The snow is finally melting and paving season is right around the corner, so it’s time for our annual MSHA refresher training before work kicks off! We held our 2019 MSHA Training on February 27, 2019 and the day was full of great tips, tricks and knowledge that can be brought back to the job and implemented.

We broke out to training rooms to get some detailed safety tips. Eric our Mining Engineer gave us a run down on proper Mounting & Dismounting technique from trucks and equipment, and Kendra and Kaleigh from our Safety Department recapped our Hazardous Material containment policies. Our electricians Mike and Kevin walked us through electric safety and the invisible dangers of electricity, Liberty Mutual Certified Industrial Hygienist Vic informed us about the hazards silt and silica play in our health and lung safety, and we took a quick stretch break to stay limber with our Fit For Work partners Ken and Kyra.

We solemnly recapped the 2019 industry fatalities, Peter our Field Safety Lead brushed us up on confined spaces precautions, Michael our Cranston Site Manager gave us some great Hot Work tips, Cody our Lunenburg Site Manager drove home the importance of good housekeeping for safety and we were joined by Pat O’Neil from Impact Fire to give us a refresher on Fire Extinguisher usage.

We ended the day by reviewing the upcoming site changes to all our Plants and what safety issues and hazards they may pose.

Thanks to all who joined us for our 2019 MSHA training, we look forward to starting the season off on a safe foot!

You may have heard it many times by now, but we truly put Safety first here at P.J. Keating! To congratulate our efforts and dedication to safety, we have recently received two awards recognizing our Safety efforts across all our various lines of businesses and plants. P.J. Keating has hit 3 MILLION hours of work without a Lost Time Incident, and we couldn’t be prouder!

We have received an award and a commendation letter signed by Randy Lake, John Keating, John Parson, and Lee Cole, stating “This type of achievement doesn’t happen by accident and requires intense focus and commitment by the entire organization. The example you set is a great encouragement to all of us and one we’re pleased to share – you’ve proven that it’s possible to create an environment that is free from significant injury. Every one of us on the Oldcastle Materials team has made a personal pledge to accept our role in building our safety culture – “When I SEE something I will STOP and Do something”. Thanks for exemplifying that commitment and challenging us to get better.”

We also received an Outstanding Safety Performance award from Liberty Mutual recognizing P.J. Keating as completing 2017 without a Lost Time incident!

Congratulations and thank you to all of our staff who put Safety first here at P.J. Keating to make these achievements possible! We look forward to completing 2018 in the same fashion. 🙂

It was an exciting week here at PJK last week!

On Tuesday, February 27th we held our annual Operations Kick-Off with a follow up day of MSHA training on Wednesday, February 28th. Both days were a great success! We gathered together to celebrate the start of the season and hear about P. J. Keating’s plans for 2018.

Our President Jonathan gave us a review of PJK’s 2017 and how we’re looking to improve in the coming year, as well as our Safety Goals for 2018 because safety is just as important as production!

Kelly, our HR manager gave us a rundown of the harassment and employment policies at P. J. Keating to make sure that we maintain the best work environment possible for our employees.

Our Environmental Health and Safety Manager Kendra then walked us through the new PJK Safety Manual. The Environmental Health and Safety team have been hard at work rewriting them. New words, but our #1 goal is always the same!

At MSHA training on Wednesday we heard from various Safety and Quarry Personnel regarding best practices to keep everyone at P. J. Keating safe, and reviewing MSHA policies and how they relate to our quarries and job sites specifically.

Ken and Kyra from Fit4Work gave us some stretching and exercise tips to keep everyone limber, and Billy Simas walked us all through CPR and Defibrillator training in case of emergencies.

The PJK Operations Kick off was a great success! We look forward to the Construction / Asphalt Kick off meeting on March 20th. Please keep a look out for you invitations in the mail.

We are pleased to welcome the Bristol County Technical Rescue Team (BCTRT) to the Acushnet plant, as they prepare an overall emergency response plan.

Funded by Homeland Security, the BCTRT includes local firefighters and other first response professionals who train for advanced life-saving rescue skills on-call across the region. The rescue team recently toured the Acushnet plant with site manager, Jeff Olejniczak and safety lead, Lauri Conner.

The rescue team has planned an emergency response drill at the screen tower in order to prepare for a fall from heights scenario. The date of the drill has been postponed due to the recent thunderstorms, and will be re-scheduled weather permitting. Plans to work with regional rescue teams in the Lunenburg, Cranston, and Dracut areas are to be announced.

The committee recently focused on the ergonomic concerns raised by Carlos Rebello’s crew. By installing a side body rack for jackhammers, the strain of lifting and lowering hand tools throughout the work day has been minimized. Because ascending and descending into the tailgate was identified as a slip and fall hazard, a step and handrail has been installed as a solution to enable the 3-points of contact safety method.

A selection of employees will don monitors which measure the levels of exposure of noise and dust on site to ensure that it is compliant and within a safe range. An Industrial Hygiene consultant is making the rounds to each site, and will provide expert analyses. Monitoring is scheduled to take place at the Acushnet plant in the upcoming days, weather permitting. Testing has been completed at the Cranston and Lunenburg plants, with lab results and recommendations to follow.

We’ve got more names to add to the Zero Incident Recognitions list! The more the merrier; safety at P. J. Keating is number one!

Congratulations to Gilbert Medeiros and his crew in Fall River on working incident free for all of 2016.

Congratulations to the Cranston Garage, Quarry and Load/Haul Fleet on working incident free in 2016!