Sprinkler Flood Damage - Limited in Part by 5-Minute Morning Safety Huddle!

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

Often times we only hear the bad things that happen when it comes to safety.  Well last Thursday, a great thing occurred that I felt the need to share with everyone.

Our crew was working on the 4th floor at a project.  Another contractor struck a sprinkler head on the 4^th floor causing water to start flooding an area on the 4^th floor.  Our lead field supervisor, Matt Larson, said that our apprentice carpenter, Robert Hula, immediately yelled out to Matt and the rest of our crew to “shut off the water valve, a sprinkler pipe got hit!”  Matt immediately dismounted from his baker scaffold, grabbed a portable ladder, shut off the water valve and opened the drain valve.  This stopped the water flow and the water left in the pipes then flows through the pipes to the drain instead of out into the space.  Matt also said our crew jumped on helping to prevent the water from getting down the cored holes in the concrete floor and the water got contained to minimize the damage. 

Matt advised that our 5-minute morning safety huddles played a big role in this.  Matt goes over these procedures every day in his 5-minute morning safety huddle.  He reminds the crew that the sprinkler pipes are live, be aware of where they are when you are working around them and to not bump them.  He also goes over as to where the shut off valves are.  Matt also said thank you to our company for doing the training that we do as it prepared him to deal with situations like this and to be aware of live sprinkler pipes.  Matt advised that his crew followed the procedures that they discuss every morning and Robert Hula acted quickly and correctly. Matt advised that the 5-minute daily huddles provided him with the avenue to go over procedures like this.

Matt – terrific job to you, your crew and Robert on being prepared and for preparing your crew! You and your crew's actions potentially saved thousands of dollars, further frustration, time and great client relations. 

Great job!!!!!!!

Volunteer Quarterly Safety Meeting Notice

You are invited to attend our 3rd volunteer quarterly safety meeting of 2016. 

Who is invited?   All employees 

                          

When is the meeting?  Saturday, September 10th from 

7:00am to 9:00am

Where is the meeting?  At our Barrington Shop/Office

 (28059 W. Commercial Ave., Barrington, IL)

What is the topic?  “Behavioral Based Safety!”

                         

International Decorators is offering volunteer safety training for all of our employees.  Our next volunteer quarterly safety meeting will be on Saturday, 9/10/16 from 7:00am to about 9:00am at our office. The safety training topic for this meeting is: “Behavioral Based Safety” and this will be presented by a guest trainer.   

 

Each field employee who attends this safety training session will earn 400 safety training incentive points for our current year. 

Should you have any questions about this meeting, please ask your Superintendent or contact 

our Safety Director, Peter Graham at (847) 417-1689 or at pgraham@4idi.com.

See you at the meeting!

OSHA Construction 30-Hour Couse

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

I have recently had some inquiries from employees about taking the OSHA Construction 30-hour course. 

There is an OSHA 30-hour course at Chicago Carpenters in Elk Grove that runs on 9/10, 9/17, 9/24 & 10/1.

There is an OSHA 30-hour course at District Council #30 for painters and drywall finishers that runs on 9/16, 9/17, 9/23 & 9/24.

There is an OSHA 30-hour course at District Council #14 for painters and drywall finishers that runs on 9/3, 9/4, 9/10 & 9/11. 

We are always encouraging our employees to complete the OSHA 30-hour construction course because of the benefits that can be gained from taking this course.  This course will help employees to get a better understanding of what safety is all about, a better understanding of the OSHA regulations that apply to working in the construction trades, it will help to make you a safer employee to help prevent you from getting injured, and it can benefit you from the standpoint in that we have many general contractors that require us to man their projects with employees that have a current OSHA 30-hour card and this makes you qualified to work at those projects.  

If you are considering taking the OSHA construction 30-hour at your union training school, you can contact them to get scheduled.  If you do complete this course, please advise our Safety Director, Peter Graham and send him a copy of your course completion certificate as you will receive safety incentive points for taking this course under our 2016 Volunteer Safety Training Incentive Plan.

Have a Safe Day!

I.D.I.'s Co-worker Appreciation Event on 8/13/16

Next Volunteer Quarterly Safety - Saturday 9/10/16!

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

Just getting the word out that our next Volunteer Quarterly Safety Meeting will be held on Saturday, 9/10/16 at 7:00am at our Barrington office location.  We have not yet determined the safety training topic, however, we wanted to advise everyone of the date.

In the meantime, keep safety at the forefront of your mind with each task that you perform. Everyone should be participating in the mandatory 5-minute morning daily safety huddles to help promote everyone performing in a safe manner.  Some quick reminders - 100% hard hats, safety glasses & work boots.  Check your extension cords and electrical cords daily and remove them from service if defective.  Face shield and fire extinguishers required for chop saw and partner saw use.  Fall protection required for all employees exposed to falls of 6' or more to lower levels.  No standing on the top 2 steps of portable A-frame step ladders and can only use in the fully open position with the spreader arms locked.  Keep an eye on each other and help keep our I.D.I. family members safe so they can go home each day to their loved ones in the same condition as they arrived.

We look forward to seeing you at our 3rd volunteer quarterly safety meeting on 9/10/16.

Should you have any questions related to safety, please discuss with your lead field supervisor, your Superintendent and/or contact our Safety Director, Peter Graham at (847) 417-1689.

Have a Safe Day!

Red Tape on All 3-Pronged Electrical Tools & Extension Cords as of 7/1/16!

Good morning to all I.D.I. employees:

We begin a new quarter on Friday, 7/1/16 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 7/1/16 through 9/30/16. 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!

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

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

Summer is here and we are getting 90 plus degree weather this week.  This is a good time to put out another reminder of what to look for as for as heat exhaustion symptoms, prevention methods, etc.  Although summer heat is the largest cause of heat distress disorder, it may also occur when workers are exposed to confined areas such as pipelines, tanks and other spaces with limited ventilation, and any confined area involving welding or cutting.

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 should be 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.

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.

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!