2015 Volunteer Safety Training Incentive Plan!

Good afternoon to all I.D.I. employees: 
As most of you know from attending our final volunteer quarterly safety meeting of 2014 on Fall Protection in early December, we rolled out our 2015 Volunteer Safety Training Incentive Plan.  In case you didn't grab this as a hand-out at the meeting, or in case you weren't in attendance at the meeting, below is our 2015 Volunteer Safety Training Incentive Plan. 

I also want to mention that employees are encouraged to enroll in an OSHA Construction 30-hour course.  This is a 30 hour long course on construction safety for which each employee who successfully completes the course would earn 3,000 volunteer safety training incentive points for our 2015 incentive plan year.  Taking this course is a huge commitment and we know it.  Taking this course makes you more marketable as many general contractors that we bid to and work for often require that we supply manpower to their projects that have their OSHA Construction 30-hour card to enable them to work there.  Many of them require that the 30-hour card is current with in the past 3 years.  We currently have 23 employees with their 30-hour card that is current within the past 3 years.  This course is also very beneficial to the employee's well being as you are receiving 30 hours of safety training in regards to the hazards you may be faced with when performing construction activities.  You are taught how to avoid and abate those hazards, many other life saving and injury avoidance techniques. 

If you have any questions about our 2015 Volunteer Safety Training Incentive Plan or about the OSHA Construction 30-hour course, please call our Safety Director, Peter Graham at (847) 417-1689.
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International Decorators, Inc.

2015 Volunteer Safety Training Incentive Plan

This Volunteer Safety Training Incentive Plan is in effect for 11/1/14 – 10/31/15.  You are not required to participate in this plan.  You’re participation is on a volunteer basis. The plan is geared towards incentivizing employees to increase their safety knowledge by taking safety courses that benefit both the employee and employer.  The goals of the safety training incentive plan are; fewer employees sustaining injuries and health hazards, fewer unsafe acts being committed, increased safety awareness and to keep safety at the forefront of everyone’s mind.  This is about making yourself better, more marketable and making you a safer employee.  Who really benefits from this?  You and your loved ones!

The following outlines what the safety training incentive plan entails.  For each approved safety course that an employee attends between the period of 11/1/14 and 10/31/15, 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 2015, for which you can use to redeem your points.  The catalog will contain work wearables, HD T.V.'s, watches, 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. 

Because of the value we place on the safety training that we (International Decorator’s, Inc.) provide, we will double the incentive point value for each volunteer quarterly safety meeting that you attend.  Our typical volunteer quarterly safety meeting is 2 hours long and would therefore be worth 400 volunteer safety incentive points.  If you attend all 4 volunteer quarterly safety meetings at I.D.I., your incentive points for attending all 4 meetings would be doubled again.  An employee of I.D.I. could therefore earn a minimum of 3,200 volunteer safety incentive points just by attending all 4 of our volunteer quarterly safety meetings in 2015. 

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

I.D.I. volunteer quarterly safety meeting – (each meeting is 2 hours and worth 400 points)

OSHA Construction 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 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. Redeem as many of your points 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 while employed by I.D.I.  

Why are we offering this 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.” 

If you have any questions about this Safety Training Incentive Program, please contact our Safety Director, Peter Graham. 

Have a Safe Day!

Volunteer Quarterly Safety "Make-Up" Meeting - This Thursday, 12/11/14 at 4:00pm

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

As you all know, we held our volunteer quarterly safety meeting this past Saturday, 12/6/14. We offer a volunteer make-up meeting for those that could not attend the regularly scheduled safety meeting either due to working for I.D.I. on the Saturday of the meeting or due to unforeseen circumstances, etc.

The volunteer quarterly safety make-up meeting is being held this Thursday, 12/11/14 at 4:00pm at our Barrington office. The main safety topic for this meeting is Fall Protection! 

Due to the short turnaround time of the make-up meeting, we are asking everyone who receives this e-mail to help spread the word to all of our employees. 

Safety Coordinators - could you please advise our employees during this morning's safety toolbox talk session of the volunteer quarterly safety make-up meeting being held this Thursday at 4:00pm.  Also ask them to notify me by Wednesday at 5:00pm if they are planning on attending so we know an approximate head-count for the meeting as we have to prepare materials and for chair rental purposes.

If you have any questions, please call Safety Pete at (847) 417-1689.

Have a Safe Day!

Volunteer Quarterly Safety Meeting on Fall Protection - Tomorrow at 7:00am!!!

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

One final reminder that we are holding our 4th and final volunteer quarterly safety meeting, tomorrow morning, Saturday, 12/6/14 at 7:00am at our Barrington office.

The safety topic is on Fall Protection!

This is your last chance to earn volunteer safety incentive points for our current year.  We will be mailing out the incentive catalogs to everyone in about 2 weeks. 

Hope to see everyone at the meeting. If you have any questions regarding the safety meeting, please contact Safety Pete at (847) 417-1689.

Have a Safe Day!

Volunteer Quarterly Safety Meeting Reminder - Saturday, 12/6/14 at 7:00am!

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

Just another reminder of our upcoming safety meeting.  All employees are invited to attend our 4th and final volunteer quarterly safety meeting for 2014 which will be held on Saturday, December 6th at 7:00am. The safety training topic will be on Fall Protection. The meeting will be held at our office location in the warehouse at 28059 W. Commercial Ave., Barrington, IL 60010. We last trained on fall protection at our September 2012 volunteer quarterly safety meeting so it's time for a refresher for our tenured employees and maybe some new safety training for the new hires.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, 646 people died from falling 6’ or more to a lower level while at work in 2010. 260 of those fall related fatalities were construction workers. Fall related fatalities are the #1 killer in construction. There were a total of 780 construction worker fatalities in 2010 and 33% of all the construction fatalities were due to falls. Falls rank #1 as the most frequently cited construction OSHA standards with 7,139 citations being issued in 2010. We want to provide fall protection safety training so that you don’t become one of these statistics. We want for all of our employees 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!”

We encourage everyone to attend for several reasons of which the most important reason is for your safety and for your loved ones. This is also your last chance to earn volunteer safety training incentive points for our 2014 program as this is our last meeting of the year. Each attendee will earn 200 points for attending the meeting. We will be mailing out the volunteer safety training incentive catalogs in mid-December to all employees that participated in the program. We look forward to seeing you on December 6th. Should you have any questions regarding fall protection or the upcoming meeting, please call our Safety Director, Peter Graham at (847) 417-1689.

Have a Safe Day!

Cold Weather Stress Prevention!

Good morning to all I.D.I. employees:

It's Captain Obvious here again to point out that it is darn cold out especially for this time of year when the average high temperatue for the day is supposed to be 47 degrees.  Most of us are not acclimated to this this type of weather yet as it came on quickly instead of the gradual lowering of the temperature which allows are bodies to get hardened or used to it.  Working in the cold can cause several types of cold stress injuries. People who are exposed to lower temperatures are at risk for injuries ranging from frostbite to serious loss of body heat (hypothermia) which could result in brain damage or death.

The following are some things we can all do to prevent cold stress type symptoms: 

Dress warmly, in layers. Preserving an air space between the body and the outer layer of clothing will help retain body heat. Choose fabrics such as cotton or wool, which insulate but also allow sweat to evaporate. It is especially important to protect the feet, hands, head, and face. These parts of the body are farthest from the heart and are the hardest to keep warm. Almost half your body heat can be lost through the head, so cover it up as well.

Keep dry. Wetness greatly increases the chance of cold stress. Always have extra clothing available if there's a chance you could get wet. Keep your feet dry, they are very susceptible to frostbite.

Take a break. You may think it's wise to keep on working in cold temperatures. After all, working makes you break a sweat and you feel warmer. But if you become fatigued during physical activity, your body loses its ability to properly retain heat. This causes rapid cooling which can quickly lead to cold stress. When you take a break, be sure to replace lost fluids and calories by drinking warm, sweet, caffeine-free nonalcoholic drinks and soup. If you are getting overly fatigued in cold weather, or if you are developing frostbite type symptoms discuss with your Field Supervisor and/or Superintendent about taking a short break.

Eat right. A proper diet provides your body with the nutrients it needs to withstand cold stress. A restrictive diet may deprive your body the ability to work well in cold temperatures.

Learn what to look out for.The effects of cold stress may not be apparent to everyone. The first symptoms of hypothermia are uncontrollable shivering and the sensation of cold. The heartbeat slows and may become irregular, and the pulse weakens. As the condition worsens, severe shaking or rigid muscles may be evident. The victim may also have slurred speech, memory lapses, and drowsiness. Cool skin, slow, irregular breathing, and exhaustion occur as the body temperature drops even lower. This is a serious condition requiring immediate medical attention.

Frostbite can occur without accompanying hypothermia. Frostbite occurs when the fluids around the body's tissues freeze. The most vulnerable parts of the body are the nose, cheeks, ears, fingers, and toes. Symptoms of frostbite include coldness and tingling in the affected part, followed by numbness; changes in skin color to white or grayish-yellow, initial pain, which subsides as the condition, worsens, and possibly blisters. Frostbite can cause irreversible tissue damage and requires immediate medical attention.

If you work in lower-temperature environments, always be alert for the possibility of cold stress. Follow these guidelines to help protect yourself from cold stess. Remember that it doesn't have to be freezing for cold stress to occur. Take steps to protect yourself. 

If you are working outside or in spaces that are not protected from the exterior environment, communicate with your field supervisor and Superintendent of any cold-weather safety related concerns or issues that you may have.  Keep an eye on each other and look out for your brothers and sisters that are working around you.  Should you have any questions about working in the cold, please contact our Safety Director, Peter Graham at (847) 417-1689.

Have a Safe Day!

Final Volunteer Quarterly Safety Meeting - 12/6/14!

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

All employees are invited to attend our 4th and final volunteer quarterly safety meeting for 2014 which will be held on Saturday, December 6th at 7:00am. The safety training topic will be on Fall Protection. The meeting will be held at our office location in the warehouse at 28059 W. Commercial Ave., Barrington, IL 60010. We last trained on fall protection at our September 2012 volunteer quarterly safety meeting so it's time for a refresher for our tenured employees and maybe some new safety training for the new hires.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, 646 people died from falling 6’ or more to a lower level while at work in 2010. 260 of those fall related fatalities were construction workers. Fall related fatalities are the #1 killer in construction. There were a total of 780 construction worker fatalities in 2010 and 33% of all the construction fatalities were due to falls. Falls rank #1 as the most frequently cited construction OSHA standards with 7,139 citations being issued in 2010. We want to provide fall protection safety training so that you don’t become one of these statistics. We want for all of our employees 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!”

We encourage everyone to attend for several reasons of which the most important reason is for your safety and for your loved ones. This is also your last chance to earn volunteer safety training incentive points for our 2014 program as this is our last meeting of the year.  Each attendee will earn 200 points for attending the meeting.  We will be mailing out the volunteer safety training incentive catalogs in mid-December to all employees that participated in the program. We look forward to seeing you on December 6th. Should you have any questions regarding fall protection or the upcoming meeting, please call our Safety Director, Peter Graham at (847) 417-1689.

Have a Safe Day!

Falling Tape Measure Kills Construction Worker!

 

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

 

We just want to share a tragic story with everyone as this hits home with the point of why we require hard hats 100% of the time.  We require hard hats 100% because we care about you!  Please keep this story in mind as you are getting out of your vehicle at job sites. 

 

Have a Safe Day!

 

New Safety Coordinator Manuals - Being Distributed!

Good morning I.D.I. Safety Coordinators,

Your current Safety Coordinator manuals are approaching being 1-years old and are probably starting to run out of safety inspection forms and toolbox talk signature rosters.  The 3-ring binders also start to get delapidated after a year's use.  We have prepared new Safety Coordinator Manuals and we are in the process of getting them distributed to our Safety Coordinators with the goal of having them in all of your hands by the end of our fiscal year which is 10/31/14 so you have them to use for the first Monday in November.  The manuals are being brought out to our Safety Coordinators at the various job sites by our Superintendents, Drivers and by Safety Pete.  If you do not receive your new manual over the next 2 weeks, please ask your Superintendent or our Safety Director about it and we will get one to you. 

We have removed some of the older toolbox talks and replaced them with some new ones that are more relevant to the types of hazards you face, equipment and/or tools that you use to offer more protection to our employees.

Safety Coordinators play a vital role in helping us to sustain our positive overall safety culture.  The 5-10 minute safety toolbox talk sessions that get performed by the Safety Coordinators on Mondays are critical in helping us in the battle against injuries.  The Monday safety toolbox talk sessions get the week started off on the right foot and help set the tone for our employees to have safety at the forefront of their minds when performing tasks.  Please take the role of being a Safety Coordinator seriously as you may prevent a fatality or serious injury and you may never know it. 

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

 

Have a Safe Day!

Orange Tape on All 3-Pronged Electrical Tools & Extension Cords on 10/1/14!

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

We begin a new quarter on Wednesday, 10/1/14 for our Assured Grounding Program. We provided orange tape for distribution to the Safety Coordinators at our volunteer quarterly safety meeting that was held on 9/6/14.  To all Safety Coordinators - tomorrow, please 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 10/1/14 through 12/31/14. 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!

Consecutive Days With No Lost-Time Injuries - Exceeds 500!!!!!

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

We have reached another safety milestone regarding our consecutive days worked streak without anyone sustaining a lost-time injury.  You may recall that back on July 28th, 2014, we posted an article about our consecutive days worked streak reaching 438 days, which was a record for the past 15 years.  We have now passed the 500 day mark as today we are now 501 consecutive days worked since our last lost-time injury which had occurred in May, 2013. 

Awesome job Everyone!

Great job on looking out for each other's well being and for your own personal safety.  Let's continue to work together as a team to help us reach our next safety milestone date of November 1st, 2014.  If we can work up to 11/1/14 without sustaining a lost-time injury, we will not only have worked 533 consecutive days without a lost-time injury, but we will have also gone a full worker's compensation insurance policy year without a lost-time injury occuring.  Twice in the past 15 years, we have gone a full worker's compensation policy year with having 1 lost-time injury but never having zero. 

Please continue to do your part by making good choices and choosing to work safe.  Please continue to look out for each other's well being.  If you see one of our I.D.I. family members not making the right choice and working in an unsafe manner, you are obligated to approach them to encourage them to work safe for the sake of themselves, their loved ones and for International Decorators, Inc.  Safety is everyone's responsibility and you do have the personal choice to work safe.  If you have any questions regarding safety, please contact our Safety Director, Safety Pete at (847) 417-1689.

Have a Safe Day!

Volunteer Quarterly Safety "Make-Up" Meeting, Wednesday, September 17th at 4:00pm

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

As you all know, we held our volunteer quarterly safety meeting on Saturday, 9/6/14. We offer a volunteer make-up meeting for those that could not attend the regularly scheduled safety meeting either due to working for I.D.I. on the Saturday of the meeting or due to unforeseen circumstances, etc.

The volunteer quarterly safety make-up meeting is being held on Wednesday, 9/17/14 at 4:00pm at our Barrington office. The main safety topic for this meeting is Aerial Lift Safety!  Two of our largest projects that we are working on require all tradesmen & women that will be working in aerial lifts to have had current aerial lift training and to be able to prove it with documentation. We will be using a numerous amount of aerial lifts at both of these large projects. By attending this volunteer safety training session on aerial lift safety, you will be qualified to work at these projects. Without having current/recent aerial lift training, it would be difficult to place you at these projects.  You will be issued an aerial lift wallet training card following the safety training session.  

If you plan on attending, please contact our Safety Director, Peter Graham at (847) 417-1689 or by e-mail at pgraham@4idi.com, no later than Tuesday, 9/16/14. We need to know an approximate head-count for the meeting as we have to prepare materials and for chair rental purposes.

If you have any questions, please call Peter at the above-mentioend phone number.

Have a Safe Day!

How You Can Benefit By Attending our Volunteer Aerial Lift Safety Training on 9/6/14

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

As most of you know, our next volunteer quarterly safety meeting is being held on Saturday, September 6th at 7:00am. The main safety topic for the meeting will be Aerial Lift Safety.

We use aerial lifts almost daily at one job site or another and it is important to know the do's and dont's of working in aerial lifts. Struck-By and Caught-Between type injuries are 2 of OSHA's Focused Four topics as they cause a signifacant amount of fatailities in the construction industry. We will include training on how to prevent Struck-By and Caught-Between type injuries involving aerial lifts.

We feel this is a very important topic as we use a numerous amount of aerial lifts on a given day and employees are required to have had aerial lift training before they can operate an aerial lift.

Besides your own personal safety, here is another way that you could benefit by attending this volunteer safety training session.  Two of our largest projects that we are working on or soon to be working on require all tradesmen & women that will be working in aerial lifts to have had current aerial lift training and to be able to prove it with documentation.  We will be using a numerous amount of aerial lifts at both of these large projects.  By attending this volunteer safety training session on aerail lift safety, you will be qualified to work at these projects. With out having current/recent aerial lift training, we cannot place you at these projects.  Shortly after this training session, you will be provided with an aerial lift training wallet card to carry with you. 

This volunteer safety training session will be held at our usual location at our shop at 28059 W. Commercial Ave. in Barrington, IL. We will continue to advertise this meeting as we get closer to the meeting date. In the meantime, we are asking for everyone's help to spread the word of the meeting date, time and topic.
 

If you have any questions about this volunteer safety meeting, please contact our Safety Director, Peter Graham. Peter can be reached by e-mail at pgraham@4idi.com or by calling (847) 417-1689.

Have a Safe Day!

Table Saw Safety!

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

The table saws that we provide come with a blade guard that is bolted in place.  The blade guard is there for a reason.  The blade guard is there to protect you from the blade so that you don’t cut off a finger or your hand.  It also is there to help keep debris from the materials that you are cutting from flying towards you.  Our Safety Director, Safety Pete, was at a job site recently where he came across one of our table saws that had the blade guard removed.  No one was using the table saw at the time and in fact, we didn’t have any carpenters on site at the time.  On occassion, table saws are returned to the shop with the blade guard removed.   

For your personal safety, you cannot use a table saw with the blade guard removed.  Using a table saw with the blade guard removed is an OSHA violation and a violation of our company’s safety policies.  This unsafe act can lead to serious injuries and high dollar fines.  We don’t want to have to call one of your loved ones to tell them that you cut off your hand because you were using a table saw and you intentionally removed the blade guard.  In addition to the above, table saw users must wear eye protection. 

 

The photo above shows a table saw with the blade guard removed.  This in turn exposes the table saw user to the spinning blade.  Please contact our Safety Director, Peter Graham with any questions.  He can be reached at (847) 417-1689.

Have a Safe Day!

Next Volunteer Quarterly Safety Meeting on 9/6/14!

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

We have scheduled our third volunteer quarterly safety meeting of 2014 and it will be held on Saturday, September 6th at 7:00am.  The main safety topic for the meeting will be Aerial Lift Safety.  We use aerial lifts almost daily at one job site or another and it is important to know the do's and dont's of working in aerial lifts.  Struck-By and Caught-Between type injuries are 2 of OSHA's Focused Four topics as they cause a signifacant amount of fatailities in the construction industry.  We will include training on how to prevent Struck-By and Caught-Between type injuries involving aerial lifts.  We feel this is a very important topic as we use a numerous amount of aerial lifts on a given day and employees are required to have had aerial lift training before they can operate an aerial lift.  This safety training session will be held at our usual location at our shop at 28059 W. Commercial Ave. in Barrington, IL.  We will continue to advertise this meeting as we get closer to the meeting date.  In the meantime, we are asking for everyone's help to spread the word of the meeting date, time and topic. 
 

If you have any questions about this volunteer safety meeting, please contact our Safety Director, Peter Graham. Peter can be reached by e-mail at pgraham@4idi.com or by calling (847) 417-1689.

Have a Safe Day!

Record Breaking Safety!

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

Congratulations goes out to everyone for achieving a new record.  International Decorators record for the past 15 years for consecutive days worked between lost-time injuries was 435 days.  We have broken that record as we are currently at 438 consecutive days since our last lost-time injury.  Awesome job, attaboy, pat on the back goes out to everyone for helping to break this record.  It takes a lot of team work for a company to come together to have such an achievement.  This is what our safety culture is all about.  It's about you "Going Home Alive and in the Same Condition as You Arrived; Your Loved Ones Count On It."  We cannot let our guard down against safety as your safety is never ending.  Let's keep this rolling and look forward to our next safety milestone date which is November 1st, 2014.  If we can work up to 11/1/14 without sustaining a lost-time injury, we will not only have worked 533 consecutive days without a lost-time injury, but we will also have gone a full workers compensation insurance policy year without a lost-time injury occuring.  This would be a win/win for everyone as this would mean that no employees sustained serious injuries, less pain and suffering to our employees and their loved ones, we should be able to bid work more competitively meaning that there is a potential for more work to be obtained so fewer employees are sitting and not working.  For the sake of your loved ones, yourself and for Pete's sake, we encourage you to continue to look out for one another and work as safe as you possibly can.  If you observe an employee not working in a safe appropriate manner, please stop them as you are doing them a favor and possibly preventing them from being injured.  If you are working at a job site that has unsafe conditions, please notify your lead field supervisor and contact our Safety Director, Safety Pete at (847) 417-1689 so we can help get the unsafe conditions rectified. 

Awesome job Everyone!

Have a Safe Day!

Construction Worker - Pinned Between Beam & Aerial Lift.

Good morning to all I.D.I. employees,
Below is a news article about a construction worker accident that occurred yesterday at a project that we are working at called Project Onyx which is also known as the Amazon Distribution Center.  The constuction worker involved in the accident is not an employee of International Decorators.  
 

KENOSHA (WI.) — Kenosha police and fire officials were called out to a construction accident that occurred at the site of the Amazon Distribution Center complex being built on Burlington Road in Kenosha. The call came in just before 3:30 p.m.  Officials were dispatched for a report of a worker pinned between a beam and an aerial lift in the Onyx Building on the construction site. Before emergency crews responded to the scene, co-workers were able to free the worker who was trapped. We’re told no one saw the accident happen, or how the worker became trapped. The 35-year-old worker was taken by ambulance to the hospital. It is believed he suffered a torn or dislocated shoulder. His injuries are not believed to be serious. Flight for Life was put on standby for this incident but was not dispatched to the scene. Kenosha police have contacted OSHA regarding this incident and OSHA is investigating. It is unclear the company the injured worker was working for as there are several construction companies working on the job site.

(Posted 5:47 pm, July 23, 2014, by Katie DeLong, Updated at 09:49pm, July 23, 2014

Monitor FOX6 News and FOX6Now.com for updates on this story.)

 

Fortunately this construction worker was not killed as he/she easily could have been.  Please keep this unfortunate accident in mind as you are working in aerial lifts to serve as a reminder of the dangers that can happen.  This is in part as to why International Decorators provides ongoing safety training for our employees.  To help enable you to "go home alive and in the same condition as you arrived; your loved ones count on it."

 

OSHA has what they call their Focused Four or Fatal Four which are the 4 main categories of accidents in which OSHA is trying to prevent.  Struck-By and Caught-Between types of accidents are two the Fatal Four topics on OSHA's list.  The other two topics are Falls and Electrocutions.  The accident mentioned above would fall under the Caught-Between category and since this falls within one of OSHA's Focused Four, OSHA is now investigating this accident. 

 

If you have any questions related to aerial lift safety or safety in general, please contact our Safety Director, Peter Graham at (847) 417-1689.

 

Have a Safe Day!

Where Are We At With Our Annual Safety Goals You Ask?

Good morning everyone,

As most of you know, we typically go over our annual safety goals and where we stand with them at our volunteer quarterly safety meetings.  Due to the safety meeting agendas, we didn't have time to go over the safety goals at the last 2 safety meetings. The following is an update as to where we stand in our current year which is for the period of 11/1/13 through 10/31/14. 

During our first 8 months of our current year (11/1/13 - today), we are doing terrific as far as meeting and/or surpassing our safety goals. 

Our #1 safety goal is to ensure that everyone went home alive:  We have had Zero work related fatalities and we haven't had one since Tony Pintozzi, Sr. opened the doors of I.D.I. in 1952.  This is something that Tony, Butch and Bill are very proud of and should give you and your loved ones confidence in that when you leave for work in the morning, that you will also be coming home to them after work at the end of the day. 

Our #2 safety goal is to have Zero Lost-Time Injuries:  So far this year we have had Zero lost-time injuries and in fact our previous lost-time injury occured 421 days ago back in May of 2013.  Our record for consecutive days worked between lost-time injuries over the past 15 years is 435 days.  To break that record, we would need to work up through July 25, 2014 without sustaining a lost-time injury.

Our #3 safety goal is to be at $0.50 cents or less injury cost per man hours worked or better:  This is calculated by taking our total cost of injuries including the medical bills, lost-time payments, expenses, etc. and dividing it by the total companies hours worked for the year.  Year-to-date we have spent $2,328.89 on injury costs and we have worked a total of 150,051 hours making our injury cost per man hours worked at $0.02 cents. 

Our #4 safety goal is to be at 1 injury for every 24,000 hours worked or better:  As of today we are at 1 injury for every 30,010.20 hours worked.  This means our injury frequency is lower this year than it has been over the past 5 years.   

Our #5 safety goal is to have no OSHA or EPA violations:  We have had Zero and in fact our last OSHA violation was in 1998.  OSHA and/or EPA violations come with high $ fines and they go on a companies record.  Many general contractors won't allow subcontractors to bid their work if they have OSHA violations on their record.  This is an important goal for all employees in our company in that if we have OSHA violations causing us to not bid certain general contractors work, there would be less job sites for our employees to be working at.  Not having OSHA violations will help enable I.D.I. to obtain more work to keep employees working to support themselves and their loved ones. 

As you can see from our safety goals mentioned above, we are having a terrific year when it comes to safety.  What does all of this mean to you?  It means that you can count on us in that we are doing everything in our power to help prevent an injury from occuring to you.  It means less pain caused to our employees.  It means that we would have an advantage over our competitors that are bidding the same work if they are not working as safe as we are.  It means that you are working for an employer that cares about you.  It means that you will be going home to your loved ones!

Lastly, we want to thank all of you for doing your part and working in a safe manner.  It is you that is making this happen.  It is in part because of your support at our volunteer quarterly safety meetings that helps us to sustain a pro-active and positive safety culture.  I.D.I. trains on safety, provides the safety equipment and resources to perform safely but it is our employees that are implementing safety and making it happen!  Please continue to work in the safest manner possible and to look out for each other. If you come across hazards at your job site, please report them to your lead field supervisor who should in turn report them to our Safety Director if help is needed in getting the hazard abated. 

Our Safety Mission Statement is: "Everyone Goes Home Alive and in the Same Condition as They Arrived; Your Loved Ones Count On It!"
We feel our safety mission statement is truly what your safety and well being is all about.

If you have any questions related to safety, please contact our Safety Director, Safety Pete at (847) 417-1689.

Have a Safe Day!

A Letter From a Daughter About Why She Wants Her Dad (Angel Flores) To Work Safe!

Below is a cute letter about why a daughter wants and needs for her Dad to work safe at International Decorators, Inc. This letter was written by 11 year old Adriana Flores in regards to her father, Angel Flores who is one of our outstanding carpenter/drywall hangers. Adriana's letter was one of the $100 gift card winners from a contest that we ran in March 2014 in which we asked our employee's loved ones to write a letter about why they want their loved one (I.D.I. employee) to work safe

Great job - Adriana!   You sure love your Dad.

 

Red Tape on All 3-Pronged Electrical Tools & Extension Cords on 7/1/14!

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 Tuesday, 7/1/14 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 7/1/14 through 9/30/14. 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!

The Correct Way to Plug in a GFCI Pigtail!

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

Did you know that it makes a huge difference in how you set up and use a GFCI (ground fault circuit interrupter) pigtail?  There is the OSHA compliant way, which is the correct way to use them and offers the best protection to our employees and there is an incorrect way.  Below should hopefully explain the difference.   

When using a GFCI pigtail, the GFCI pigtail is required to be plugged into the power receptacle first and then your tools or extension cords gets plugged into the GFCI.  The photo below illustrates the correct way to set up the GFCI.

The incorrect way is to plug in an extension cord to the power receptacle first and then to plug your GFCI into the extension cord.  Doing it in this manner exposes your employer to an OSHA violation and more importantly, it is exposing employees to an electrical shock or electrocution hazard because the extension cord itself is not protected by the GFCI because the GFCI protection occurs after where the GFCI is plugged in. The photo below illustrates the incorrect GFCI set-up. 

Below are the GFCI use instructions on the GFCI pigtail which states - DO NOT USE EXTENSION CORD TO CONNECT GFCI TO POWER RECEPTACLE.

Hopefully eveyone understands this article.  If there is any confusion or if you need clarification, please contact our Safety Director, Peter Graham.

 

Have a Safe Day!

400 Consecutive Days Since Our Last Lost-Time Injury!!!!!

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

Just to keep everyone in the loop - our consecutive days worked streak since our last lost-time injury remains in tact.  As of today, we have now worked 400 straight days since our last lost-time injury.  Our next safety milestone date is July 26th.  If we can continue our streak until July 26th, we will have broken our previous 15 year record of working 435 consecutive days between lost-time injuries.

Please continue to do your part and work safe!  If you see someone doing something unsafely, please stop them for their own safety and for the sake of their loved ones.

This is a win/win for everyone.  No lost-time injuries means that no one is having to go through the pain involved when a lost-time injury occurs. The true winners are our employees and their loved ones. 

We hope everyone has a terrific and safe weekend!

Have a Safe Day!

Captain Obvious - Weather Related Warning!

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

It's Captain Obvious here again to tell you that there is a potential for bad weather today.  If you have exterior work and if you see lightning, you need to seek shelter.  If you are on aerial lifts, on scaffolding, on roof tops, etc., you need to have an increased awareness of high winds.  Each job site location has different weather conditions and the winds speeds can vary at a job site itself depending on the side of the structure that you are working on.  If you are questioning whether or not you should continue to work due to poor weather conditions, then you should lean towards the side of caution and report the conditions to your lead field supervisor who should in turn report the conditions and potential work stoppage to their Superintendent.  Also, if you suspect or witness high wind speeds, please ensure that our exterior equipment and materials are secured so they cannot be displaced and injure someone; this is especially important at heights such as on scaffolding and roof tops.  If you have exterior scaffolding, you should remove the hooks planks from the scaffolding so they do not get loose or so they don't act like a sail causing the scaffold to tip.  Also, if the conditions are wet and if you have electric tools, you should be plugging into GFCI (ground fault circuit interrupters) and as always, ensure your electrical cords are in safe condition for use.  If at all possible, avoid using electric tools in wet conditions.

Please remember to communicate any weather related work stoppages with your Superintendent. 

Please contact our Safety Director, Peter Graham with any safety related questions. 

Have a Safe Day!

Family Video of Why 2 Daughters Want Their Dad To Work Safe!

Good morning everyone,

Back in March, we asked the loved ones of our employees to write a letter or to submit a video as to why it is important for their loved one (International Decorator's, employee) to work safe. We received in a total of 5 letters and 4 videos of which all were unique in their own way and really hit it on the head as to why it is so important for our employees and for their loved ones sake, to work safe. We read the letters and showed the videos at our volunteer quarterly safety meeting which was held on 5/31/14.  In case you were not present at the meeting, below is one of the videos which was submitted by the daughters of Reynaldo Lagunas.  The daughters are Aylin age 6 and Anahi age 3.  Anahi wants her Dad to come home safe because "he is so handsome."  These girls are too cute and they sure love their Dad!

Enjoy!

Have a Safe Day!

OSHA Fall Prevention Safety Stand-Down (I.D.I.'s Results)

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

As you all know, we participated in the National OSHA Fall Prevention Safety Stand-Down on Monday, 6/2/14.  We appreciate all the Safety Coordinators getting involved and performing a fall protection toolbox talk training session with our employees in recognition of the Stand-Down.  In 2012, 269 construction workers died due to falling at work and falls are the number one cause of fatalities in construction.  It's a good thing to call a time-out to get everyone on the same page to help ensure that none of our employees are ever killed due to a fall.  International Decorators has been in business since 1952 and we have never had a fall related fatality or any work related fatality.  This is something that everyone should be proud of and hopefully enables your loved ones to feel at ease while our employees are performing construction related tasks. 

We obtained a total of 76 employee signatures on the fall protection related toolbox talk training rosters.  Great job everyone!  We hope this Safety Stand-Down was of some value to you. 

In recognition of our participation, we have obtained a Certificate of Participation from OSHA.

Have a Safe Day!

Volunteer Quarterly Safety "Make-Up" Meeting, Thursday, June 12th at 4:00pm

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

As you all know, we held our volunteer quarterly safety meeting on Saturday, 5/31/14.  We offer a volunteer make-up meeting for those that could not attend the regularly scheduled safety meeting either due to working for I.D.I. on the Saturday of the meeting or due to unforeseen circumstances, etc.

The volunteer quarterly safety make-up meeting is being held this Thursday, 6/12/14 at 4:00pm at our Barrington office.  The main safety topic for this meeting is Behavior Based Safety!

If you plan on attending, please contact our Safety Director, Peter Graham at (847) 417-1689 or by e-mail at pgraham@4idi.com, no later than Wednesday afternoon.  We need to know an approximate head-count for the meeting as we have to prepare materials and for chair rental purposes. 

If you have any questions, please call Peter at the above-mentioend phone number. 

Have a Safe Day!

Battery Explosion Safety Alert!!!

Awesome Video of Why a Daughter Wants Her Dad to Work Safe!!!!!

Good afternoon everyone,

In case you missed our volunteer quarterly safety meeting this past Saturday, I think everyone should see this video.  Even if you were present at the meeting, this is worth watching a 2nd time.  Back in March, we asked the loved ones of our employees to write a letter or to submit a video as to why it is important for their loved one (International Decorator's, employee) to work safe.  We received in a total of 5 letters and 4 videos of which all were unique in their own way and really hit it on the head as to why it is so important for our employees and for their loved ones sake, to work safe.  The video below is from our employee, Kevin Medcalf's daughter.  She couldn't have said it any better.  Kevin, you must be very proud of her!

Enjoy!

Have a Safe Day!

Uploading Toolbox Talks to I.D.I.'s Facebook Page

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

Below is a copy of the handout from our volunteer quarterly safety meeting on Saturday in regards to Safety Coordinators video-taping their toolbox talks during the month of June and uploading the video(s) to our company's Facebook page. 
_________________________________________________________________________________

Safety Coordinators, 
During the month of June, 2014, we are asking our Safety Coordinators to be creative and to perform the best toolbox talk that you can, video-tape it and then post the video on International Decorator’s Facebook page.  You can be as creative, funny, serious, etc. as you want to be.  We are just asking that you perform a toolbox talk that benefits our employees to help keep them safe and injury-free. 

Here’s the scoop:

There are five Monday’s in June.  During one or all of your toolbox talk sessions in June, we are asking you to video-tape your toolbox talk sessions and upload the video(s) to our Facebook page.  We are going to reward the top 3 videos that receive the most “Likes!” 

How do I upload my video?

From your smart phone, you need to log on to I.D.I.’s Facebook page at www.facebook.com/internationaldecorators.

1. You must hit the “Like” icon and Like our Facebook page to be able to post a video.   
2. To upload a video from your smart phone, you must be on I.D.I.’s Facebook page and click on the “write post” icon.
3. Then, click on the icon that looks like a camera and you can select your video then click “Done.”
4. Then on the next screen click “post” and your video will upload to our Facebook page.

  All Employees, 

Now that you’ve read the information above, you know what we are looking to accomplish.  Help the Safety Coordinators any way you can.  Once the toolbox talk videos are uploaded, we are asking you to log onto our IDI Facebook page at www.facebook.com/internationaldecorators and vote for your favorite toolbox talk videos by “Liking” them.   

The voting / “Liking” the videos will be going on during the whole month of June and on July 1st, we will tally up which 3 toolbox talk videos have the most likes.  The employees who were in attendance and signed the toolbox talk roster of the 3 winners will receive 500 bonus points toward our Safety Incentive program.  The winners will be recognized at our next volunteer quarterly safety meeting.

 

Lastly, the Safety Coordinator that conducted the toolbox talk session that receives the most "Likes" on our Facebook page during the month of June will win a Bosch Power Box 360 jobsite radio/charger/digital media stereo.

 

If you have any questions on how to upload a video or how to vote for your favorites or anything else pertaining to this, please call our Safety Director, Peter Graham at (847) 417-1689.

 

Have a Safe Day!

 

National Fall Prevention Safety Stand-Down on June 2nd at 9:30am!!!!!

OSHA – Fall Prevention Stand-Down on 6/2/14!

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

OSHA (Occupational Safety & Health Administration) is promoting to all construction companies to participate in a National Fall Prevention Stand-Down.  The purpose of the National Fall Prevention Stand-Down is to raise awareness of preventing fall hazards in construction.  Fatalities caused by falls from elevation continue to be a leading cause of death for construction workers, accounting for 269 of the 775 construction fatalities recorded in 2012.  Those deaths were preventable. Fall prevention safety standards were among the top 10 most frequently cited OSHA standards, during fiscal year 2012. 

What is a Fall Prevention Stand-Down?  A Safety Stand-Down is a voluntary event for employers to talk directly to employees about "Fall Hazards" and to reinforce the importance of "Fall Prevention."

OSHA will be promoting this Fall Prevention Safety Stand-Down on billboards in the Chicago area.

I.D.I. will be participating in this Safety Stand-Down and here is how: 

On Monday, 6/2/14 at 9:30am, we are asking all Safety Coordinators to perform the same fall protection toolbox talk.  We will hand out the toolbox talk at our volunteer quarterly safety meeting which is being held on Saturday, 5/31/14 at 7:00am.  In the event you are not present at the Saturday volunteer safety meeting, the toolbox talk that we want everyone to perform is in your Safety Coordinator Manual.  It is under the Fall Protection tab of your manual, it is toolbox talk # FP8 and it is called: What is Fall Protection?  After gathering your crew and performing the toolbox talk, have our employees, including yourself, sign the toolbox talk signature roster and turn that into our Safety Director.  We in turn have to advise OSHA as to how many employees participated in the Stand-Down.  OSHA’s goal is to have 500,000 construction workers participate in the Stand-Down. 

Let's work as a team to make this Safety Stand-Down a success by getting everyone involved and participating.  We thank you in advance for your help.  Should you have any questions, please contact our Safety Director, Peter Graham at (847) 417-1689.

 

Have a Safe Day!

Final Reminder - Volunteer Quarterly Safety Meeting on 5/31/14!!!!

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

This is just a final reminder of our second volunteer quarterly safety meeting of 2014 and it is being held this Saturday, May 31st at 7:00am.This safety training session will be held at our usual location at our shop at 28059 W. Commercial Ave. in Barrington, IL. The main safety topic for the meeting will be Behavior Based Safety being presented by Dan Balles. Dan is a Senior Risk Control Consultant from the Willis Group which is I.D.I.’s insurance agency. Dan has customized this safety training towards the types of work we perform at I.D.I. to help us in the battle against injuries. After Dan completes his session, we will then move on to reading the letters and showing the videos that were submitted by employees loved ones. You may recall that back in March, we sent a letter to all employee’s homes asking I.D.I. employees to have a loved one(s), a family member, a spouse, a child, a parent or someone who cares about you, to write a letter or submit a video as to why they want or need for you to work safe. We received in a total 5 letters and 4 videos. We advised in the letter that we would select the best three and reward them with a $100 gift card. We have contacted the winners and we have invited them to attend the May 31^st volunteer quarterly safety meeting so we can present them with their gift cards. We received in a variety of letters and videos and each one was terrific and really nailed it as far as what we were hoping to receive. We can't wait to show everyone what was submitted because each one is unique in their own way. Thank you to the family members who took the time to tell us why you want your loved one to work safe and for making this contest a success. We hope to see all of you on May 31st.

If you have any questions about this volunteer safety meeting, please contact our Safety Director, Peter Graham. Peter can be reached by e-mail at pgraham@4idi.com or by calling (847) 417-1689.

Have a Safe Day!

** 1 Year Since Our Last Lost-Time Injury **

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

It's time to pat yourselves on the back, but please don't get injured while doing so!  International Decorators has reached the 1-year milestone as it has been 365 consecutive days worked since our last lost-time injury which covered 252,855 total hours worked. 

It takes a lot of team work to reach a milestone like this.  It requires each individual to take a personal responsibility to work safe.  It requires each individual to look out for each other.  It requires employees to be engaged with safety and keeping safety at the forefront of every task that is performed.  It requires safety planning, safety training, field safety leadership, communication amongst each other and most of all, it takes high quality employees that care! 

If we can work 1/4 of a million hours together as a team without sustaining a lost-time injury, there is really no reason why can't we keep repeating that and work 1 million hours without a lost-time injury. We can't let our guard down against safety.  Safety is not something that you just do once and the task is over.  Safety is something that needs to be engrained, a second nature habit, something that we are just doing all the time.  Safety is a culture!

Our longest consecutive streak of days worked between lost-time injuries over the past 15 years is 435 days.  So, our next milestone date is July 26th, 2014.  If we can work up until that date without sustaining a lost-time injury, we will break our 15 year record.

We are asking each and every employee to help continue this streak and to help us get to our next milestone date of July 26th.  We are going to be having a very busy summer so we have a huge challenge ahead of us.  We are asking you to keep looking out for each other.  Take it upon yourself to not cut corners and to stop others from cutting corners when it comes to safety.  Be on the look out for unsafe conditions and hazards at our job sites and continue to report them to our Safety Director so we can help to make the job sites safer.  If you see someone doing something unsafe, please stop them for Pete's sake (sorry, I just had to) and explain to them that you don't want to see them get hurt for their own good and for the sake of their loved ones. 

Awesome job everyone on working together as a team to reach the 1 year mark since our last lost-time injury. 

If you have any questions about safety, please call our Safety Director, Peter Graham.  He can be reached at (847) 417-1689 or by e-mail at pgraham@4id.com. 

Have a Safe Day!

OSHA To Publish Company's Names in Newspapers for High Dollar Violations

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

Our Safety Director, Safety Pete, serves on Lake County Contractors Association's (LCCA) safety committee along with representatives from the Occupational Safety & Health Administration (OSHA).  Yesterday, it was announced by OSHA at an LCCA safety committee meeting that OSHA has a mandate where as they are to publish an article in local newspapers including company names of those companies who have received OSHA citations of $40,000 or more.  The reasoning behind doing so is to help deter companies from receiving safety violations with the overall goal of making companies stay on top of safety for the safety of their employees.  OSHA is out to embarrass companies publicly if they are not doing what they are supposed to as far as safety. 

As all or most of you know, one of our seven major safety goals that we discuss at every volunteer quarterly safety meeting is for our company to not receive an OSHA citation.  OSHA citations are not only costly for the employer due to the dollar fine that comes with it, but they are costly to a company in that many general contractors will not allow a company to even bid their work if a company has OSHA citations on their record.  Another reason this is one of our seven major safety goals is because if we aren't receiving OSHA citations, that means that we are doing things the right way by keeping in compliance and helping make our employee's careers safer for themselves and for their loved ones. 

This new OSHA mandate does not worry us as we feel we do things right when it comes to safety.  Our employees are skilled and pro-active when it comes to safety. We hold volunteer quarterly safety meetings which helps keep everyone in tune with safety and on the same page.  We just wanted to heighten everyone's awareness.  Our goal is to not be in the newspapers for working unsafely, but to be in the newspapers for doing things right and constructing buildings in a safe and productive manner. 

 

Have a Safe Day Everyone!

Next Volunteer Quarterly Safety Meeting on 5/31/14!!!!

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

We have scheduled our second volunteer quarterly safety meeting of 2014 and it will be held on Saturday, May 31st at 7:00am. This safety training session will be held at our usual location at our shop at 28059 W. Commercial Ave. in Barrington, IL. The main safety topic for the meeting will be Behavior Based Safety being presented by Dan Balles.  Dan is a Senior Risk Control Consultant from the Willis Group which is I.D.I.’s insurance agency.  Dan has customized this safety training towards the types of work we perform at I.D.I. to help us in the battle against injuries.  After Dan completes his session, we will then move on to reading the letters and showing the videos that were submitted by employees loved ones.  You may recall that back in March, we sent a letter to all employee’s homes asking I.D.I. employees to have a loved one(s), a family member, a spouse, a child, a parent or someone who cares about you, to write a letter or submit a video as to why they want or need for you to work safe.  We received in a total 5 letters and 4 videos.  We advised in the letter that we would select the best three and reward them with a $100 gift card.  We have contacted the winners and we have invited them to attend the May 31^st volunteer quarterly safety meeting so we can present them with their gift cards. We received in a variety of letters and videos and each one was terrific and really nailed it as far as what we were hoping to receive.  We can't wait to show everyone what was submitted because each one is unique in their own way. Thank you to the family members who took the time to tell us why you want your loved one to work safe and for making this contest a success. We hope to see all of you on May 31st.

If you have any questions about this volunteer safety meeting, please contact our Safety Director, Peter Graham. Peter can be reached by e-mail at pgraham@4idi.com or by calling (847) 417-1689.

Have a Safe Day!

Unselfishly Safe

Good afternoon to all I.D.I. employees,
Below is an article that I came across in an online safety magazine.  This article fits in with the topic of our next volunteer quarterly safety meeting which is, Behavior Based Safety, being presented on May 31, 2014.  We hope that everyone at I.D.I. and your families have a Happy Easter!

Here is the article and it is entitled:  Unselfishly Safe

If it weren’t for diaper rash, I might not be here today.

Not too many people can make that claim, or at least would have the guts to admit it – especially in a national magazine. But it’s true. Diaper rash saved my butt – literally and figuratively.

When I was just a few months old, my dad (who was 22 at the time), happened to be watching me when a friend asked him if he wanted to go to the bookstore. My dad was – and still is – addicted to reading and collecting books, so this was like asking a kid if he wanted to go to Disneyland on a school day.

He regretfully declined. I can imagine him looking at me and lamenting, “My book collection will never make library status because of you.” I’m just kidding about that last part.

According to the story, I was a little cranky (a rash will do that to a baby), but more importantly, my dad feared the wrath of my mom if he’d chosen to take their firstborn to the bookstore instead of taking care of her poor baby at home (a wife will do that to a husband).

A short while later, my dad received a phone call reporting that this good friend had been in a very serious car accident and was lucky to be alive. This friend was a bigger guy, and as a result of his size and the steering wheel, was blocked from going completely through the front windshield. This was 1978 and there were no air bags.

My dad’s friend suffered injuries to his head and face and bruises to his upper body. My dad would have been holding me in the passenger seat (the California laws weren’t as strict as they are now), and buckling your seatbelt wasn’t required by law. So you probably can imagine what might have happened to us if we’d been in that car.

This story got me thinking about the choices that we face while performing our daily tasks, and the ramifications that those choices have.

When it comes to being safe at work, we often forget that it’s not just about what we want or what’s best for us or even our company. We forget that there are a lot of people in this world – family, friends, colleagues, roommates – who depend on us, and at the end of the day, these people need us to continue to be part of their lives.

We’ve become an incredibly entitled society. We’re bombarded with marketing messages telling us that anything standing between our desires and us is bad. Don’t get me wrong: I’m a huge fan of working hard, striving to be successful and taking care of No. 1. However, when I see this attitude toward safety in the workplace, it’s very worrisome.

Selfish Acts, Unsafe Acts

W.H. Heinrich, who is considered to be a pioneer of industrial safety in America, developed a theory we’ve come to know as “Heinrich’s Law,” which estimates that 88 percent of accidents and incidents are caused by unsafe acts. Most safety professionals are familiar with this theory. Whether you agree or disagree with Heinrich, I challenge you to look at the accidents in your experience and think about whether this theory has some truth to it.

During accident/incident/near-miss investigations, if you look at the contributing factors (human factors more specifically), you’ll notice that these events typically fall into one of these categories:

· Unsafe acts – These can be divided into two categories: errors (individuals’ mental and/or physical actions that fail to achieve their intended outcome) and violations (willful disregard for rules and regulations).

· Preconditions for unsafe acts – Individuals fail to prepare physically and/or mentally for duty (lack of rest, alcohol consumption, self-medicating, poor dietary practices, off-the-job overexertion, bad habits).

· Unsafe supervision – Failure to administer proper training and/or lack of professional guidance (risk without benefit, no risk assessment, improper work tempo, poor crew pairing).

· Organizational influences – Failure of resource management, organizational climate and operational processes (structure, policies, culture).

When I look at an accident and consider each of these categories, I can point to all of them and name selfish choices or decisions that were made by someone that resulted in failure to some degree.

The obvious ones are taking shortcuts (UA), choosing to work impaired (PUA), not preparing crews correctly and pushing production (US), and failing to own safety at the highest level (OI). If you’ve ever sat with family members in the emergency room nervously waiting to see if their dad will ever be able to walk again, you know exactly how “me” choices affect more than the injured individual.

So the million-dollar question is: What do we do?

Maybe it’s as simple as putting aside selfish desires and looking at the bigger picture. Maybe as safety professionals, we take a look at our own work habits and get more involved with our co-workers on a “human” level, instead of focusing on all the reports, meetings and audits that we have to complete.

I wish I had the right answer. But I do think this unselfish approach to safety needs to spark some conversations.

When the opportunity or invitation presents itself to gain a little bit more, go a little bit faster, reach a little bit further or take that quick shortcut, we probably should stop for a minute and consider the effects that this decision might have on our loved ones and the others around us.

I’m glad my dad did.

 

Work Cited - by Aaron J. Morrow in EHS OutLoud Blog on 4/15/14