Thought you would enjoy this post. We are demonstrating the embedding of YouTube videos in the WordPress framework. And, you gotta love this car!
Read MoreBooks by Cougar Gulch
Forms and Regulatory Posters on Thumb Drive
For your convenience, we can provide the following forms and posters on a thumb drive for only $49.99 including shipping and tax (if applicable). The forms are in docx format – for easy editing to your needs, except for OSHA forms, which are in pdf format. The posters are all in pdf format. Only $49.99 [...]
Read MoreBest Practices for Employee Safety Bulletin Board
The Employee Safety Bulletin Board is usually located in the employee lounge. Some businesses may place it in a common hallway or near the main office. On this board should be posted all the regulatory posters, locations and emergency numbers and other information to help employees conduct their business in an informed, efficient and safe [...]
Read MoreOSHA Inspections, Citations and Penalties – the basics
What we refer to as OSHA: The full legal name of the OSH Act is the Williams-Steiger Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 (84 Stat. 1590 et seq., 29 U.S.C. 651 et seq. – these are the statutes). For the practical application of the statutes, the listing of all the rules and regulations are [...]
Read MoreEmployer Required USDOL, OSHA and State Posters
Employment and Safety posters are required to be posted in a location common to and accessible by all employees. A common location would be installing an employment and safety bulletin board in the employee lunchroom. If there is no lunchroom or lounge, the board should be located in a common area, such as a hallway [...]
Read MoreDean’s Quick Rules for Writing Interesting Articles
The goal of every author is to attract the audience of the reader, whether the purpose be merely to entertain, or whether it be to win the reader to the author’s point of view. This may seem easier to envision than it is to accomplish. Here are a few tips I give to aspiring authors. [...]
Read MoreWorkplace Safety Manual by Cougar Gulch Group
The Workplace Safety Manual is more than a manual – it is an education. The categories in this manual encompass general industries and construction operations. We can affordably adapt this manual to your workplace. We can also aid with your ISN certification. Purchase one copy; review it; then contact Dean to fit this manual to [...]
Read MoreNew OSHA Compliance Guidance for Residential Construction
Previously, OSHA included “flexible language” in 1926.501(b)(13) because of concerns expressed during the rulemaking period about the feasibility and safety of using conventional fall protection for residential construction. The wording of this section is: “Residential construction.” Each employee engaged in residential construction activities 6 feet (1.8 m) or more above lower levels shall be protected [...]
Read MoreDean Isaacson – Expert Witness for Construction Forensics
Expert Witness was one of the services I performed before moving from Seattle to Idaho. It is something I enjoyed very much because it involved two of my favorite occupations – analyzing and writing. The time required establishing my construction enterprise prevented me from pursuing this line of work in Idaho, until now. Below is [...]
Read MoreRepairing OEM Parts for Nutone Fan Replacement
When your Broan-Nutone fan goes out, expect the manufacturer to charge you $125 for the guts of a fan that cost $89. The smart thing would have been to purchase a new unit at the store and swap guts. However, the local stores were not stocking the item and it is possible Nutone no longer [...]
Read MoreUpdated Construction Estimation Spreadsheet in CSI MasterFormat
This spreadsheet is a revision of the previous worksheet for residential and light commercial construction take-offs and project estimation used by my previous companies and which many readers of this article have and may be using today, with my permission. Before I get into the changes in this document over the previous, let me give [...]
Read MoreHalf Full, Half Empty or Drinking Problem
Some people see the cup as half full; some see the cup as half empty. I see the cup as fully empty because I know, left unattended, someone is going to drink the remains of the cup. Among contractors and project managers, there are several management styles. Just as there are optimistic and pessimistic people, [...]
Read MoreAvoid Problems With A Well Written Contract
Most projects for small contractors are not large enough to warrant the use of American Institute of Architects (AIA) Form A201, General Conditions of the Contract for Construction or Engineers Joint Contract Documents Committee (EJCDC) Form C700, Standard General Conditions Of The Construction Contract. Besides, the large documents would scare off most customers who have [...]
Read MoreEPA Puts the Hammer on Pre-1978 Homes
There is cause to be concerned the EPA may be a bureaucracy out of control. They are relentless in pursuit of rules to control every aspect of commerce. The recent Renovation, Repair and Painting (RRP) Rule is one such example. However, the purpose of this article is to help you understand your business, perform it [...]
Read MoreWhat is the Minimum First Aid Kit?
OSHA defines first aid as the emergency care provided for injury or sudden illness before emergency medical treatment is available. The first aid provider in the workplace is someone who is trained in the delivery of initial medical emergency procedures, using a limited amount of equipment to perform a primary assessment and intervention while awaiting [...]
Read MoreLadder Safety and Special Construction Site Problems
OSHA requires all ladders to be able to support four times the intended load – that is passenger and tools. We don’t usually look at ladders by gross capacity, we look at ladders by type and rated capacity. For example, most construction ladders are rated “Type I” (pronounced “type one”) which have a rated capacity [...]
Read MoreWhat is Required to Become OSHA Compliant?
The OSHA Small Business Handbook is a fifty-six page guide about bringing your small business into OSHA compliance. OSHA claims to be streamlining their program to meet the needs of small business and future business needs while eliminating red tape. The goal for OSHA and for all employers is, at the end of the day, [...]
Read MoreLiabilities at the Scene of an Accident
According to the Seattle Times, a jury awarded a woman 2.7 million dollars for hitting a horse in the road. The award went against the phone company alone, not the phone company driver, not the person attending the horse, not against another driver who had pulled over but did not warn other drivers and certainly [...]
Read MoreSafety Planning Saves Lives, Health and Money
Most people think of safety management as a cost to business, when, in fact, it can actually save you money. Every week, in every state, two people die from work related accidents (stats are an average: 5200 workers died on the job in 2008). This alone is a very high cost to businesses. Work related [...]
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Cougar Gulch: Your Trade Show Marketing Representative
Extreme Industrial Coatings deals in high-tech wear protection for metal surfaces and is a production machine shop in Airway Heights, Washington. They have created a specialty product with a very narrow market. They re-manufacture the rotating and stationary valves of the Lockwood Air Cup Potato Planter. This means they target a narrow market of potato [...]
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