Coping with Cold Weather

Cold weather is here to stay for a few months – keep your guard up against cold weather injury.

Keep your body temperature at or about normal (98.6° F)

  • Wear layers of clothing both inside and outdoors
  • Wear cotton or lightweight wool next to the skin and wool layers over your underwear
  • Keep dry by having proper rain gear available and a pair of good, waterproof boots
  • An extra pair of clean, dry socks can really come in handy
  • Don’t forget to protect your neck and ears; you can lose a lot of heat from these two areas
  • A good pair of gloves is essential

Signs of frostbite

  • Skin will become white
  • Reduced circulation
  • In the worst case, blisters will form but you won’t feel any pain

First aid for frostbite

  • NEVER rub the frozen part of the body with snow
  • Add extra clothing or use a blanket to cover the frozen area
  • Get out of the cold and into a warm location
  • The frozen area may be immersed in warm water but NEVER use hot water
  • If the condition does not improve seek professional medical attention

Portable heaters

  • If they are not properly maintained they can cause accidents
  • Carbon monoxide can result from defective ventilating and from incomplete fuel burn
  • All portable heaters should be checked by a competent person before being put into use
  • Locate fuel containers, regulators, piping and hose where they will not be subject to damage
  • LP gas containers not in use should be stored upright, in a specified outside location and protected against damage
  • Containers in use must be kept in an upright position and secured
  • Always be sure to protect the valves from physical damage

TP MECHANICAL THE 2012 WINNERS OF THE ABC ANNUAL SAFETY AWARD

Associated Builders & Contractors (ABC) holds an Annual Safety Awards Program where they recognize members and their employees who demonstrate outstanding safety performance and leadership in workplace safety.  The program for the ABC Ohio Valley Chapter was held on January 17, 2013 at The Wright Patterson Air Force Base.

The criteria considered for the Safety Award consist of program improvement, management commitment, employee involvement, proactive measures, near miss reporting, lessons learned, OSHA 10 & 30 hour employee training provided, new hire orientation, company EMR is less than 1, additional safety training which goes above and beyond, implementation of best practices, what makes the company stand out among its peers, and having a drug free workplace.  Each year members submit their application and the ABC national office selects the winners.

ABC Safety Award Scott Teepe
Scott W. Teepe Sr., CEO of TP Mechanical receiving the Safety Employer of the Year Award for 2012

TP Mechanical was honored to receive the Safety Employer of the Year Award for 2012. The ABC national selection panel selected TP Mechanical on having a superior safety commitment from upper management, employee involvement and making “Safety First, ALWAYS First” their number one company core value. Scott W. Teepe Sr., the CEO of TP Mechanical accepted the award.

TP Mechanical was also honored by ABC with the Level V and Platinum Level Safety Certificates for 2012.  Bill Riddle the President of TP Mechanical accepted these awards. These awards are presented to the member who has an incidence rate of 25% or below BLS NAICS code average, OSHA Form 300 & 300A are viewed, companies EMR is below 0.800 for application year and no fatal or catastrophic accident within the application year or the previous three consecutive years resulting in an OSHA citation.  This is the 12th consecutive year TP Mechanical has been honored with the Platinum Level Safety Certificate.

Inclement weather driving tips to stay safe

inclement weather
Inclement weather can arrive at any time during the winter months. “Safety First Always First” is the most important core value we promote within our organization. Please remember when behind the wheel to stay alert, slow down, and stay in control. For more information on how to stay safe while driving in inclement weather please read Driving Safety Tips provide by http://weather.com.
TP Mechanical delivers end-to-end solutions to our customers, from pre-construction expertise through contracting and fabrication to service and maintenance for piping, plumbing, HVAC/R and fire protection. We do this as a relationship-focused organization that leverages six decades of experience providing innovative solutions with excellence that drive down costs, enhance safety, increase value and deliver speed to occupancy.
TP Mechanical delivers end-to-end solutions to our customers, from pre-construction expertise through contracting and fabrication to service and maintenance for piping, plumbing, HVAC/R and fire protection. We do this as a relationship-focused organization that leverages six decades of experience providing innovative solutions with excellence that drive down costs, enhance safety, increase value and deliver speed to occupancy.

Two Million Man Hours Without an Injury: How’d TP Do That?

You know our mantra: “Safety first, always first.” As your trusted partner in this ever-changing industry, we’re proud to share information about our safety program and give you ideas how to make your team safer.

So, what’s our secret to achieving such an important milestone? Yes, we’ve invested heavily in intensive training programs. Yes, we’ve dedicated countless hours to developing a system that works. But what it really comes down to is commitment.

At TP Mechanical, from CEOs to project managers, from site supervisors to office staff, every TP Mechanical team member devotes time, energy and heart to our company’s promise to send everyone home to their families every single night. We do this by going above and beyond the standard requirements to create not just a safety program, but a safety culture.

Our first strategy is to provide a solid foundation of OSHA outreach training for every staff member. This is not an OSHA requirement, but we believe that if we provide employees with a common framework of knowledge and training, they have more reason to buy into the program. Our office staff receives a minimum of 10 hours of OSHA outreach training, and the majority of our workforce completes the 30 hour benchmark. Because we all know that our site supervisors are the key to the implementation of our program, they receive an additional 2 hours of OSHA outreach training every month, adding up to 24 hours of additional training a year.

Secondly, consistent safety audits put our best intentions into action. Regional safety specialists visit every single job site once a week to focus on hazard identification and elimination. At the start of every work day, site supervisors carry out a Job Safety Analysis with every team we have in the field. As they assign work tasks, supervisors remind teams of safety protocols, precautions and emergency procedures. By proactively eliminating hazards, we eliminate injuries.

Finally, we prepare our staff to act in a medical emergency by providing CPR and first aid training, which is available to TP Mechanical employees as well as their family members and loved ones. As you can see, we take safety very seriously. On any given day, you may see a group of our supervisors participating in a little off-site training to refresh their OSHA knowledge, or our service staff sitting in a defensive driving class so we can rest easy that our drivers extend our safety practices to the roads.

TP Mechanical is always working to apply best practices to bring our customers safety they can count on. Our singular commitment to safety translates to peace of mind for our partners in the industry, eliminating the need to worry about the negative impact of working with an unsafe contractor. By putting iron-clad safety procedures in place and expecting no less than 100% compliance from our work force, we provide our customers with a well-organized, safe job site that will function with minimal interruption. Getting the work done swiftly without incident gets doors open faster, plus our EMR rate of .55 means clients enjoy substantial financial savings when it comes to insurance-related costs.

We can throw time, money, training and standards into a safety program, but without a true commitment from every person at TP Mechanical, it all means nothing. We realize that a company is only as strong as the heart of its work force, and we have them to thank for our extensive list of safety awards and accolades. As we often say, “Safety isn’t just a standard we have to uphold. It’s a way of life.”