Next Volunteer Quarterly Safety Meeting on Saturday, 8/22/15

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

We just want to inform you that our next Volunteer Quarterly Safety Meeting will be held on Saturday, 8/22/15 at 7:00am at our Barrington office.  This safety meeting will be a little different than our typical safety meeting as we will be breaking out into 4 separate groups. 

We are going to be providing safety training on Hilti powder actuated tools and ITW Ramset powder actuated tools with all carpenters, framers, drywall hangers and acoustic carpenters.  Half of the group will train for 45 minutes with Hilti and the other half will train for 45 minutes with ITW Ramset.  Then we will take a 10 minute break and the groups will swap sessions.  This way, we will get all  employees in these sessions licensed on all the powder actuated tools that we use. 

We will be providing respirator training and respirator fit testing with all painters and tapers.  Our painters and some tapers already have a half mask and/or full mask respirator and we need for you to bring your respirators with you.  The tapers that do not have a half mask respirator will be provided with one at the safety meeting.  We will break the painters and tapers out into 2 groups also.  One group will be provided with respirator training while the other half or other group is being fit tested on their respirators.  We will then take a 10 minute break and the groups will swap sessions.

All painters and tapers need to come to the meeting clean shaven on the areas of your face where the respirator seals to your face so that you can be fit tested on your respirators.  So this means that you could have a mustache and/or a goatee type beard as long as the your facial hair does not interfere with the respirator seal. It is critical that you arrive at the meeting ready for fit testing.  If you want to get a pretty good idea ahead of time as to where a respirator would come into contact with your face; just put a dust mask up to your face and that should help you to know where you cannot have facial hair.  If you have any questions about facial hair and fit testing, please call our Safety Director, Peter Graham at (847) 417-1689. 

We will be mailing volunteer safety meeting notices to your homes next week.  We will continue to advertise this safety meeting over the next month.  Please help spread the word to all of our employees as we do not have every single employee's e-mail address.

Should you have any questions in regards to this upcoming volunteer safety meeting, please call our Safety Director, Peter Graham at (847) 417-1689.

 

Have a Safe Day!

Back Injury Prevention - Tool Box Talks

Who has not heard the basics of back injury prevention? At the same time, who has applied these principles to every day work? Many people understand the basics of safe lifting, but fail to perform these basic practices on a regular and consistent basis. The following is a summary of the basics:

· Bend your knees and keep a straight back when you lift.

· When you bend down to pick up a tool, bend your knees.

· You should NEVER bend at the waist to pick up anything (or even to tie your shoes).

· Keep your stomach muscles in shape. This will help maintain proper posture while lifting, and ultimately reduce your chance for a back injury.

· When lifting and moving a load, shift your feet, rather than twisting your back.

· Remember the 10:1 ratio for lifting improperly – A straight-legged lift of 20 pounds will apply over 200 pounds of force on your vertebrae and disks in your lower back. (This is why you must bend your knees to lift.)

·      When something is too large, too bulky or too heavy to lift by yourself, perform a 2-man lift or use some sort of equipment to assist you with the lift.

Prevention –

· Stretch your legs and back before you start to work.

· Think of proper lifting technique before you begin a lift.

· Establish a clear travel path before you begin your lift.

· Get help with the lift

· Communicate with eachother when performing a 2-man lift.

· Remind your co-workers of proper technique of lifting.

 

(This article was from the Chicago Construction Safety Council's Safety Blog.)

 

Have a Safe Day!