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

Good morning to all IDI employees:

As you are probably aware, their will be some possibly record breaking extreme heat in our area both today and tomorrow.  Just putting out a reminder of what to look for as far as heat exhaustion symptoms and prevention methods.  We don't want for any of our employees to sustain a heat related illness. 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 Director, Peter Graham at (847) 417-1689.

Have a Safe Day!

IDI Going to GFCI Protection - No More Assured Equipment Grounding Conductor Program

Good morning to all IDI employees, 

As of 7/1/24, we will no longer be following the Assured Equipment Grounding Conductor Program (AEGCP).  We will now be requiring all electrical cords/power tools to be plugged into a ground fault circuit interrupter (GFCI). Why are are we doing this? GFCI's provide for better protection for our employees from electrical hazards than an AEGCP does. What is a GFCI?  A GFCI is a fast-acting circuit breaker that senses small imbalances in the circuit caused by current leakage to ground and, in a fraction of a second, shuts off the electricity. The GFCI continually matches the amount of current going to an electrical device against the amount of current returning form the device along the electrical path. If the amount of current "going" differs from the amount "returning" by approximately 5 milliamps, the GFCI interrupts the electrical power within as little as 1/40 of a second and shuts the electricity down that is running through the power cord/extension cord. 

Below are some examples of what GFCI protection looks like. 

Most job sites will have GFCI protection built into the electrical receptacle outlet and sometimes built into the electrical circuit panel. Temporary power almost always has GFCI protection built into it. There are times when you are plugging into permanant power and your outlet does not have GFCI protection. If there is GFCI protection on the outlet, the outlet should have GFCI test and reset buttons on it (like in the 1st picture above). Your outlet might look like the one below with no GFCI test and reset buttons. If your outlet looks like the one below and you know there is no GFCI protection, this is when you would need to request a GFCI pigtail, also called a GFCI whip, which is shown in the last photo above. We have the GFCI pigtails stocked in our warehouse. Notify your Superintendent if you need one.  

Before plugging into GFCI, always test the GFCI to ensure it is operating buy pushing in the test button on the receptacle outlet or on your GFCI pigtail. You should hear a little click or popping noise meaning the GFCI triggered off. Then hit the reset button to turn the GFCI back on. 

A couple of other things. On or around 7/1/24 and when you are plugging into GFCI, remove the previous quarter's colored electrical tape from the ends of your extension cords and power tools as we are no longer following the Assured Equipment Grounding Conductor Program. Moving forward, this means we will no longer be having to distribute the colored electrical tape each quarter to our PCL's (lead field supervisors) to test and color-code our electrical cords. This new "GFCI Only Program" will make it much easier for every body. We do however still need to follow some basic safety procedures of always inspecting our extension cords and power tool cords before use for visible defects such as tears in the outer insualtion sleeves, any exposed wires, missing ground prongs, etc. If your cords are defective, immediately remove from service, report it to your supervisor and coordinate returning the defective cord or power tool to our warehouse.  

If you aren't positive that you have GFCI protection at your job site to plug into, discuss with your lead field supervisor, one of our PCL's, your Superintendent or call our Director of Safety & Quality, Peter Graham at (847) 417-1689, as we can help to verify. 

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 Director, Peter Graham at (847) 417-1689.

Have a Safe Day!

2024 National Safety Stand-Down To Prevent Falls in Construction

 OSHA's National Fall Prevention Safety Stand-Down Week! (5/6/24 - 5/10/24)

Today is the start of OSHA's National Fall Prevention Safety Stand-Down Week.  This is OSHA's 11th year of holding the Stand-Down and IDI has participated in this since its 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 397 out of 1069 in 2022.  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 (72 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 Wednesday, 5/8/24, we need for our lead field supervisors & PCLs to gather your crews together during your normal morning tasked based safety awareness huddle and we want everyone performing the same toolbox talk. For your reference that Toolbox talk is attached to this email. The toolbox talk to perform is from is in SiteDocs – Resources – Toolbox Talks - Fall Protection – What is Fall Protection TBT

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 this week will be holding Fall Prevention Stand-Downs and we need for our employees to participate in those. For more information, here is a link to a great Fall Protection Video released by Werner for the 2024 National Stand Down campaign. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dEdf9yYZq5g 

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 Manager Tyler Stark (847) 417-0761.  Have a Safe Day!

Assured Grounding Program - Quarter 2

 

Green Tape on All 3-Pronged Electrical Tools & Extension Cords as of 4/1/2024!

Good morning to all IDI employees:

We begin a new quarter on 4/1/24 for our Assured Grounding Conductor Program. We are to switch over our cords from the previous quarter's white tape to Green tape.  To all PCLs & 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 green 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 white electrical tape and install the green electrical tape about 1" down from both plug ends. Your cord is now in compliance with our quarter's Assured Grounding Conductor Program. The green tape shall remain in place from 4/1/24 through 6/30/24. 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 Green tape, please contact your Superintendent. 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!!!