Mandatory Daily 5-Minute Safety Huddles!

Good morning to all IDI employees,

As you know, International Decorators has a procedure in place called the Daily 5-Minute Safety Huddle.  Our lead field supervisors conduct these 5-minute safety huddles with all employees at the start of their shift with the purpose of focusing our employee’s minds on safety before work commences.  During the safety huddle, the crews shall discuss any job site hazards that anyone has identified and discuss as a team what they can do to eliminate or reduce the hazards to an acceptable level of risk.  This safety huddle shall include a task hazard analysis.  The employees shall plan their tasks for the day, discuss the hazards of the tasks and what measures they are taking to prevent injury or health hazards due to the tasks and conditions.  Discussion examples are; what equipment and materials will be needed to perform the task safely, how to use the equipment safely, PPE to be worn, inspecting electrical cords, inspecting equipment, using safety rails on scaffolds when required, locking scaffold wheels, safe ladder usage, fall protection planning, guards in place on saws and tools that require them, reporting open holes/trenches in the floor, overhead hazards, struck-by hazards, caught-between hazards, housekeeping concerns, etc.

This procedure is about communication, getting together as a team, having each other's back, and helping to ensure that all of our employees and those working around us are able to go home alive and in the same condition as they arrived; your loved ones count on it.

Make this morning's 5-minute safety huddle count!!!!

If you have any questions about the daily 5-minute safety huddles or anything about safety, please contact our Safety Director, Safety Pete at (847) 417-1689.

Have a Safe Day!

Next Volunteer Quarterly Safety Meeting on Saturday, 9/8/18 at 7:00am!

Good morning to all IDI employees,  

Below is our volunteer quarterly safety meeting notice that is going out to all of you in the mail within the next few days. We look forward to seeing everyone on September 8th! 

Volunteer Quarterly Safety 

Meeting Notice

You are invited to attend our 3rd volunteer quarterly safety meeting of 2018. 

Who is invited?   All IDI employees 

                          

When is the meeting?   Saturday, September, 2018

                                          7:00am to 9:00am

Where is the meeting?  At our Barrington Shop/Office

                                       (28059 W. Commercial Ave., Barrington)

What is the topic?  Tool Safety!

                         

We all use various tools for a variety of tasks.  Depending on the tool being used and the task being performed with the tool comes a variety of safety requirements such as the correct personal protective equipment to wear, ensuring we have the correct blade on a saw, working blade guards in place, using the right tool for the task, inspecting tools prior to use, tool user using good ergonomics (body positioning) while using a tool, repetitive use of tools and other tool related safety items.  As tool technology improves, we purchase new tools and we want to ensure we are all on the same page with tool safety.  According to recent data, there are over 400,000 emergency room visits due to tool related accidents and we don’t want for our family members (employees) to be one of those statistics.

So, we hope you mark this on your calendar to attend our tool safety training meeting on 9/8/18. 

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.

We look forward to seeing you at the meeting!

Have a Safe Day!

International Decorators, Inc. - Award Winning Safety Culture!!!

Good morning to all IDI employees,

Look what you did!

The Finishing Contractors Association International (FCAI) selected International Decorators, Inc. to be a recipient of their 2017 CREST Award as we were one of their national Top 3 Finalists in safety training and safety performance.  The CREST award stands for Contractors Recognizing Excellence in Safety Training.  International Decorators, Inc. was also then recognized for this award in a weekly national magazine called Engineering News-Record (ENR) in their July 16th, 2018 edition and IDI was named as one of the Safest Contractors In North America!!!

We received this award because of you.  To receive a prestigious award such as the CREST Award, it takes every single employee pulling on the same rope, in the same direction, all the time.  It takes every single employee caring about safety, caring about yourself, your co-workers, those working around you and for your loved ones!  It takes everyone 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!"

Congratulations!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Below is the letter from FCAI explaining the award, the accompanying award certificate and a page from ENR magazine.

Have a Safe Day!

Red Tape on All 3-Pronged Electrical Tools & Extension Cords as of 7/1/18!

Good morning to all I.D.I. employees:

We begin a new quarter for our Assured Grounding Conductor Program on Sunday, 7/1/18.  We are to switch over our cords from green tape to red tape. To all Safety Advocates/Coordinators - 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 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 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 7/1/18 through 9/30/18. 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 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 soon to be getting temperatures in the 90 plus degree range.  Just putting out a reminder of what to look for as far as heat exhaustion symptoms, prevention methods, etc.  We don't want our employees sustaining heat exhaustion type injuries as they are 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.
4. 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!

Don't Leave Drywall on Drywall Carts Unattended!

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

We are just putting out a reminder to all of an I.D.I. best practice.  We cannot leave drywall on drywall carts unattended for long durations of time, such as overnight, as there is a risk of the drywall tipping and falling and seriously injuring someone.  You should only stack the amount of drywall on drywall carts that you will be using during your shift.  At the end of your shift, any drywall that is still on your drywall cart shall be removed from the drywall cart and stocked flat of the ground or on cribbing on the ground.  This doesn't only apply to drywall carts.  We cannot be leaving drywall stacked on its side leaning against walls, etc.  All drywall needs to be stacked flat on the ground or on cribbing on the ground when it is left unattended for long durations of time.  Also, if you are leaving drywall on a drywall cart for a short duration, for example (when going on lunch break), you should roll the drywall cart into an area where it is safe & secure and away from other contractors or the public so that the drywall isn't at risk falling on someone.  This best practice also applies to other materials that are stacked on drywall carts such as plywood, lead-board, cement board, etc.

Should you have any questions about the above, please contact our Safety Director, Peter Graham at (847) 417-1689.

Have a Safe Day!

IDI's Next Volunteer Quarterly Safety Meeting on Saturday, 9/8/18

Good morning to all IDI employees,

We are just getting the word out that our next volunteer quarterly safety meeting is scheduled for Saturday, 9/8/18 at 7:00am.  We have not yet determined the safety training topic for this meeting.  Once that is determined, we will be providing more details to you.  At this point, we just wanted to provide you with the date so you can put it on your calendars.

Also, at our last volunteer quarterly safety meeting that was held on 5/5/18, we raffled off 3 paid vacation days.  You had to be present at the safety meeting to qualify for the vacation day raffle.
The vacation day winners were:  carpenter - Mike Logisz, carpenter - Dave Baker & taper - Jose Gonzalez.  As you can see, Safety Pays!  Congratulations gentlemen, we hope you enjoy your paid vacation day off work.

We want to thank the 155 employees who showed their commitment towards their loved ones, themselves, those working around you and towards the company, for attending our May volunteer quarterly safety meeting in which we trained on our Workplace Violence, Anti-Harassment and our Drugs & Alcohol policies.  At this meeting, IDI announced that we are now a "Drug-Free Workplace."  We feel that being a drug-free workplace fits right in with our positive safety culture.  We feel our employees benefit by working at a drug-free workplace in that it creates a safer and healthier work environment.  Our safety culture would not be what it is today without our employees safety involvement with safety commitment.  Each and everyone one of you is helping us 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!" 

Have a Safe Day!