White Tape on All 3-Pronged Electrical Tools & Extension Cords as of 1/1/23!

Good afternoon to all IDI employees:

We begin a new quarter on 1/1/23 for our Assured Grounding Conductor Program. We are to switch over our cords from the previous quarter's orange tape to white tape.  To all Safety Advocates & Lead Field Supervisors, please help keep our employees safe and help keep us OSHA compliant by following our assured grounding conductor program. Please inspect, test and color-code with white tape all extension cords and 3 pronged electrical tools.  All extension cords and tools 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 outlet 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 orange electrical tape and install the white electrical tape about 1" down from both plug ends. Your cord is now in compliance with our 1st quarter's Assured Grounding Conductor Program. The white tape shall remain in place from 1/1/23 through 3/31/23. 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 or tool 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 need a roll of white tape, please contact your Superintendent. If you have any questions regarding our Assured Grounding Conductor Program please call our Director of Risk, Peter Graham, at (847) 417-1689.

Have a Safe Day!

Orange Tape on All 3-Pronged Electrical Tools & Extension Cords as of 10/1/22!

  Good afternoon to all IDI employees:

We begin a new quarter for our Assured Grounding Conductor Program on Friday, 10/1/22.  We are to switch over our cords from red tape to orange tape. To all Safety Advocates - please help keep our employees safe and help keep us OSHA compliant by following our assured grounding conductor program. 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 your lead field supervisor. 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 outlet 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 is 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 field supervisor. 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 Grounding Conductor Program. The orange tape shall remain in place from 10/1/22 through 12/31/22. 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 or tool 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 Conductor Program, please call our Safety Manager, Tyler Stark at (847) 417-0761.

Have a Safe Day!

Red Tape on All 3-Pronged Electrical Tools & Extension Cords as of 7/1/22!

 Hello to all IDI employees:

We begin a new quarter for our Assured Grounding Conductor Program on Friday, 7/1/22.  We are to switch over our cords from green tape to red tape. To all Safety Advocates - please help keep our employees safe and help keep us OSHA compliant by following our assured grounding conductor 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 your lead field supervisor. If your tool/cord passes the visual inspection, your next step is to test the cord with a receptacle tester. First, you shall test the outlet 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 is 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 field supervisor. If the cord passes the visual inspection and the cord tester test, you shall 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 Conductor Program. The red tape shall remain in place from 7/1/22 through 9/30/22. 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 or tool 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 Conductor Program, please call our Safety Manager, Tyler Stark, at (847) 417-0761.

Have a Safe Day!

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

Good morning to all IDI employees:

Summer is upon us and the heat is getting turned up!  Just putting out a reminder of what to look for as far as heat exhaustion symptoms and prevention methods.  We don't want our employees sustaining heat exhaustion type injuries.  They are are avoidable and preventable.

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 are 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.
    5. Don't forget to protect your skin - wear sunscreen.

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. Everybody working in the heat should be communicating and checking on each other.

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 Manager, Tyler Stark at (847) 417-0761. 

Have a Safe Day!

OSHA's National Fall Prevention Safety Stand-Down Week! (5/2/22 - 5/6/22)

 Good afternoon to all IDI employees,

Next Monday is the start of OSHA's National Fall Prevention Safety Stand-Down Week.  This is OSHA's 9th year of holding the Stand-Down and IDI has participated in this since it's inception.  OSHA's goal of the Stand-Down is to raise fall hazard awareness and to prevent fall fatalities and injuries.  Falls are the #1 leading cause of death for construction workers accounting for 351 of the 1008 construction fatalities in the USA in 2020 according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.  IDI will be participating in the fall prevention stand-down again this year.  The founder of IDI, Tony Pintozzi Sr., opened the doors of the company in 1952 (70 years ago) and ever since IDI was established, we have never had a fall related fatality.  In fact, IDI has never had a work related fatality and is something that Tony and the current leaders of the company are very proud of as this shows what our safety culture is all about.  

The following is how IDI will be participating in the Stand-Down.  On Monday, 5/2/22, we need for our lead field supervisors & Safety Advocates to gather your crews together during your toolbox talk session and we want everyone performing the same toolbox talk from your manual.  The toolbox talk to perform is from the Fall Protection tab of your manual, topic # FP8 and the name of the topic is: What is Fall Protection?  During this session, advise our employees that the purpose of this toolbox talk session is for our participation in OSHA's National Fall Prevention Safety Stand-Down.  We are taking a time out for safety and recognizing that falls from elevations are a serious matter.  During this session, we are looking for all employees to participate.  Ask employees if they have ever witnessed a fall at a construction site, and if so, what was that like and what affect it had on them.  Ask if they know of anyone who has sustained a serious fall and again, discuss the affects it had on them, the affects it had on the victim's loved ones.  All employees should be sharing fall protection stories, safety tips and fall prevention related thoughts.  Also, many of the general contractors at the projects we are working at next week will be holding Fall Prevention Stand-Downs and we need for our employees to participate in those.

Falls from elevations are a serious matter and we need to take them seriously.  This Fall Prevention Stand-Down fits right in with our safety culture and our safety mission statement:  "Everyone Goes Home Alive And In The Same Condition As They Arrived; Your Loved Ones Count On It!  

We want to participate in this Stand-Down because we care about you!  You are part of the IDI family and family looks out for each other.  

If you have any questions about this Stand-Down, please contact our Safety Director, Safety Pete at (847) 417-1689.

Have a Safe Day!

Next Volunteer Quarterly Safety Meeting on 5/21/22

Good morning to all IDI employees,

As you know, IDI holds volunteer quarterly safety meetings at which we provide safety training to help keep our employees safe, aware of safety hazards, looking out for eachother, and helping to ensure we are all living up to our safety mission statement:  "Everyone Goes Home Alive and in the Same Condition as They Arrived; Your Loved Ones Count On It!"

Well, all of us together are doing just that!  Our fiscal/business year started on 11/1/21 and since then, we have had zero lost-time injuries during this 5 month period.  To help maintain this momentum and to help keep safety at the forefront of everything we do, we are inviting everyone to attend our 2nd volunteer quarterly safety meeting which is being held on Saturday, 5/21/22 from 7:00am to 9:00am.  This meeting will be held at its usual location at our Barrington office at 28059 W. Commercial Ave.

All employees (non-Safety Advocates) that attend this safety training session earn 400 incentive points towards our 2022 Volunteer Safety Training Incentive Program.  Safety Advocates have their own separate incentive program.  So, earn yourself some incentive points so you can order up some IDI logo'd wearables and several other items at the end of the incentive program year.  

We look forward to seeing everyone on May 21, 2022.  In the meantime, make today count!

Have a Safe Day!

 

Green Tape on All Extension Cords & 3-Pronged Electrical Tools as of 4/1/22!

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

We begin a new quarter on, 4/1/22 for our Assured Grounding Conductor Program and we are to switch over to green tape.  To all Safety Advocates/Lead Field Supervisors - We need your help to keep our employees safe and to help keep us OSHA compliant by following our assured grounding conductor program. Please inspect, test and color-code with green 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 field supervisor.  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 outlet 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 field supervisor. If the cord passes the visual inspection and the cord tester test, you should then remove the previous quarter's white electrical tape and install the green electrical tape about 1" down from both plug ends. Your cord is now in compliance with our 2nd quarter's Assured Grounding Conductor Program. The green tape shall remain in place from 4/1/22 through 6/30/22. You are not quite done yet! All employees now need to visually inspect all electrical cords and tools on a daily basis before use and if any defects are found, the cord needs to be immediately removed from service.

If you do not have green tape, please ask your Superintendent and they will coordinate getting it to you.

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, an electrocution. If you have any questions regarding our Assured Grounding Conductor Program, please contact our Director of Risk, Peter Graham, at (847) 417-1689.

Have a Safe Day!

1st VQSM of 2022 Now On Saturday, February 26th!

Hello IDI employees, 

As you are probably aware, due to unforeseen circumstances, we had to post-pone our 1st Volunteer Quarterly Safety Meeting (V.Q.S.M.) of 2022 that was going to be held tomorrow.  

We have rescheduled this V.Q.S.M and it is being held on Saturday, 2/26/22 from 7:00am until about 9:00am.  This meeting will be held in it's usual location at our Barrington office in the warehouse at 28059 W. Commercial Ave., Barrington, IL. 

Help us to keep up our safety momentum, positive safety culture and to live up to our Safety Mission Statement - "Everyone Goes Home Alive and in the Same Condition as They Arrived; Your Loved Ones Count On It!"

We hope you can make it and we look forward to seeing everyone on 2/26/22.  

Have a Safe Day!

Next Volunteer Quarterly Safety Meeting on 2/12/22

Good morning to all IDI employees,

We are off to a terrific start with safety for our new fiscal year which began on 11/1/21.  We have had zero injuries that required medical care meaning that all employees have gone home safe to their loved ones.  To help keep this momentum, IDI holds volunteer quarterly safety meetings and our 1st safety training meeting of our new year is on Saturday, 2/12/22 from 7:00am to 9:00am, which will be held at its usual location at our Barrington office at 28059 W. Commercial Ave.

All employees in attendance will be required to wear a face covering regardless of their Covid-19 vaccination status. 

All employees (non-Safety Advocates) that attend this safety training session earn 400 incentive points towards our 2022 Volunteer Safety Training Incentive Program.  Safety Advocates have their own separate incentive program.  So, earn yourself some incentive points so you can order up some IDI logo'd wearables and several other items at the end of the incentive program year.  

We provide safety training through our volunteer quarterly safety meetings because we care about you, your loved ones and the health of the company.  We provide this training because of our safety mission statement:  "Everyone Goes Home Alive and in the Same Condition as They Arrived; Your Loved Ones Count On It!"

We look forward to seeing everyone on February 12, 2022.  In the meantime, keep looking out for each other.  Take care of your brothers and sisters as we are all one family!

Have a Safe Day!