Safety

Commercial RRP Expansion – Significant Changes Ahead – Comments Requested

A&K Painting Co. Commercial RRP Infographic

Significant changes are ahead for maintenance and up-fit/remodel work on pre-1978 Commercial and Public buildings.  The EPA is working to expand the existing Residential & Child Care – Lead Safe Renovation, Repair and Painting (RRP) Rule to include Commercial and Public Buildings.

Go to our Commercial RRP Infographic

The expansion of RRP Rules to Commercial and Public buildings will increase owner’s risk and liability, increase costs for maintenance and up-fit work in pre-1978 buildings.  There is no question that we all want to protect our children from the hazards or exposure to lead paint dust.  For Public Building and Commercial Buildings that are not child occupied, the EPA has yet to provide scientific proof that there is a hazard.  This expansion or RRP Rules would impact every building in the United States that was built prior to 1978.  State managed RRP programs, such as those in North Carolina eleven other States will be required to adopt these changes.

As reported in our January 5th blog post announcing the EPA’s comment period and request for comments from interested parties, we are interested in activating building owners and managers, facility managers and contractors to participate by adding their comments either directly or through engaging and participating with their industry association to submit comments.

Your comments are needed.  To help the EPA determine if there is a health hazard in none child occupied commercial buildings when renovation is completed, submit your comments before April 1st, 2013. Learn more and submit your comments to the EPA

Learn more about existing Residential – Child Care related RRP Rules and the expansion of RRP to Commercial & Public Buildings.

 

A Culture of Workplace Safety and Innovation

A&K Painting Company Safety Culture

According to Paula Moore, in an article in the Engineering News Record, “Savvy contractors have significantly cut jobsite injuries in the past few decades by transforming safety practices into a science. Recent innovations include using more statistics as well as the latest technology”. Companies can retrieve statistical data from OSHA and the Construction Industry Institute or they can choose to compile their own. By having this data that tracks recordable injuries, medical treatments and lost-time cases, companies can analyze the data to prevent future injuries. Companies are also decreasing their incidence ratings for nonfatal injuries and illnesses in American construction by using these statistics.

In the past, contractors relied on “lagging indicators” such as Total Recordable Incident Rate (TRIR) and Experience Modification Rate (EMR) which measure historical safety performance. But since these indicators aren’t as useful for prevention, companies are choosing to be more proactive by studying workers’ behavior and investigating jobsite conditions before incidents occur. Other strategies include pre-planning, targeting high-risk activities and performing job-safety analysis. Along with those strategies, new technology is also playing a role in reducing jobsite injuries. Perhaps most importantly, regardless of which strategy they use, companies are investigating the causes and making changes to prevent incidents from happening in the future.

These new prevention methods we’re seeing from construction companies are showing us that the culture of safety doesn’t happen by chance; companies have to make every effort to create safe work environments for their employees in advance and not wait until injuries have already occurred to make a change. At A&K Painting Company, we work to maintain a culture of safety that keeps the well-being, health and safety of our team members top priority. We’re blessed with and actively work to maintain our excellent safety record.

We set the standard for safety through careful monitoring and active safety management. A&K Painting Company continues to be the safety leader you can rely on. Learn more about our Culture of Safety.

EPA Opens Comment Period On Commercial RRP

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For all those involved in Commercial Real Estate, Facility Maintenance and Commercial Construction, the long awaited ‘other shoe’ has dropped.  The EPA’s intent to add private and public commercial buildings to the renovation, repair and painting program took another step forward last week.  See the EPA’s Proposed Rule Information.

Renovations of homes and child-occupied facilities built prior to 1978 must be performed by certified contractors using lead-safe work practices. EPA is currently in the process of determining whether renovation, repair, and painting activities on public and commercial buildings might also create lead-based paint hazards. For those activities that do create lead-based paint hazards, EPA intends to develop certification, training, and work practice requirements as directed by the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA).

EPA has opened a comment period to allow for additional data and other information to be submitted by the public and interested stakeholders. This comment period runs through April 1, 2013. More information on this request for public comment, including instructions for providing your comments, can be found in the Federal Register notice.

In addition, EPA plans to hold a public meeting on renovations in and on public and commercial buildings on June 26, 2013. EPA will publish more details on this public meeting in the Federal Register in the spring of 2013.

A&K Painting Company will continue to monitor and report on the EPA’s actions for Commercial RRP.

Parking Lot Striping – Safety, Maintenance and First Impressions

A&K Painting Parking Lot StripingParking lot striping and maintenance re-striping by A&K Painting provides property owners and managers with value and peace of mind.  We provide your property with safety for your customers, tenants and employees. Our no hassle solutions include meeting local code for handicap and fire clearance/distance, line layout, pedestrian zones and placement of proper signage.  Our preparation provides longevity and better value by first power-washing or use of power air to remove loose impediments and dirt, and parking control during maintenance re-striping. We achieve low to no-impact solutions to keep your property parking needs serving your customers and employees through off-hour project completion. Contact our team to achieve the best first impressions for your property.

Our Mission and Work to Become a World Class Organization

The recent grand opening of the A&K Painting Company OTS (Operations Training Showroom) is a major step towards our strategic mission and active, ongoing work to become a world-class organization.  The operations portion provides support for our team of field crews and managers.  Top notch field and operations management, modern warehousing and organization of equipment help the A&K Team be safer, do their jobs more efficiently and make their jobs more enjoyable.

The training portion of OTS provides our employees with wonderful classroom space and positive environment where they benefit from advancing their roles within the company and improve their careers.  Our foreman and painters receive regular training.  Take a look at the upcoming training dates and topics to be covered.
  • Mar 16 – Tiltup Textures (foreman)
  • Mar 30 – Conventional Spray Eq. (foreman)
  • Apr 27 – Efficiencies in the Field (foreman)
  • May 12 – Painter Production and Duties (painters)
  • May 14 – Sand Blasting
  • May 24 – Foreman Round Table
  • June 22 – Flooring Applications & Epoxy Coatings (foreman)
  • July 20 – Block Fill Application (foreman)

We bring excellence to your properties and projects.  Contact us to start benefiting now.