Red Tape on All 3-Pronged Electrical Tools & Extension Cords as of 7/1/15!

Good morning to all I.D.I. employees:

We begin a new quarter on Wednesday, 7/1/15 for our Assured Grounding Program.  We are to switch over our cords from green tape to red tape. To all Safety Coordinators - please help keep our employees safe and help keep us OSHA compliant by following our assured grounding program. Please 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 Grounding Program. The red tape shall remain in place from 7/1/15 through 9/30/15. You are not quite done yet! All employees 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!

 

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

 

I attended a safety seminar last week on hearing protection.  The keynote speaker on hearing protection was a woman named Theresa Schulz from Honeywell Safety Products.  Theresa is a Past President and active member of the National Hearing Conservation Association and has many other credentials including a PhD.  Theresa was very informative on hearing protection and she knows her stuff.  Below is some helpful information on hearing protection that was provided.

 

Foam earplugs offer more protection from noise than earmuffs?  Answer = TRUE…
...with one qualifier: properly fit roll-down foam earplugs offer more protection than the typical earmuff. Bigger is not necessarily better in terms of blocking noise in the ear; a well-fit earplug seals the ear canal from hazardous noise, and is less likely to allow “acoustical leaks” than an earmuff. This is evident in the higher attenuation values of foam earplugs. But to achieve that good fit, a user must follow basic rules for proper insertion:

1) Roll the earplug into a small crease-free cylinder
2) Reach over the head to pull up and back on the ear to straighten the ear canal
3) Insert the earplug deeply
In fact, a poorly fit foam earplug actually offers little or no protection from noise.

Below is a video to demonstrate the correct way to insert foam earplugs.

 

 

The following is more information that was provided:

 

It's not safe to put anything smaller than your elbow in your ear?  Answer = FALSE!
You may have heard it from mom, but she may have had hearing loss! It is true we should not try to clean inside our own ears by inserting cotton swabs, erasers, pen caps, paper clips or the like. But when it comes to protection from hazardous noise, earplugs are designed to be a safe distance from the sensitive eardrum, even when deeply inserted. Mom would be proud of you for protecting your hearing!

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

 

Have a Safe Day!