june2010newsletter for web.pub
Transcription
june2010newsletter for web.pub
Emcon Services Inc. The Link Volume 5, Issue 2 June / July 2010 NAOSH Week Poster Contest These posters were submitted by the children from the Corporate Office. This is their outlook on SAFETY! Thanks to all the children that took the time to participate. Training on the new mini excavator Left— Chloe Burnham, Age 11 Inside this issue: More NAOSH Week 2 Safety Awards Area 2 & 3 4 Bits N Pieces 5 Community Support 6 Grad 2010 7 Updating the Fleet 8 Area News 9-12 UBC Grad 12 Employee Education 13,14 Training 15 Safety Tips! 16 Washing the Paulson Bridge Below, Emily Geier, Age 7 Right, Andee Walker. Age 4 Below, Addison Geier, Age 2 Below, Victoria Baxter, Age 22 months More NAOSH Week Activities The above jackets were distributed to crews within our company during NAOSH Week. In continuing down our path to creating a better safety culture in the workplace, Emcon Services Inc. has purchased and distributed Hi-Viz Rain Jackets for all field staff and operators. These jackets are a fluorescent lime green color and all have the current approved WorkSafe BC markings. Not only will they provide enhanced safety and visibility for all of our employees, but they will provide a more professional appearance while working on the roadway, especially in inclement weather. Another step forward in worker safety. Bridge Crew in Parksville receive their Safety Jackets Page 2 The Link Birchbank Road Crew, Trail BC receive their Safety Jackets Parksville Road Foreman, Ron Kirk (left) & Superintendent, Oliver Watson, Parksville, BC handing Safety Jacket to Dennis Sarabia, Quality Assurance Trainee “How Safe are You” Survey Out of the 32 employees that were provided with the survey in the Kootenay Boundary area, 29 were completed. The vast majority of the surveys had positive comments. The main item that was evident on most of the surveys was that the Emergency Plan in each yard is only reviewed and practiced once a year. A suggestion was made to designate an Emergency Captin each yard to do random tests throughout the year. Good Ideas and Congratulations on the 90% participation in the survey. Volume 5, Issue 2 Page 3 The following people have been nominated for recognition by their peers in Areas 2 & 3 for their excellence in safety during NAOSH Week. Emcon Services Inc. provided cold drink containers to the nominees. Shown left is Damian Girard, Quality Assurance Trainee, receiving his cooler from Greg Ehman, Operations Manager, Cumberland. Shown on the right is Rob Heaslip, Road Superintendent, Nanaimo handing Dave Rintala, Operator, his award. Ted Williams, Operator, Cumberland proudly shows off his Safety Award. Kody Martel, Mechanic Apprentice, Parksville, was nominated for following safe work practices. Kody, left, received his Cooler from his supervisor, Larry Prince. Page 4 The Link Other Safety Award Nominees: Camera Shy! Nasch Aguiar, Bridge Superintendent, Cumberland Don Brittain, Operator, Parksville Paul Laughlin, Bridge Crew, Cumberland Eric Arkwright, Mechanical Apprentice, Cumberland People—Bits N Pieces Debbie Schmold moved to the Comox Valley with her husband and son about a year ago from Calgary. She has an extensive background in accounting and accounts payable with various construction and drilling companies in Alberta. Welcome Debbie to the Cumberland office! Ian and Jolene Stanchuk have had their first baby, a girl, Sophia Jessica Stanchuk weighing 7 lbs 9 oz. Ian is a Bridgeworker 3 on the Birchbank Bridge Crew. Bud Stanchuk, who just recently retired from the Birchbank Road Crew, is the proud Grandpa. Congratulations to all!! Victor (Dasheng) Wang has just arrived in the Corporate Office in Merritt. Victor previously worked for a small computer shop in Vancouver and has a Bachelor of Arts in Business Administration with Certificates in Computer Sciences. Victor is married to Jennifer and they plan to relocate to Merritt from Vancouver in the near future. For all your computer needs contact Victor! Welcome Victor to the Emcon Family. Greg Ehman, Operations Manager, Area 3, Island Division and his wife, Kristie and their three children will be moving on to Golden to work for HMC Services Inc. in July. Best Wishes to Greg and family! Volume 5, Issue 2 Welcome Justin Burgers and his family to the Island Division. Justin will be taking on the very challenging position of Operations Manager for Area 3. Justin will be moving to Courtenay sometime in July. Page 5 New Emcon Coverall Shop After 10 years of working in the open, a new waterproof Coverall Shelter has been added along with an insulated sea container for storage and assembly space. This new shop is located on the property adjacent to the Emcon Services Corporate Building in Merritt. Hard at work on the foundation Trucking materials to site Community Support Emcon Services encourages support for the communities in which we live and work. Recently the Corporate Office donated chairs and paper to Skalula, Workshop. This is a government funded operation which provides a workshop for the challenged in our community. Some of the activities they are involved in is making stakes for the local mills and providing clean, usable rags to mechanical shops in the community. The Corporate Office also donated some extra chairs to the local Health Care Auxiliary Thrift Shop. In turn these were sold to a needy senior and funds from that sale will be returned to the community at one of the many health related facilities in Merritt. Playground for Kids! Letter from Tracy Noseworthy, President, Perley School Parent Advisory Council to Emcon Services, Grand Forks. “Please accept our heartfelt thanks for your generous donation to our playground install project. The install is now complete and we are happy to say that we came within our projected budget due in part to your help. This was a huge undertaking and your support helped us run a very efficient project. Once again, a BIG THANK YOU from the Perley School Parent Advisory Council (PAC) for supporting children in our community.” Page 6 The Link Grad 2010 Bursary Recipients Kevin Griffiths, Rossland Secondary School, Rossland, BC receiving Emcon Bursary. Derek Mintz Ballenas High School Parksville, BC Haley Sofonoff Grand Forks Secondary, Grand Forks, BC Marlo and daughter Morgan Fosbery, Merritt Secondary Merritt, BC Calvin Bull & Grad Date Danean GP Vanier Secondary Courtenay, BC Jordie Christy Merritt Secondary Merritt, BC Desiree Heaslip, Wellington Secondary School, Nanaimo, BC Once again this is the time of the year that our children and grandchildren have completed 12 years of public education and ready themselves for the next step on the highway of life. Some choose to enter post secondary education or trades, while others venture out into the workplace. We honor those students at this time—Congratulations to all on your accomplishments! Those with pictures submitted are noted above and those that are “Camera Shy” are listed below. Craig Kitchen, Boundary Central Secondary School, Midway, BC Jordan Mitchell, Stanley Humphries Secondary School, Castlegar, BC Nelson Burnham, Merritt Secondary School, Merritt, BC Page 7 Nicole Popoff Grand Forks Secondary Grand Forks, BC The Link Additions to the Equipment Fleet— Keeping the Commitment to Renew This crane truck has arrived in Parksville for the bridge crew. Area 2 was sharing a crane truck with Area 3 as they did not have a stinger truck. The bridge crew is pleased with the new addition to their fleet as it will provide more flexibility for scheduling. A new Case CX36 mini excavator has arrived on the Island. This unit will replace rental units that were being used for bridge projects, and cleaning lead drains on the TCH and Inland Island Highways. These drains are a constant problem as they get plugged from logging truck debris and chip truck materials, resulting in major drainage, water ponding and hydroplane issues on the main highways. A new Western Star Sterling tridem truck was purchased to accommodate the new Tow Plow. The plow has been ordered and the truck is currently being outfitted for this coming winter. Once the truck is ready to work, the training will be scheduled. Involved in fitting out and setting up this truck in the Cumberland Shop is Erik Arkwright, a 3rd year apprentice under the watchful eyes of Howard Bull, TJLH and Darrin Wasiliew. The first of the new trucks has now been outfitted for the upcoming winter season. The work was done in the Parksville shop with Dave Thorpe overseeing the project. Our newest TJM, James Lysne completed most of the work on this unit. Some hydraulic checks are still to be done, along with a computer install to be done by outside forces. This is the first of the new trucks to be completed and as this was a prototype it took longer than expected as many issues had to be worked out, including removing and re-positioning of the extendable underbody to allow a Tenco box install. This work was done in between regular jobs and scheduled around holidays. The other three trucks should be completed faster now that the kinks have been worked out. Fitting out these new units has involved the young mechanics in some different projects with challenges and problems to resolve and provides a great learning opportunity. Page 8 The Link Spring Time in the Kootenay Boundary Area Spring and Summer bring with it a number of activities very different from those we do in the winter. Bridge washing is one of those activities done in spring. On the left we have Ian Stanchuk, Area 9 Bridgeworker, in the man basket washing the Paulson Bridge. On the right the Area 9 Bridge Crew is repairing the overhead beam on the Westbridge Bridge. Replacing cattle guards is another spring time activity. On the right Derek Watson checks out the finished project. Below sweeping activities in the Beaverdell area with the newly acquired Elgin Broom. On the left Dave Johnson operating the Athey Loader cleaning in front of the guardrail. Below the Midway Road Crew at Work on Christian Valley Gravelling. Below Dave Johnson is working on the Paulson Detour Grinds. Above Walter Chernoff, Beaverdell, repairing & cleaning up the grader getting it ready for work. Page 9 The Link Border Road Project Border Road is a new road being built by the Grand Forks Road Crew. The road will enable the residents to access Grand Forks inside the Canadian Border. Currently the residents have to go through US Customs at the Cascade Border Crossing in order to come to Grand Forks, hence the name, Border Road. Completion is scheduled for sometime in July. On the left Rob Woykin is operating the grader and Peter Voykin, right, is operating the packer. Madalene Espenhain is doing her best to complete Emcon's Succession Planning. Pictured right are her daughter, Kylee, with her new baby brother, Justin Nolan. Justin was born in the Trail Hospital on July 6th weighing in at 7 pounds, 12 ounces. Congratulations to the Espenhain family! Major Paving Program A major road base repair and paving program for Highway 4 in Parksville has been started. Oliver Watson is supervising this project to repair and replace the failures in the area. The project consists of grinding, excavation, replacement of pit run, crushed gravel and paver laid pavement . This is part of a $350,000 major summer paving program planned for Highways 1, 4, 19 and 19A in 2010. Page 10 The Link Grader Arrives A new 14 M Cat grader has just arrived on the Island. This unit will be outfitted with a wobbley wheel attachment in the Cumberland Shop. This unit will then be shipped to Gold River. Training of three operators will take place upon it’s arrival. Once the training is complete the grader will be put to work on the Head Bay Road to Tahsis. Green Initiatives In keeping with Emcon’s commitment to saving energy and taking an active part in the current Green Initiatives the Cumberland shop has changed the existing lighting from the halogen type to a new florescent style lighting. These new lights are brighter and cast less shadow, as well as being more cost effective to replace and operate. There is a partial rebate by a government energy savings rebate system as well. Other green initiatives are telephone conferencing for safety, mechanical and other meetings; the use of LED lighting systems for all new arrow board trucks and rotating lights, and on older units by attrition; trying out a new switch which shuts down and starts up trucks with old arrow boards, so that they can run on projects without the truck having to be idling for long periods; and also replacing assembly room and other communal areas with motion sensor light switches, to save energy when the room is vacated. “Other green initiatives are telephone conferencing for safety, mechanical and other meetings;” Christina Lake Triathlon — “Thanks for your support” An excerpt from a letter from the Regional District of Kootenay Boundary: “On behalf of the organizers and the Christina Lake and Grand Forks Recreation Commissions I would like to thank Emcon Services for its sponsorship of the 2010 Pharmasave Christina Lake Triathlon. We are very grateful to Emcon for assisting with course preparation by sweeping the roads prior to the event and for the loan of equipment for the volunteer course marshals. Safety is a primary concern and Emcon’s support has been vital.” Lilly Bryant, Program Services Coordinator NOTE: Our in-house athlete, Pam Gaudry from the Corporate Office, participated on a team in the triathlon. The team ended up in 5th place. Way to go Pam! Volume 5, Issue 2 Page 11 Kennedy Lake Works The Kennedy Lake works involved the removal of a small concrete abutment wall and was replaced with anchored guardrail. Bridge crew members, Mitch Jensen, Grant McClellan, Lloyd Price, Steve Penney and Trent Brown worked diligently on this project. Kennedy Lake Project Shouldering Subcontract “This project was headed up by Hans Van de Vosse with Alex Wang ….” Arc Asphalt Recycling Inc, out of Kamloops, BC procured the contract for a Hot in Place Recycling contract in Sayward, BC. Arc subcontracted the shouldering works to Emcon. This project was headed up by Hans Van de Vosse with Alex Wang and Damian Girard supplying QA services. Operators on this project were Gord Forester, Bob Smith and Eric Hedstrom. A very successful project. UBC Graduate Brian Rizzardo has just graduated with Bachelor of Science in Pharmacy. He has worked diligently over the past six years completing the requirements for graduation and has accepted a position as a locum with a Pharmacy chain . He will operate from a Vancouver base travelling to locations throughout the province, many of which his parents, Frank and Almerina Rizzardo, lived in during their years with the Ministry. Brian is not afraid of new challenges and we are certain he will do well in his chosen profession. Congratulations Brian! Page 12 The Link Partnering with School District The Cumberland shop partnered with the Comox School District to provide an opportunity to students entering the mechanical field to experience the trade first hand. A certificate of appreciation from the School District was forwarded to Cumberland for their support of the Work Placement Opportunities Program. Apprentice Program Successful completion of the various levels of the Apprentice Heavy Duty Equipment Mechanic program has been achieved by: Roy Terishita, Grand Forks, BC Roy obtained an 85% grade on his first exam. Roy now moves into his second year. Congratulations Roy! Kody Martel, Port Alberni. Kody has achieved an 82% grade on his first year exam. Kody has been working in the various shops, including Parksvillle and Nanaimo, throughout his first year. Congratulations Kody! Eric Arkwright has completed his second year with a 90% average and is working on his third year. Eric works out of the Cumberland shop. Congratulations to all on your achievements! Roy Terishita Humour, Laughter and Fun bring more Health and Happiness Volume 5, Issue 2 Page 13 Crane Certifications Congratulations to those that have passed their Crane Certification tests to date. Island Division, Area 2 & 3 Paul Laughlin, Trade Leadhand Bridgeworker, Cumberland Howard Bull, Trade Leadhand Mechanic, Cumberland Grant McLellan, Trade Journeyman Bridgeworker, Parksville Steve Penney, Trade Leadhand Bridgeworker, Parksville Dwyane Randall, Bridgeworker Apprentice 3, Cumberland More Crane Certification tests have been booked for Fall 2010. Educating Our Employees Congratulations to Tara Bursey on her successful completion of the Effective Business Writing course. TRAFFIC CONTROL TRAINING Kathy Brodman provided a Traffic Control Training course in Birchbank June 7 & 8. Those scheduled for training were: Ian Stanchuk Ken Santano Jack Pereverzeff Ray Wilson Mike Schrader Shawn Stratton Bill Langman RESPONSIBLITIES OF Joint Health & Safety Committee A WorkSafe BC course on the responsibilities of a Joint Health & Safety Committee was provided by a private consultant in March. Those who attended and received a certificates are: Stu Travis Darby Gildersleeve Ross Shepherd Nasch Aguiar Barry Dales Below Wade Wheaton & Kent Porter Rob Heaslip DUE DILLIGENCE Damian Girard and Alex Wang attended a Due Diligence for Supervisors and Managers Seminar in Courtenay on June 16, 2010. TRAIN THE TRAINER SEMINAR Kent Porter and Wade Wheaton, Grand Forks, succesfully attended this session held in Kelowna by the Construction Safety Network. On going Spring Training Sessions that have been held or are ongoing: WHMIS - updating on new product sheets First Aid & Transportation Endorsement—only required every three years as of January 1, 2010 Hearing Testing—establishing a base line to ascertain if work environments are impacting hearing Volume 5, Issue 2 Page 14 Training, an ongoing process NEW MINI EXCAVATOR TRAINING Training and evaluation on the mini excavator taking place on the Island. Hans Van de Voss and Dave Rintala are both experienced excavator operators. Dave and Hans assessed three crew members from Cumberland and Campbell River crews on their competency on operating this new piece of equipment. This included basic operations, climbing, operating in and loading on and off of the trailer. Interim permits were granted to two operators, Jeff Smith and Eric Hedstrom, who will now need 40 hours actual operating experience on this machine before being reassessed for a full operator permit. QA’s Get Information to Pass Along! Calibration Measurements Damian Girard & Dennis Sarabia—Checking out the hydraulics CALIBRATION TRAINING Dave Thorpe and Darrin Wasiliew go over Calibration issues with Damian Girard, Alex Wang and Dennis Sarabia, QAs from the Island division. They are all at various stages of competence and have been doing calibrations on various different types of units. This was a good time to do a “back to basics” course, which also allowed for discussion, review and follow up of some of the problems encountered. Those have been the level of competence, mechanical and operational issues involved in the process. An outline of the topics follow: * Why do we calibrate [classroom ] * How the different systems works [classroom] * Trouble shooting [class and shop] * Hands on review of equipment [in shop] * Follow up checks throughout winter [caliprompter demo] Volume 5, Issue 2 Page 15 FIT TO WORK Emcon Services Inc. Unit 105 1121 McFarlane Way Merritt, BC V1K 1B9 Phone: 250-378-4176 Fax: 250-378-4106 Editor: Jacquie Hall Email: [email protected] We’re on the Web! www.emconservices.org Road & Bridge Maintenance Contractor Most any kind of work—not only manual labour—can contribute to tight, stiff muscles. You should feel less tired and less tense at the end of your shift if you maintain good posture. HEAD, NECK SHOULDERS—Keep your head upright with ears directly over your shoulders. This reduces strain in the neck and upper back muscles. LOWER BACK— Preserve the curve of your spine in it s natural “S” shape. For lower back support, place a rolled towel or cushion between your lumbar and chair back. No slouching! HIPS, LEGS—Keep hip and knee angles at about 90 degrees so your knees are no higher than your hips. Keep feet resting comfortably flat on the floor. ARMS, WRISTS—Keep the back of your wrists straight, arms relaxed. Keep elbows at 90 degrees so forearms are parallel to the floor. More Tips: Adjust your posture slightly every 20—30 minutes. Periodically stretch your back, arms, lets and hands to ease tension and boost energy. If you’re seated for long periods, take phone calls or meetings standing up. Include some deep breathing while you stretch. PREVENT INJURIES FROM SLIPS, TRIPS & FALLS Taking the time to reduce injuries from slips, trips of falls is an important investment. Simple things such as keeping the yard / work area clean, watching for uneven surfaces and wearing appropriate footwear can be all it takes to prevent a serious injury. Use your eyes to sweep your walk path looking for: Uneven Surfaces Puddles of water or other slippery surfaces Trip hazards such as curbs or parking blocks Maintain yard and work areas so that surfaces are even and free of slip and trip hazards, such as ice, electrical cords, tools and liquid spills. Wear footwear suitable to the job (CSA approved) Always use three point contact for truck entry/exit (a person jumping or falling from a height of 4 feet would hit the ground with a force of between 7 and 12 times their body weight. For example a 200 lb person would hit the ground with a force of 1400 to 2400 lbs. Don’t fall for it! Safety can distinguish you. Lack of safety can extinguish you. ** Tell us which piece of equipment showed up twice to win a prize! Email your answer.