Friday, October 31, 2014

Brookstone Builders, Inc.-Friday Funny/Halloween

Happy Halloween All!  Just a reminder for many towns, tonight is Trick or Treating so if you are going to be on the roads, drive slow and watch for kids crossing the street. Have fun and save the candy corn for me! 

Friday, October 24, 2014

Friday, October 17, 2014

Brookstone Builders, Inc.-Friday Funny-Under Construction

T-minus a few hours until the weekend.  Hope you all have had great week, we look forward to talking with you on Monday.  Enjoy a little Homer Simpson;

Wednesday, October 15, 2014

Brookstone Builders, Inc.- Workers Comp

In keeping with some of our recent posts regarding safety today let's talk about Workers Comp and how it affects insurance policies. 

The construction industry is one of the top industries for Workers Comp claims, and not all are real. The more claims, the higher the insurance policy cost to everyone.  Contractors/business owners need to work to limit the number of cases by proactively reducing the number of cases. 

Here are a few tips to try and reduce your number of incidents:

1) It is so important to hold safety seminars, post safety warnings on job sites, have all equipment in good working condition, and be sure your crew is wearing the proper attire for the job.  If there are safety issues, address them quickly. 

2) Hire smart.  The odds of a claim are the highest within the first 90 days.(Construction Business Owner Aug.2014) Be sure you go through the entire hiring process, including drug testing, background checks.  Try to stay away from short-term hiring. 

3)  If something should occur, document everything, be detailed.  Follow up on the documentation and the care of the employee. Again, it is your responsibility to follow up and be proactive. 

4)  Institute modified duties or hours.  This will get the employee back to work sooner keeping insurance costs down and decreasing the chances of employees making fraudulent  claims to just get out of work. 

Friday, October 10, 2014

Brookstone Builders, Inc.-Friday Funny-Hexing while flying/Halloween

Happy Friday!  For those of you who have Monday off, happy long weekend! 
Given it is October I couldn't help but post this Friday Funny.  Enjoy.

We are open on Monday 10/13/14

Wednesday, October 8, 2014

Brookstone Builders, Inc- Project Completion/Singer Subaru

For the latest job completion announcement visit our website at
www.brookbuild.com/new.  It is the one dated 9/29/14. 

While you are there, be sure to read the current newsletter, Emergency Generator Tips.  If you haven't signed up to receive our newsletter via e-mail, you can while you are reviewing the Brookstone Builders "NEWS".  And don't forget, we are on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, LinkedIn and Blogger.

Wednesday, October 1, 2014

Brookstone Builders, Inc.-Safety

"Safety first"  We have all heard that phrase before and it should not to be taken lightly anyone in the construction industry. 

According to OSHA Workers Safety Pocket Guide, "Nearly 6.5 million people work at approximately  252, 000 construction sites across the nation on any given day.  The fatal injury rate for the construction industry is higher than the national average in this category for all industries."  

With that many injuries occurring, it can be hard to keep up with the paper work involved.  Here are a few tips for the Safety Manager to consider:

1) Be organized-  Have all documents handy.  If you are the one that needs to fill out a report , be sure you have all the current forms needed to file an incident, .  You don't want to have to go back and re-collect the information simply because you had the wrong form.  Fill it out forms as completely as possible, the less blanks the better.  The more details, the better, include eye witnesses if necessary.  Be sure to get the proper spelling of those individuals involved.  You will save lots of time, and energy if you have everything in order prior to anything actually happening.  Take the time to collect the information the first time and record it correctly, again this will save you time. 

2) Educate Staff- Their are all kinds of safety seminars out there and you should participate in them.  Provide employees with handouts when available. Have employees take the First Aid and CPR course. Document the education, complete with an employee signature.

3)Use current technology- There are mobile devices with customizable and user friendly forms.  For users in the field, this is great news.  No more lugging around paper files that may get dirty or blown away on a job site.  Some of the software is designed to look like the paper form, lessening the learning curve is.