what an E.M.R. is, we will be putting out a safety newsletter in the next week or so with an article explaining more about it. 

 

If you have any questions, please contact our Safety Director, Peter Graham at pgraham@4idi.com

 

Have a Safe Day!

 

Painters & Tapers Only - Quarterly Safety Meeting, Saturday, 9/28/13 at 7:00am

Good afternoon to all I.D.I. employees:  We just want to put out a meeting notice of our upcoming volunteer quarterly safety meeting which will be held on Saturday, September 28th from 7:00am to about 9:00am. The meeting is being held for the painters and tapers only as far as field personnel and it is also offered to the drivers, warehouse and office personnel. The safety training topic will be on back & joint injury prevention, lifting techniques, pre-work stretching and it will be performed by our guest trainer, Loren Wolf.  We feel this topic is very beneficial as everybody lifts and equipment and materials on almost a daily basis.  This training may just help you prevent against sustaining a back injury, strain type injuries and other types of injuries caused by lifting.  We provide safety training as a benefit to our employees to help prevent you and our other family members from sustaining injuries. The quarterly safety meetings help us to sustain an overall positive safety culture and help steer us towards achieving our safety goals. As you all know, our #1 and #2 safety goals are to have No Fatalities and Zero Lost-Time Injuries. We are asking you to help us with these safety goals by voluntarily attending the safety meeting. We hold these safety meetings on a quarterly basis in order to help keep safety at the forefront of everyone's mind. At the safety meeting, we will also discuss some injuries that occurred since we last met along with corrective measures to help prevent a reoccurrences. 

The meeting will be held at our usual meeting location at our Barrington office located at 28059 W. Commercial Ave in Barrington, IL.

Please help spread the word!

As always, please contact our Safety Director, Peter Graham, with any questions. You can reach him by e-mail at pgraham@4idi.com.

Below are a few photos from our last safety meeting.

 

Have a Safe Day! 

Metal Stud Guardrails Must be 18 Gauge or Thicker!

Good morning to all I.D.I. employees:

It was brought to our attention by a well-known large general contractor that OSHA has been issuing citations to construction companies for installing metal stud guardrails that are made up of light gauge metal studs.  According to an OSHA interpretation letter that was sent to us by the general contractor, metal studs can be used as guardrails, however, they need to meet the OSHA requirements for guardrails.  The metal studs can't have sharp edges or corners which can cause lacerations and more importantly, they need to be able to withstand 200 lbs of outward and downward force on the top-rail and 150 lbs of outward and downward force on the mid-rail.  The big issue with light gauge metal studs is that they might not meet the outward and downward force requirement especially if there is a kink in the metal stud or if the light gauge metal stud is spanning a wide opening such as 4' feet or more.  A light gauge metal stud, especially one with a kink in it could fail causing a person to fall and sustain a serious injury or fatality.

Below is an actual photo of a light gauge metal stud guardrail that a company was issued an OSHA citation for.  The issues found in the photo are:  #1- on the right side of the photo, the top-rail is protruding out past the guardrail stanchion post as to where a worker could walk by and get snagged on it causing a laceration.  #2 - there are sharp corners (regardless of the top-rail protruding out) that would need to be bent downward/inward so the sharp corners are not exposed.  #3 - this is a light gauge stud which according to OSHA, may not keep a worker from falling as the top-rail may not be meeting the 200 lbs of outward and downward force OSHA requirement especially if the stud has a kink anywhere on it.

 

The following is what we would need to do if we are installing a guardrail.  We can you non-defective, wood 2 x 4's as our top-rail and mid-rail.  We can use metal studs, however, they must be 18 gauge or thicker, have no kinks or defects and we would be required to not allow the top and mid-rails to protrude out past the stanchion posts.  Lastly, we would need to bend the corners downward/inward so that no one is exposed to sharp edges which can cut them. 

 

Please keep this in mind the next time you are working around a metal stud guardrail or if you are installing a metal stud guardrail; for your protection and for those performing at your project.  Following these procedures will help keep us in line with our Safety Mission Statement which is:  "Everyone Goes Home Alive and in the Same Condition as They Arrived; Your Loved Ones Count On It!" 

 

If you have any questions, please contact our Safety Director, Peter Graham at pgraham@4idi.com.

 

Have a Safe Day!

Extension Cord - Safety!

Good morning I.D.I. employees:
How are your extension cords looking?  For your safety, it is required that you inspect your extension cords everyday before use.  You should be looking for tears in the outer insulation, missing ground prongs and the cords should have no exposed copper wires.  If you find any defects with your extension cords such as the three items mentioned above, the cord would need to be removed from service and reported to your supervisor.  Also, all extension cords should be in compliance with our assured ground conductor program and should have red tape on them towards each end of the cord.  Please see a Safety Coordinator at your job sites as they have cord testers and red tape to help maintain compliance. Also, we don't want our extension cords to be a trip hazard to you or to others working around you.  Extension cords should not run along the floor across hallways and corridors.  They should be strung up overhead whenever possible.

If you have any questions regarding extension cord safety, please contact our Safety Director, Peter Graham at (847) 417-1689.

Have a Safe Day!

These extension cords are in safe condition for use and in compliance with our assured grounding program!

Summer Heat - Drink Plenty of Water and Communicate With Your Supervisors!

Working In The Heat!  Summer is here and we are getting 90 plus degree weather this week.  This is a good time to put out another reminder of what too look for as for as heat exhaustion symptoms, prevention methods, etc.  Although summer heat is the largest cause of heat distress disorder, it may also occur when workers are exposed to confined areas such as pipelines, tanks and other spaces with limited ventilation, and any confined area involving welding or cutting.

Symptoms:
The symptoms of heat stress disorders are very slow to start, but increase in intensity if precautions are not taken. The onset of the initial symptoms are mild and usually involve headaches, thirst, tiredness and weakness. Heat stress can move to heat stroke, a life-threatening medical emergency, quickly when the body's natural cooling system breaks down and causes the body core temperature to rise and overheat the brain. Some of the symptoms of heat stroke are immense thirst, severe headaches, disorientation, dry/hot skin (no sweating) and possibly collapse.

Treatment/Prevention:
The following ideas may aid in combating heat stress disorders:
1. Employees accustomed to working in the heat are better candidates for job assignments where heat stress disorders may occur.
2. Until employees acclimate to the high temperatures, allow them for short frequent breaks to cool down.
3. If heat is affecting employees, it’s a good idea to rotate employees job tasks from the heat exposure area to a non-heat exposure area on a regular basis to help in avoiding heat stress symptoms.
4. Employees should be encouraged to drink plenty of fluids (water, Gatorade, Powerade, etc.) to replace electrolytes. Water is actually the best choice. Employees should not drink any carbonated beverages (Coke, Pepsi, Energy drinks, etc.) as these only increase dehydration and give a false sense of being properly hydrated. Also, the use of alcohol the evening before the work shift, can lead to dehydration even before heat exposure.

We need to keep an eye on each other and if an employee appears to be suffering from heat stress disorder, remove him or her from the heat and provide a cool, shaded place to rest and provide them with plenty of water. If the employee is disoriented or non-responsive, call for medical attention immediately. (911 in most areas) The goal is to recognize the hazards and symptoms of heat stress disorders and stop them before they occur. Remember, there is no better cure than prevention.

As always, if you are having to take extra breaks due to the extreme heat, you must notify your lead supervisor who in turn must contact your Superintendent.  

Should you have any questions regarding heat related stress, you are encouraged to call our Safety Director, Peter Graham at (847) 417-1689. 

Have a Safe Day!

July 20th Safety Meeting Postponed!!!!!

Good morning to all I.D.I. Employees:

We are postponing our July, 20th quarterly safety meeting.  The meeting will most likely be held in September.

As we move closer to the 7/20/13 Saturday meeting date, we are coming to find out that we are going to have a large number of employees working on that Saturday during the meeting and they won't be able to be in attendance. We therefore are cancelling the meeting for now and we will reschedule it when the summer rush is over.

Please help to spread the word to our painters and tapers so that they don't show up at our office on Saturday, 7/20/13 as there will be no meeting on that date.

Once we have the new meeting date scheduled, we will ensure to advertise it and get meeting notices out to everyone ahead of the safety meeting date.

As always, please contact our Safety Director, Peter Graham with any questions.  He can be reached at (847) 417-1689 or by e-mail at pgraham@4idi.com.

Have a Safe Day!

Painters & Tapers Only - Quarterly Safety Meeting, Saturday, 7/20/13 at 7:00am

Good afternoon to all I.D.I. employees:  Just a reminder of our upcoming volunteer quarterly safety meeting which will be held on Saturday, July 20th from 7:00am to about 9:00am.  The meeting is being held for the painters and tapers only as far as field personnel and it is also offered to the drivers, warehouse and office personnel.  We provide safety training as a benefit to our employees to help prevent you and our other family members from sustaining injuries. The quarterly safety meetings help us to sustain an overall positive safety culture and help steer us towards achieving our safety goals.  As you all know, our #1 and #2 safety goals are to have No Fatalities and Zero Lost-Time Injuries.  We are asking you to help us with these safety goals by voluntarily attending the safety meeting.  We hold these safety meetings on a quarterly basis in order to help keep safety at the forefront of everyone's mind.  At the safety meeting, we will discuss some injuries that occurred since we last met along with corrective measures to help prevent a reoccurrence, working in the heat, repetitive strain type injuries including job rotation and some other safety related items.

The meeting will be held at our usual meeting location at our Barrington office located at 28059 W. Commercial Ave in Barrington, IL.  

Please help spread the word!

As always, please contact our Safety Director, Peter Graham, with any questions.  You can reach him by e-mail at pgraham@4idi.com.

Below are a few photos from our last quarterly safety meeting held in April, 2013.  

Have a Safe Day!

Red Tape on All 3-Pronged Electrical Tools & Extension Cords on 7/1/13!

Good morning to all I.D.I. employees:  All Safety Coordinators should have been provided a roll of red electrical tape.  We begin a new quarter on Monday, 7/1/13 for our Assured Grounding Program.  You are to inspect, test and color-code with red tape all 3 pronged electrical tools and extension cords.  All electrical tools and cords need to be visually inspected.  If you see any defects in the cords such as bare wires, severe kinks, missing or damaged ground prong, the cord pulling away from the plug end housing, etc., then that tool or cord would need to be immediately removed from service and reported to the lead person.  If your tool/cord passes the visual inspection, your next step is to test the cord with a receptacle tester.  First, you should test the oulet that you will be plugging your cord into to ensure that it is properly wired.  You should see 2 yellow lights lit up on your tester and the red light should be off.  This means the outlet is working appropriately.  Next, plug your cord into the outlet and then test the cord with the receptacle tester.  Again, you should see the same light pattern as mentioned above and this would mean the cord passed the test and it is good and safe to use.  Any other light pattern means that there is a problem with the cord and the cord needs to be removed from service and reported to your lead person.  If the cord passes the visual inspection and the cord tester test, you should then remove the previous quarter's green electrical tape and install the red electrical tape about 1" down from both plug ends.  Your cord is now in compliance with our 3rd quarter's Assured Ground Program.  The red tape shall remain in place from 7/1/13 through 9/30/13.  You are not quite done yet!  You now need to visually inspect all electrical cords and tools on a daily basis and if any defects are found, the cord needs to be immediately removed from service.  Thank you for taking the time to ensure your electrical tools and cords are in safe working order.  Your actions may prevent one of our family members from sustaining an electrical shock type injury or worse yet and electrocution.  If you have any questions regarding our Assured Grounding Program, please call our Safety Director, Peter Graham, at (847) 417-1689.

Have a Safe Day!

Employees With Their OSHA 30-Hour Card (Current Within The Past 3 Years!)

Good afternoon to all I.D.I. employees:  Over the past few years, we have been encouraging our employees to enroll in the OSHA 30-hour Construction Safety Course.  Many general contractors that we work with require that we place employees at their projects that have their OSHA 30-hour card current within the past 3 years.  Today, we want to recognize our employees that have taken the OSHA 30-hour course and that are current within the past 3 years.

We have 15 employees in this high standard category and they are:  Jesse Aguirre, Paul Baca, Earl Bingman, Cesar Chavez, Daniel Dominick, Angel Flores, Chris Frankowski, Brian Frederick, Tom Gracyk, Praxedes Lagunas, Adam Lichon, Gary Newton, Jason Ondera, Chris Pickrum and Adalberto Suarez.

Congratulations to all of you on successfully completing this course.  The OSHA 30-hour course is a huge time commitment and we know it.  By taking this course, you have demonstrated with your actions, your commitment to the company, to your Superintendent and to yourself and you have showed us what you are all about.  We also have several other employees that have taken the OSHA 30-hour course, however, they are not current within the past 3 years.  The OSHA 30-hour card never expires but many general contractors set a 3-year current standard.

Why should you enroll in the OSHA 30-hour Construction Safety Course?  For starters, this course provides a good solid foundation of safety training.  You will be provided with 30 hours of construction safety training that can help you to sustain a long-term healthy & injury-free career in the construction field.  This course may just save your life!  The OSHA 30-hour course is not just good for you as far as work goes as it teaches invaluable life skills that you can take with you and use anywhere for the rest of your life as this card never expires.  This course also looks terrific on a trade person's resume.  Many employers are getting choosier when it comes to seeking out new hires and having your OSHA 30-hour card is what may make you the front runner.

Another reason we are encouraging participation in an OSHA 30-hour course is that we are bidding work to general contractors that require us to man their projects with employees that have taken this course.  By taking this course, you make yourself more valuable to a Superintendent when they are choosing their work crews for various job sites.  I also want to mention that if you do take this course; that it does not guarantee that you will work.  It does however increase your chances especially in the weak economy that our country is currently in.  

Where can I take this course you ask?  The OSHA 30-hour is offered by your union trade schools to members in good standing.  Also, if you take the course through your union trade school, we understand that it is either free or low cost to members.  It is offered at limited times throughout the year.  If you are interested in signing up, you are encouraged to contact your trade school by phone or you can look them up on the internet to see when the course is offered.  You can also take it online through some internet services.  We recently negotiated a $159.00 price for the course through Grainger.  If you choose to take the course online through Grainger, please contact our Grainger Territory Sales Representative, James Gill, Jr. at (224) 216-0986 to get the $159.00 pricing and he will advise you how to get signed up for the course.  If you are going to proceed with taking the OSHA 30-hour online, make sure you enroll in the OSHA 30-hour construction course and not the OSHA 30-hour general industry course.  If you have any questions about taking the course online, you can always contact our Safety Director, Peter Graham and he can provide you with more information to help you.  You can reach Peter by e-mail at pgraham@4idi.com.  After you take the OSHA 30-hour, you will be issued a card sometime around 30 days later. Please provide our Safety Director with a copy of your card so we know that you took the course.

Lastly, if you have taken the OSHA 30-hour course and if you have not provided us with a copy of your card, please send a copy of your card to Peter Graham so we can document this on your I.D.I. safety record.  

Make yourself standout in the crowd!

Have a Safe Day!

It's Monday Morning - Time for a Safety Toolbox Talk!

Good morning Safety Coordinators:  Today is Monday which means it's that time of the week to perform a weekly job site safety inspection and to perform a meaningful toolbox talk with our employees around 9:45am.  Let's start the week off on the right foot for the benefit of our employees.  Some time between 7:00am and 9:00am this morning, all Safety Coordinators should grab a safety inspection form from your Safety Coordinator manual and walk your job site and look for hazards.  Any hazards found should be documented on your safety inspection form and comments about the hazard and plan to protect our employees from the hazard should be documented.  Then after your morning break, at 9:45am, the Safety Coordinators should gather the crew and perform a toolbox talk that is pertinent and meaningful to the tasks being performed, the equipment being used or to something that pertains to safety at your job site.  Then after the toolbox talk has been completed, have all the employees at the project that participated in the toolbox talk sign the toolbox talk roster.  Finally, the Safety Coordinator should advise the employees of any hazards found during the walk around safety inspection and what our plan is to abate the hazard and to protect the employees from the hazard.  If a hazard is identified that cannot be abated immediately, you should then contact our Safety Director, Peter Graham, to discuss it so we can implement a plan to abate the hazard.  After the above is completed, please do your best to get the toolbox talk sign in roster & safety inspection form turned in to our Safety Department no later than Friday, 6/14/13.  Lets make it a goal to get 100% of the toolbox talks rosters and safety inspection forms turned in by Friday. If you have any questions, please contact our Safety Director, Peter at (847) 417-1689 or you can e-mail him at pgraham@4idi.com.

Thank you for helping us to prevent injuries to our employees.  Go Hawks!

From the "I Caught You" Series

At International Decorators, we have a habit of catching our employees performing safely! Below are a few action shots of our employees being caught in action performing in a safe manner or showing something they did for the safety of our employees.

Great job everyone!  You are helping us to live up to our safety mission statement which is:

"Everyone Goes Home Alive and in the Same Condition as They Arrived; Your Loved Ones Count On It."

This stairwell scaffold was built like a tank by Keith Rehn.
Wall to wall 3/4" plywood decking on top of 6 aluminum planks, etc.  Great job - Keith!

Same scaffold, just another view

One last view of the same scaffold from underneath

Can I build a scaffold or what!  Great job - Keith!

Salvador Rodriguez, taping walls in a safe manner and wearing the correct PPE for the job.
This guy is so confident with his taping abilities that he wears a $200.00 shirt while taping as he knows all the mud is going on the wall only.  

A couple of I.D.I.'s finest performing housekeeping and game planning.
Great job also with wearing the appropriate PPE - Joe Vess, Cesar Chavez and Jaime Martinez

Taper, Fernando Rodriguez tying off with fall arrest equipment while working in an elevator shaft.
Is this guy ever not smiling?  Great job - Fernando!

Lead Interior Framing Supervisor, Dan Hilt & Superintendent, Brian Haese -
Doing some serious thinking & planning at the O.C.C. project.  While doing so, they are wearing the appropriate PPE for a construction project.  Great job - gentlemen!

National Electrical Safety Month: Six Safety Tips for Working Near Overhead Power Lines!

In honor of National Electrical Safety Month this May, spark a safety-conscious conversation by sharing these six tips for working near overhead power lines.

It was just a typical day at work. Gary Norland and his coworkers were discussing weekend plans as they worked near overhead power lines. But when Norland leaned back and came into contact with 12,500 volts of electricity, he suffered life-changing burns the required a 4-month hospital stay and more than 50 surgeries.

Now, 20 years after the accident, Norland has a message: “If you get injured, it's an impact that's going to affect everybody.”

During National Electrical Safety Month this may, Norland and his family are working with Safe Electricity's “Teach Learn Care TLC” campaign to help prevent others from having accidents with overhead power lines and to keep other families from having to go through such a tragic experience.

“Those small shortcuts will add up to that big one, and then everything is going to change," Norland explained. “Take the time, and do it right the first time. Make sure you do everything safe.”

Safe Electricity, a public awareness program of the Energy Education Council (EEC), offers the following six tips for those who may be near overhead power lines when working outside:

1. Look up and around you. Always be aware of the location of power lines, particularly when using long tools like ladders, pool skimmers, and pruning poles. Be especially careful when working near power lines attached to your house. Keep in mind that wind can blow large objects out of your control.
2. Keep equipment and your body at least 10 feet from power lines. Even if you do not come in contact with a power line, the electricity can arc to nearby objects and people.
3. Be careful when working on or around your roof. That includes installing or cleaning gutters, installing rooftop antennas and satellite dishes or doing repair work. Never use water or blower extensions to clean gutters near electric lines. Contact a professional maintenance contractor.
4. Never climb trees near power lines.
5. Never trim trees near power lines. Leave that to the professionals.
6. Always follow safety procedures, no matter how boring and mundane they seem.

“We are grateful that Gary and his family are willing to share their difficult experience to help prevent other tragic accidents," said Molly Hall, executive director of the Safe Electricity program. “We encourage everyone to visit SafeElectricity.org to see the video of Gary's story and learn more about staying safe around overhead power lines.”

Citation:  The above article is from EHS online magazine and the author is Laura Walter, 5/13/13.

Have a Safe Day!

100% Attendance at our Painters & Tapers Only Quarterly Safety Meeting!

As most of you know, we held a volunteer quarterly safety meeting on April 20th for the painters and tapers only.  The safety training topics included respirator training, fit testing on the respirators and stilt safety.  We wanted to report out to everyone that for the first time since we began tracking the attendance, we had a 100% show-up rate.  

We hope that the safety training session was beneficial to everyone in attendance. We had excellent participation and questions during the session.  We want to thank all of you for taking time out of your busy lives for the sake of your safety.  The main reason we provide safety training is because of you and our company's safety mission statement - "Everyone Goes Home Alive and in the Same Condition as They Arrived; Your Loved Ones Count On It."  

During the meeting, we also celebrated the story of our employees that saved a plumber's life. We had a crew working at a downtown tenant space on 4/12/13 and a plumber suddenly dropped to the ground.  He was unconscious and at times, not breathing.  Our very own employees, Gabe Macias and Tom Gracyk immediately began performing CPR on the plumber. Also assisting in the emergency situation was Jim Woods, Paul Baca, Joe Bellich, Rick Rizzi and Randy Francisco.  In the end, we found out that the plumber had a massive heart attack. He has had bypass surgery and we were told that he is doing well.  We were also informed that our employees saved his life.  The CPR kept him alive until the paramedics arrived!  What an awesome team effort and great work under some extreme pressure!

What about you?  Are you trained on CPR?  Are you prepared to save a life?  Will you be ready to step in when someone literally needs you to save their life?  If you have not been trained in CPR, please contact Safety Pete at 847/417-1689 and he could provide you with information on how to get trained in CPR or contact your union to obtain this training.  Below is the contact information for your respective unions:

            Painters District Council #14:  www.pdc14.com                     312/421-0046

            Painters District Council #30:  www.paintersdc30.com           630/377-2120

            Chicago Carpenters:               www.chicap.org                      847/364-8367

We urge you to be prepared like Tom & Gabe are!  Don’t forget to give your family an extra hug & kiss tonight!

Below is a video from the quarterly safety meeting celebrating the story! Below that is another video showing the painters being fit tested on their respirators by Luis Moctezuma of 3M and some photos taken during the safety meeting.

I.D.I.'s President, Butch - demonstrating how in the old days, some employees would wear a dust mask and punch a hole in it so they could smoke a cigarette.  This was obviously not condoned at the time and no one does this anymore!