(Gary Robert, Todd Spardello, Darren Ross)

Gift cards were recently presented to Darren Ross, Nightshift Foreman and Todd Spardello, Nighshift Superintendent, by Gary Robert, Project Mananger, for their safety reaction and leadership during a paint fume exposure incident to some workers at their jobsite.

The shift started like any other shift. Part way into it some workers started complaining of headaches and nausea.  Darren Ross checked into it and discovered a painting crew's ventilation hose had ripped letting paint fumes spread inside the building. He quickly evacuated the building then notified Todd Spardello. As a precaution they summoned medical services to check on the workers of which two were taken to local medical facilities for observation and released after a few hours.

Had Darren and Todd dismissed the complaints the incident could have gotten worse. Darren is also a volunteer fireman with 30 years experience. Thanks to their actions the exposure was kept to a minimum.

We are pleased to announce that Arden Engineering Constructors, LLC was recently awarded first place in the Mechanical Contractors Association of America (MCAA) 2008 Safety Excellence Award for category III.  Category III was for companies who worked 250,001 to 400,000 work hours.  The awards are based on lost workday and recordable injuries when compared to total number of hours worked. This means that Arden Engineering Constructors, LLC had the best safety record when compared to similar sized mechanical contractor companies. 

This is an award recognition to be proud of.  We would like to thank our Safety Commitee, management, and all of the craft employees for helping to make 2008 a safe work year.

With everyone's involvement we can make 2009 even safer! 

Arden Safety Committee members are pictured above.  From left to right standing: Len Heroux, Service, Peter Ouelette, Fitter, Robert Drysdale, Sprinkler, John Deneault, Fitter, Mark Audette, Committee Chairman, Fitter, Steven Petti, Electircal Project Manager.  Seated from left to right: Anthony Lisi, Electrical, Dottie Silva-Lowe, Secretary, Michael Raposa, Fitter & OSHA 10&30 Hour certified trainer, and John Conroy, Safety Director.  Not pictured is Hal Sloane, Controls Project Manager.

If you haven't heard yet Nick Ferro, MJ Daly's Safety Engineer, recently accepted a position with another company that should allow him to further his career.

Angelo Fasano, Project Engineer, will temporarily take over Nick's responsibilities as well as his own.  Angelo's contact information is listed to the left in the Points Program Contacts section.

With the recent increase in safety incentive items we've increased the points awarded to those who earn their OSHA 30, First Aid, or CPR (or Basic Life Support) training cards on their personal time.  First Aid and CPR training cards with training dates after January 1, 2009 will be worth 270 points each.  OSHA 30 cards will be worth 540 points.

Links to various safety organizations have been added.  Use the "Safety Links" in the Main Menu to access them.  You'll find some good information on driving safety, child safety seats, teen driving tips, etc.

There's a pipe cutting machine in MJ Daly's fabrication section.  The problem was the pipe spins   at a high speed as it's being cut and any slight bend in the pipe was severely exaggerated by the spinning which in turn would cause the pipe to jump off of the machine endangering the operator.

Chris Polchies, one of the machine operators, explained the cutting operation to Jay BeCroft and John Giblisco who in turn designed and installed a pipe guard that protects the operator by covering the entire length of pipe being cut by the machine.  The guard is actuated by the same foot pedal that starts the cutting process.  The design is a great idea and it eliminates the dangers of the spinning pipe as it is being cut.

The safety committee awarded 260 additional incentive points to each of the three workers for their efforts in improving MJ Daly's safety. 

Due to one of our gift card shipments being spent by unauthorized recepients we are requiring that gift card orders totaling more than $50.00, and shipped to a private address, be shipped via UPS with a required receipt signature.  This is to help us ensure you receive the cards you ordered.  Cards can still be shipped to either Arden's or M.J. Daly's main office with no change.  If your card order is over $50.00 and you won't be available to sign for a UPS shipment please request they be sent to your main office instead.

We've noticed employees taking the initiative to further their personal safety training.  To reward empoyees taking the initiative we've developed a bonus points allotment for both Arden and M.J. Daly.

Employees earning their OSHA 30 certificate on their personal time can earn 520 bonus points.  Employees earning First Aid or CPR certificates on their personal time can earn 260 bonus points for each certificate.   

If you've attained any of these certificates on your personal time since January 1, 2007 simply give a copy of it to either Nick Ferro or Dottie Silva and your bouns points will appear in your next statement.  Note:  Employees who attend these courses on company time are not eligible for the bonus points.

The task - We had a jobsite where we were required to tie-off in scissor lifts. 

The problem -  The fullbody harnesses kept getting tangled with tools stored inside the gang boxes.  When someone needed a harness they struggled to free it from the other harnesses, electrical cords, and everything else stored in the box.

The solution - Paul Picard, General Foremen at M.J. Daly, LLC,  designed a simple storage rack that attaches to the outside of the gang box.  Made of unistrut the device secures the harnesses while keeping them tangle free at the same time.

With all the harnesses in use at Pfizer his design worked very well.  Everyone had easy access to their assigned harness and none of them were tangled at the bottom of the storage box.  The safety committee unamously voted to award Paul Picard 520 bonus points for his idea.  Also, last year one of Arden's foremen, William (Bill) Westcott, submitted a similiar design.  Arden's safety committee voted to award Bill Westcott 520 bonus points as well.  It is ideas like these that we're looking for.  See a problem and have an idea on how to make it better?  Let us know.