International Decorators Construction Safety Corner

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

2024-08-26T06:57:00.002-05:00

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

2024-06-27T09:36:00.000-05:00

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!

2024-06-17T10:55:00.004-05:00

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

2024-05-06T12:17:00.006-05:00

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

2024-04-01T14:29:00.006-05:00

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!!!

Assured Grounding Program Quarter 1

2023-12-28T11:28:00.001-06:00

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

Good morning to all IDI employees:

We begin a new quarter on 1/1/24 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 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 orange electrical tape and install the white 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 white tape shall remain in place from 1/1/24 through 3/31/24. 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 white 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!!!

Assured Grounding Program Quarter 4

2023-09-28T07:13:00.001-05:00

Orange Tape on All 3-Pronged Electrical Tools & Extension Cords as of 10/1/23!

Good morning to all IDI employees:

We begin a new quarter on 10/1/23 for our Assured Grounding Conductor Program. We are to switch over our cords from the previous quarter's red tape to Orange 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 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 10/1/23 through 12/31/23. 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 orange 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!!!

Assured Grounding Program Quarter 3

2023-06-28T08:22:00.001-05:00

Red Tape on All 3-Pronged Electrical Tools & Extension Cords as of 7/1/23!

Good morning to all IDI employees:

We begin a new quarter on 7/1/23 for our Assured Grounding Conductor Program. We are to switch over our cords from the previous quarter's green tape to Red 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 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 7/1/23 through 9/30/23. 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 red 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!!!

Assured Grounding Program - Quarter 2

2023-03-30T07:35:00.004-05:00

Green Tape on All 3-Pronged Electrical Tools & Extension Cords as of 4/1/23!

Good afternoon to all IDI employees:

We begin a new quarter on 4/1/23 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 2nd quarter's Assured Grounding Conductor Program. The green tape shall remain in place from 4/1/23 through 6/30/23. 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 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!!!

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

2022-12-29T13:30:00.003-06:00

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!

2022-09-29T15:15:00.000-05:00

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!

2022-06-29T08:10:00.001-05:00

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!

2022-05-19T06:30:00.000-05:00

Good morning to all IDI employees:

Have a Safe Day!

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

2022-04-29T14:54:00.000-05:00

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

2022-03-31T07:09:00.001-05:00

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!

2022-03-30T05:26:00.001-05:00

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!

2022-02-11T11:20:00.000-06:00

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

2022-01-26T07:56:00.000-06:00

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.

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!

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

2021-12-29T05:34:00.004-06:00

Good morning to all IDI employees:

We begin a new quarter on 1/1/22 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 1/1/22 through 3/31/22. 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 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!

2021 Volunteer Safety Training Incentive Program is Underway!

2021-12-10T10:49:00.004-06:00

Hello to all IDI employees,

As you know, we held our 4th and final volunteer quarterly safety meeting of 2021 in mid-November. We truly appreciate everyone who attended and to those who participated in our 2021 volunteer quarterly safety meetings. You are what makes our safety culture the industry leader in safety!

As you know, IDI provides safety training incentive points for attending our volunteer quarterly safety meetings of which are redeemable for IDI logo'd wearables and several other items. This year, instead of mailing out a catalog, our partner supplier, American Outfitters, has created a website store for online ordering. If you attended at least one of our 2021 volunteer quarterly safety meetings or if you are a non-apprentice who attended safety training outside of our company last year and you provided our Director of Risk, Peter Graham, with a copy of your safety training cards or certificates, you should have received an email this morning which would contain your volunteer safety training incentive points letter, a link the website store to place your orders and instructions on how to place our orders.

All orders need to be placed by 5:00pm on Monday, 12/27/21 - No Exceptions!

Please check your email to ensure you received an email from Peter Graham. If you didn't, please send a text to Peter Graham.

We want to thank everyone who participated in our 2021 volunteer quarterly safety meetings. This shows your committment towards our safety culture, your personal safety and towards your loved ones. Thank you for helping us to live up to our safety missions statement - "Everyone Goes Home Alive And In The Same Condition As They Arrived; Your Loved Ones Count On It!"

Have a Safe Day!

Our 4th & Final Volunteer Quarterly Safety Meeting on 11/13/21 (In-Person!)

2021-11-03T09:50:00.001-05:00

Hello all IDI employees,

Just a reminder that our next volunteer quarterly safety meeting (V.Q.S.M.) is soon approaching and is being held on Saturday, 11/13/21 from 7:00am to 9:00am. This will be an in-person volunteer quarterly safety meeting held at our Barrington office location at 28059 W. Commercial Ave.

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

We can't wait to get together to see everyone in person as we haven't met in person as one team since February 2020 due to Covid-19 and the state of Illinois previous mandates. We provide safety training through our V.Q.S.M.'s because we care about you and your loved ones. 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!"

Also, as far as the make-up safety meetings go - moving foward, the make-up safety meetings will only be offered to employees that could not attend the regularly scheduled V.Q.S.M. that was held on a Saturday due to working for IDI during the V.Q.S.M.

We look forward to see you on 11/13/21. In the meantime, keep looking out for each other and take care of your brothers and sisters as we are all one family!

Have a Safe Day!

Next Volunteer Quarterly Safety Meeting on 11/13/21 (In-Person!)

2021-10-03T07:44:00.004-05:00

Good morning to all IDI employees,

Just getting the word out that our next volunteer quarterly safety meeting is being held on Saturday, 11/13/21 from 7:00am to 9:00am. This will be an in-person volunteer quarterly safety meeting held at our Barrington office location at 28059 W. Commercial Ave.

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

We will provide more details about this safety meeting as we get closer to the meeting date. 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 finally getting back together as one team under the same roof as our last in-person volunteer quarterly safety meeting was held in February 2020. We hope to see you on November 13, 2021.

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!

Orange Tape on All 3-Pronged Electrical Tools & Extension Cords as of 10/1/21!

2021-09-29T15:48:00.000-05:00

Good afternoon to all IDI employees:

We begin a new quarter for our Assured Grounding Conductor Program on Friday, 10/1/21. 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 10/1/21 through 12/31/21. 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!

2021-08-31T09:06:00.006-05:00

Hello to all IDI employees,

International Decorators is a member of the Great Lakes Construction Association (GLCA). GLCA is hosting an awesome free event to all of their members. The event is GLCA's 2021 Tailgate Cook-Off. There will be teams cooking burgers, sausage, seafood, chicken, pizza, ribs, pork, brisket and mixing bloody Mary's and Margaritas. They currently have over 25 teams cooking and competing in the event. This is all free to you and your family!

This means that you and your families are invited to attend this free event which is being held on Saturday, 9/11/21 from 11:00am to 6:00pm. GLCA had 1,200 people in attendance when they last held this event in 2019. (cancelled in 2020 due to Covid-19) GLCA is advertising that they will have face painting, bounce houses, inflatable obstacles, family games, a terrific band, prizes and a few other activities.

The location of the Tailgate Cook-Off is at the Lake County Fair Grounds located at 1060 East Peterson Road, Grayslake, IL. 60030.

If you and/or your family want to attend this free event, you need to RSVP to Lorraine at events@greatlakesca.org or you can call Lorraine at GLCA at (847) 623-2345 and let her know you want to register for this event. Just let Lorraine know you are an employee of International Decorators.

IDI participated in the cook-off when it was last held in 2019; we had a great turnout of employees and we all had a great time, however, this year, we will not be cooking at this event due to unforeseen circumstances. Please see the flyer below for some additional info.

Have a Safe Day!

Our "In-Person" Volunteer Quarterly Safety Meeting is Cancelled? (Video/Quiz Format Instead)

2021-08-04T11:29:00.001-05:00

Good morning to all IDI employees,

As you know from previous e-blasts and posts on our safety blog, we were planning on holding our next or 3rd volunteer quarterly safety meeting in-person at our office on Saturday, 8/21/21. Due to the Covid Delta variant rearing its ugly head and due to recent CDC guidelines, we will not be meeting together in-person. This is very unfortunate as we were looking forward to getting together with everyone as we haven't been able to do so for the past 5 quarters.

Instead, we will be doing our 3rd volunteer quarterly safety meeting in the same format as the previous 5 safety meetings which were a safety training video format along with a 10-question quiz.

Please be on the lookout for an email over the next 2 weeks containing the information for our 3rd volunteer quarterly safety meeting and that email will contain a link to watch a safety training video and a link to take a quiz. Your volunteer participation in our quarterly safety meeting training sessions is much, much appreciated and vital in helping to prevent injuries!

I also wanted to mention that most of you received a text from me this morning around 10:19am, that said: our "In-Person" volunteer quarterly safety meeting is cancelled due to Covid. More info to follow. Just letting you know that we are using a new service for sending mass text messages out to our employees. We will be using this texting service to get short quick message alerts out and if needed, we will then provide more info in an email.

If anyone has any questions about our 3rd volunteer quarterly safety meeting, please contact our Safety Director, Safety Pete.

Have a Safe Day!