Construction Injuries: Stretch Them Out

Injuries on construction sites are common -- in fact, 751 construction workers died on the job in 2010, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. But many thousands more were only injured, and some of the most common injuries are muscle sprains and strains.

Reducing injuries and deaths in the construction workplace not only saves suffering, it can also save money. In fact, each accident costs money -- Liberty Mutual Insurance Company estimates that injuries cost the construction industry over $13 billion in 2005.

In an effort to reduce injuries due to strains and sprains, some construction companies have begun mandatory stretching and aerobics programs. General contractor Skanska, for example, developed an Injury Free Environment initiative that includes mandatory morning stretching. The morning workouts last about 10 minutes, and double as an opportunity to bring up safety issues.

Job Site Stretching

"After the stretches, everyone breaks up into groups to talk about the work schedule and bring up any safety concerns," said Darin Magee, general superintendent of a hospital construction project in Memphis, in a newspaper article.

Sprains happen when a ligament (which connects muscle to bones) is stretched too far or tears. This happens when it is suddenly twisted, such as when a worker falls from a ladder. Strains can happen from a one-time incident, or they can develop when a worker repeats a stressful motion frequently.

Symptoms of sprains include swelling, bruising, pain, and the inability to use the joint. A strain can knock a worker off the job immediately, and keep him off for months.

So what can you do to prevent strains? A program funded by the Washington State Department of Labor and Industries Safety and Health Investment Project developed a stretching program for construction workers. The Washington State program suggests four steps: 1) Educate workers about strains and their causes; 2) Help workers recognize the symptoms of strains; 3) Train workers how to prevent strains, such as with a stretching program; 4) Support your workers as they take responsibility for their health.

The program recommends a series of 11 stretches, for a total work out of 20 to 30 minutes. The stretches are available on a poster that can be downloaded here.

It may seem that 20 minutes at the beginning of the workday is a long time, and it may be tough to persuade your workers to do the workout, but it could prevent some serious pain! And, even if it doesn't, your workers will enjoy the relaxing and stimulating benefits of a good stretch before they begin work.

More Treasure Found Behind the Walls

Our last article on this topic was so popular we've written a follow-up. There seems to be no shortage of treasure lost behind walls.

A Christmas Present from Beyond

Fred Ravens, a dentist in Reading, Massachusetts, was watching a crew demolish the 150-year-old house next to his office that he had recently purchased. The previous owner had lived there three decades, and had passed away just a month before. As the walls were being pulled down, Ravens was shocked to see cash fluttering down around the site. "The money just sort of flung out, just flooded out into the air," he told the local TV station. The $50 and $100 bills totaled $2,500. He legally could have kept the cash himself, but instead he found the surviving daughters of the home's late owner and gave it to them. "I said to them, this is a Christmas present from your mother. She can't be here this year to give you a present, but she left you this money."

A Mobster's Stash?

The early part of the 20th century was a high time for gangsters in the Chicago area, and it's probable some of their hideouts remain undiscovered. Andrew Mayes may have found one while renovating a house in Lockport, a town about an hour southwest of Chicago. Mayes was knocking through a closet wall when a gunnysack fell out. Inside was a 1928 A1 Thompson submachine gun, better known as a Tommy gun, a favorite of 1920s-era gangsters! It was in pristine condition, and came with seven boxes of ammunition. Mayes called the police, and they're trying to search through the records to determine who might have put the gun there. Was it hidden in the wall so a mobster could make a last stand? It's just as possible some frightened law-abiding citizen hid it there, police say. "It could have been used for self-protection," Will County Sheriff Paul Kaupas told the Chicago Tribune. "But why was it hidden in the wall?"

Diamonds!

You'd probably be excited if you found a diamond ring behind the walls of a house your were demolishing, so imagine how excited demo man Raju (no last name was given in the newspaper article) was when he discovered more than $20,000 worth of loose diamonds behind the walls of a house in India. He scooped them right up and sold them. When the contractor learned of Raju's find, he told the police, presumably because he wanted his share. The police decided that since the diamonds were apparently in the house more than 100 years, they actually belonged to the state! They recovered the diamonds in the market.

Well, Not Exactly a Treasure

Workers were tearing out a ceiling in a British theatre when they found essentially a personal time capsule. Inside was a letter dated March 6, 1901, written by a man named Frank Morrill. Accompanying the letter was a pair of well-used workman's trousers! The letter said, "When you have inspected these trousers please hand them over to the curator of the Taylor Buildings for the Museum as they were worn by Frank Morrill, Chief Assistant to John C. Nairn and Son, who restored the ceiling of the building. Hope you enjoy yourself when you have found this valuable treasure. I expect I will have fed the worms by that time, however I will have a good time before I do so."

Teeth, Shells, Pipes, Newspapers

Maybe none of these seemed like treasures when the owners dumped them around the brownstone building in Brooklyn, but when the current owners excavated for an addition they found several old clay jugs, a big seashell, some broken china, and other little treasures. They also found an 1897 New York Herald used for insulation. You can read about the entire project, and see pictures of these "treasures" here.

Find any interesting treasures in your jobs? Tell us by sending an email to Ed Avis.

Gettysburg Cyclorama: Architectural Masterpiece or View Blocker?

For 42 years, visitors to the Civil War battlefields in Gettysburg could envision Pickett's Charge on a painting called the Gettysburg Cyclorama, housed in the Cyclorama Building. The painting, by Paul Philippoteaux, still thrills visitors in its new home in the Gettysburg Museum and Visitor Center, but the Cyclorama building has been vacant since 2008. The Park Service would like to demolish the building.

So what, right? Well, the building is no typical, utilitarian Park Service structure. The Cyclorama Building, a reinforced concrete, glass, and aluminum structure, was designed by Modernist architect Richard Neutra and his partner Robert Alexander in the late 1950s. The building was designed as part of Mission 66, a Park Service effort to upgrade visitor facilities from 1956 to 1966. It is a white, circular structure that resembles a giant water bottle cap resting on the ground.



Cyclorama

The focal point of the building was the Philippoteaux painting, and the building was located at a spot in the park near the depiction in the painting. Therein lies the rub: The vacant building blocks a view of the battlefield that historians would like visitors to be able to see. 

"The Cyclorama is literally just a huge view block between two very important parts of the (Union) line," said Dan Rathert, a licensed battlefield guide, in a newspaper article about the Cyclorama. "That's the biggest problem. With it there, it's harder for people to understand how parts of the battlefield fit together."

The Park Service unveiled a long-term plan for the battlefield in 1999 that called for removal of the building and generally restoring the site to its original condition. Seeing how the battle unfolded, from the original view of the participants, allows visitors to better grasp the history of the event. And returning the site to approximately its battle-time condition keeps commercialization, which is nipping at the borders of the park, at bay.

But the building has taken on historical significance of its own, and fans of its architecture have protested the Park District's plans. Among the key protestors is Richard Neutra's son Dion Neutra, who is an architect himself.  The Cyclorama Building is one if the last remaining structures designed by the elder Neutra.

The building's supporters pushed for National Historic Landmark status, but it was denied. Nevertheless, the group persisted, and a federal court ruled that the Park Service must compile a complete environmental assessment and analyze potential alternatives.

The Battle of Gettysburg lasted only about four days, but the battle between architecture preservationists and those committed to restoring the battlefield promises to rage for years.

American Architect

Welcome to a new feature of A/E Graphics: A brief profile of an important American architect. We hope you enjoy this feature, and if you would like to suggest an architect for us to profile, please send his or her name to Ed Avis 

William Lebaron Jenney



Sticking with our theme of supertall buildings, today we profile William Lebaron Jenney, considered the father of the modern skycraper. Jenney was born in Fairhaven, Massachusetts in 1832, and was trained at Andover, Harvard, and Ecole Centrale des Arts et Manufactures in Paris. One of his classmates was Gustave Eiffel, designer of the Eiffel Tower. Jenney returned to the United States in 1861 to serve in the Union Army as an engineer during the Civil War. After the war he moved to Chicago and began a practice that specialized in commercial buildings and urban planning. He also traveled to Ann Arbor to start the architecture program at the University of Michigan.



William Lebaron Jenney

His most famous building was the Home Insurance Building in Chicago, which was the first fully metal-framed building in the world. At eight stories it would hardly be noticed today, but at the time it was considered the world's first skyscraper. Using steel supports allowed for much taller buildings, eventually leading to today's supertall structures.

Jenney died in 1907, but his influence has lived on through his skyscraper innovations and the work of his apprentices, who included Louis Sullivan, Daniel Burnham, William Holabird, and Martin Roche.

Amazing Architecture: Bathroom Edition

Concrete privacy -- This bathroom in a converted factory, designed by Dow Jones Architects, features a concrete wall separating the bath from the rest of the room.

Check out the sink in this man-oriented bathroom designed by Garduno Architects. 

This Minneapolis penthouse has an amazing bathroom with views to match. 

This snazzy bathroom makes great use of under-the-staircase space.

Round and shiny is how you describe this bathroom.

A/E/C News You Can Use

Architect billings up

UMW Innovation Park plans draw little praise

He was green before it was cool

Doctors Park improvements planned

Milwaukee developer accused of not following "clean hands" ordinance

Monona Terrace won numerous awards in 2011

Beyer Construction named ASA-WI General Contractor of the Year  Congrats!!!!

Oce Launch Event Was Held Today: Innovative New Portfolio

Some of the much anticipated first joint technical/engineering print products from Canon and Oce were announced today in Venlo. Great improvements will be experienced with the new PlotWave 350, ColorWave 650 and PlotWave 900.

The Canon and Oce team is citing that their cooperation will change the future of technical document printing. With the power behind these companies, I wouldn't doubt their capabilities.

Notable features of the new Plotwave 350 are the 6 "D" per minute print speed along with cloud printing via a WiFi router and iPad integration.

Click here to read the complete press release.

Stay tuned on the availability of these products in America.

Tom

It's Back! 0% Financing on Canon Wide Format Printers

Due to popular demand, for a limited time, get zero percent financing on all Canon iPF wide format printers and plotters from A/E Graphics!

You can get a new Canon print/plot system including MFP's with no money down. Choose a 1, 2 or 3 year $1 out term. You own the system at the end of the lease! Just sign and you are on your way to printing bliss.

This is good for the 5 color technical series plotters like the iPF650, iPF655, iPF750, iPF755, iPF815, iPF825 and all of the full color graphics printers including the productive iPF8300s model.

Canon iPF8300s 44" wide 8-color graphics printer

This promotion is good until March 31st. Call Tom Taubenheim toll-free at 877-314-7047 or email here for a free needs analysis.

Update on Canon's buyout of Oce': Squeeze Out Procedure

This is from a joint press release I learned of from January 25th...from what I understand, this procedure was enevitable as Canon continues to complete the buyout of Oce'.

Tokyo, Japan and Amsterdam, The Netherlands—25 January 2012—Canon Inc. ("Canon") hereby announces that the writ of summons commencing formal statutory buyout proceedings under Dutch law ("squeeze out procedure") to acquire the remaining shares in Océ N.V. ("Océ") was issued by Canon Finance Netherlands B.V., a Canon wholly owned subsidiary in the Netherlands, on 24 January 2012.

In the squeeze out procedure Canon offers a purchase price of € 9.75 per ordinary share in the capital of Océ. This is equal to the purchase price Canon paid for the ordinary shares in Océ that it acquired from Orbis Funds ("Orbis"), a transaction that was announced in a press release on 22 December 2011.

The acquisition of Océ shares from Orbis increased Canon's ownership in Océ to 98.83 percent of the entire issued share capital (including 2.38 percent treasury shares held by Océ and including cumulative preference shares). This percentage allows Océ to delist from NYSE Euronext Amsterdam and Canon to initiate the squeeze out procedure. On 16 January 2012 Océ announced the delisting as per 14 February 2012.

Pursuant to Dutch law Canon Finance Netherlands B.V. initiated the squeeze out procedure by the formal service of the writ of summons against the remaining minority shareholders. Because the shares of Océ are traded in book-entry form through the systems of Euroclear Nederland, the minority shareholders are unknown to Canon. As a consequence thereof the service of the writ of summons will in due course also be announced in a Dutch daily newspaper. The proceedings will be instituted by the Enterprise Section of the Amsterdam Court of Appeal.

A/E Graphics Upgrades Small Format Color Capabilities

MILWAUKEE, Wis -- A/E Graphics’ Brookfield printing facility located at 4075 North 124th Street has installed new Ricoh high-speed color technology for small format printing, copying and scanning needs.

According to Tom Taubenheim, president of A/E Graphics, “We have seen a growing demand for specialty color needs like booklets, brochures and flyers, and with this new technology, we will be able to  print long runs up to size 12”x18” on 110# cover stock. In addition, the added Fiery controller gives us the ability to match the most discriminating color demands and with various color profile tools, we can offer spot-on color to 1200dpi.  Another benefit is the ability to hold consistent color throughout a run which is critical for our clients.”

“We are also seeing an increasing need in the marketplace for combination printing of black and white and color documents”, says Taubenheim. “This unit allows us to run high volumes of black and white prints with some color mixed in for a shockingly low color rate.”

A/E Graphics, now in its 35th year of operation, has grown to provide a complete range of document reproduction services, equipment sales and document management services. In addition to its Brookfield location it has a location at 207 E. Buffalo St., Suite 32LL in Milwaukee. Pickup and delivery is available in the metro Milwaukee area. For more information on A/E Graphics, visit their website or call 262-781-7744.