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CEI Insight: Stretch and Flex Program

Workplace stretching programs are on the rise and a new hot topic for the construction industry. Roofers and other construction employees are often subjected to routine movements, heavy lifting, and strenuous body positions. This daily wear and tear can leave employees with pain and discomfort. After years of being in the industry, this can result in soreness and injury. A 2018 goal for CEI was to craft and implement a Stretch and Flex Program for our employees. Our program was recently launched, checking that goal off of our list!

Benefits of Stretching

  1. Flexibility
  2. Promotes Strong, Health Muscles
  3. Improves Joint Range of Motion
  4. Improves Performance in Physical Activities

Most of the benefits of stretching come from developing better flexibility. Being flexible and having long and lean muscles can result in prevention of injury and can reduce pain. Athletes do it all the time, they focus on muscle groups specific to the sport to stretch and strengthen the ones that are actively used. Our workers do just as much as most athletes, they bend, lift, climb carry and so much more. Why shouldn’t they have the same routine of stretching? The answer is that they should! Stretching before doing physical work can only help.

CEI’s Daily Stretching Routine

As a new add-on to our safety program, all field and service crews are required to perform a daily stretching routine every morning before getting on the job. This is to length and strength there muscles before getting to the physically demanding part of their day. Most of the crews enjoy it and believe they feel better after doing it. Each morning on the job, the foreman host a huddle with the crew. In this huddle, they talk about the day’s event and go through there checklist together. Before this program, they would head onto the roof after that was complete. Now that this has been put in place the foreman leads the stretching session with the entire crew. Every day he goes through the same stretching checklist and signs-off that the crew participated in the Stretch and Flex program. Since this has gone into place, office staff have also taken to doing the stretches. They believe that it helps them stay loose and not get sore from sitting or working on a computer all day. It also allows them to break up there day and add some movement.

CEI’s Stretch and Flex Program-

  1. Neck stretch
  2. Quad Stretch
  3. Calf Stretch
  4. Inner Thigh/Groin Stretch
  5. Chest Pull
  6. Forearm and Wrist Stretch
  7. Shoulder Stretch
  8. Lower Back Stretch

Source: https://www.health.harvard.edu/staying-healthy/the-importance-of-stretching

CEI Sponsorship: Hudson Mills Old Power Club

For 3 years, CEI has helped sponsor the Hudson Mills Old Power Club in their annual tractor pull. With the sponsorship, the company gets entry into the pull. Nick Bosworth- a CEI foreman and member of the HMOPC participated in the pull this year. Last year, CEI’s employee Ron Skrzypek competed and won the pull in CEI’s name. Coming back as defending champions from 2017 pull, CEI came in and won the pull for the 2nd year in a row.

An exciting and fun sponsorship for CEI! They received a plack to hang in the office next to last years.

#NATIONALROOFINGWEEK- Employee Training

Happy National Roofing Week to everyone! Yesterday we kicked off with a wonderful employee appreciation day! All of the  CEI team had got pizza or breakfast delivered to them as a token of our appreciation. It was a great start to an exciting week.

Every day this week has a theme or focus to be talked about. Today’s (Tuesday) focus is on Employee Training!

A key part of being a quality roofing professional is ensuring that all members of your team are properly trained. CEI focuses its training efforts in two major areas; safety training and job skills training.

Safety Training

CEI started a bigger push on safety about 7 years ago.

“We had a couple of tough safety years before that and there was also a big push from our Consumers to step up safety. It had always been something we did, but we started to make it something we live everyday.” -Kristine Cook Lindsey, Vice President

CEI always met safety regulations but after those couple of years, they decided it was going to be one of their main goals to excel in safety. They posted a large board that read “Days since an accident”. The goal was to publish what was happening in regards to safety and make everyone responsible for safety on the job.

Joe Fulton- CEI Safety Director

In 2011, they added a full-time Safety Director to there team. He was tasked with keeping up with regulations and revamping the training program.

Jacob Rosiek- CEI Safety Manager

CEI safety standards started to grow and in 2016 they added another full-time position to the Safety Department, a Safety Manager.

 

 

 

In 2017, CEI was awarded the NERI safety excellence award for there efforts. Today, CEI’s safety training looks like this.

  • Monthly Foreman Safety Committee Meetings- To review how the company is doing and identify where and how to improve. Critical feedback from the field participation is key in these meetings.
  • Six Company Wide Safety Meetings- Every other month there is a different focus presented by our Safety Director or we bring in guest speakers to keep safety in the minds of the Foremen.
  • Weekly Toolbox Talks- These also focus on important safety issues but are run by the Foremen to stimulate discussion on safety and provide training opportunities for our crews.
  • Daily Hazard Identification Checklists
  • All Foremen are required to be 30hr OSHA Certified 
  • All other workers are encouraged to be at least 10hr OSHA Certified 
  • CEI’s insurance group also has its own Safety Requirements that CEI is annually audited on.

Job Skills Training

The other focus area for training is skills training. CEI as a union contractor is supportive of apprenticeship programs that serve to develop skilled professional Roofing and Architectural Sheet Metal Journeymen. Some of the ways that CEI supports skills development are-

  • Manufacturer Training-  CEI is certified in almost every type of roofing system. CEI sees this as a way to open doors for new and interesting projects. We want to know how to do it all so we can take on any project start to finish.
  • Local 70 Union Block Training- CEI helps support their local union by participating in block training programs. They often help with the Crane and Lift classes.
  • Employ apprentices- To provide critical field training experience

Photo of the Month: May

CEI has asked their staff to send in picture and videos of the job sites and happenings around the company. These help us build content for social media and our website. Each month we will be sharing the best or most interesting photo that was sent in by one of our employees. This is also an edition of our company newsletter that goes out internally to all of our employees.

May is the first month that we are starting to add the photo of the month contest. You will be able to view all the monthly photos in our gallery on the Roofer Madness Blog.

May Photo of the Month-

This months photo was sent in by Kristine Lindsey who is our Vice President. She often attends the monthly safety meeting to connect with the foreman and crews on extra safety training. She snapped this (and many more) photos from May’s safety meeting. CEI was visited by Guardian Fall Protection who showed off some different safety equipment and gave a couple short demonstrations.

2018 Michigan Historical Preservation Award

A CEI sheet metal project was honored with the 2018 Michigan Historical Preservation Award. CEI along with the rest of the teams on the restoration project were all presented with the award at the end of March. The specific award given to the project was the Preservation Gem Award.  This award is given to completed projects within the last three years that focused on restoring one element of a building. This meaning the entire building is not being restored at the same time. CEI was a project participant on the restoration of the copper lanterns at University of Michigan’s West Hall. CEI worked hard to recreate the Lanterns at their in-house sheet metal shop and then installed them on-site.

MHPN featured the honorees on their facebook page last week.

They wrote,

“Today’s featured award is the West Hall Lantern Restoration, winner of a 2018 Preservation Gem Award. The lanterns marking the Denison Archway on the Albert Kahn-designed West Hall are one of the most prominent landmarks on the University of Michigan campus, ushering students onto the historic Diag since 1904. The copper-clad lanterns had suffered from weathering over the years, making restoration a priority for the University. The original copper cladding was carefully removed, restored, and re-installed over reconstructed and structurally strengthened framing, ensuring the longevity of these iconic lanterns. The restoration of the West Hall Lanterns is a fitting example of a building owner making the investment in a building to preserve its aesthetic and historic character for future generations.

Project team:

Owner: University of Michigan
Engineer: Simpson Gumpertz & Heger, Inc.
General Contractor: Krull Construction
Sheet Metal Fabricator and Installer: CEI Group Michigan”

Leaks Playing Tricks?

Here at CEI we have years of service and have fixed hundreds (if not, thousands) of leaks all year round. We understand that when customers see water starting to drip from there ceilings they always assume it is the roof.

Well, we are here to tell you that it is not ALWAYS the roof!

Many times it is the roof, there are punctures or ware in the roof and the leak is the result. Yet, sometimes (and more commonly than you think) leaks from above your head might have nothing to do with your roof.

Other factors that could contribute to a leak could be

– Plumbing

– Duct Work

– HVAC

and these are only a few.

Regardless, of where the leak is coming from it is always important to get it checked out by a professional. Roofers will be able to identify if the roof is the source of the problem and point you in the right direction if it is not. Scheduling regular maintenance for your roof with prevent leaks in the future. CEI recommends getting your roof inspected every 6 months (Spring and Fall). This can help lengthen the life of your roof and prevent expensive damage.

Tax Cuts on Re-Roofing Projects!

The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act approved by Congress in December 2017 expands the definition of qualified real property eligible for full expensing under Section 179 of the tax code to include improvements to nonresidential roofs. Following is more information about Section 179 and the provision to add nonresidential roofs as qualifying property as of Jan. 1, 2018. This information will help you determine if your company is eligible for this preferential tax treatment of improvements to your nonresidential roof.
Section 179
Section 179 allows taxpayers to immediately expense the cost of qualifying property rather than recovering such costs over multiple years through depreciation. The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act significantly expands the expensing limits under Section 179, with the maximum amount a business may expense now set at $1 million and the phase-out threshold increasing to $2.5 million. These new limits are effective for qualifying property placed in service in taxable years beginning after Dec. 31, 2017, and the amounts will be indexed for inflation starting in 2019.
Addition of Roofs as Qualifying Property
The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act expands the definition of qualified real property eligible for Section 179. As of Jan. 1, 2018, qualifying a property for Section 179 includes “improvements to nonresidential real property placed in service after the date such property was first placed in service: roofs; heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning property; fire protection and alarm systems; and security systems.”
Given these changes to Section 179 by the new tax law, qualifying taxpayers may now elect to fully expense the cost of any improvements to nonresidential roofs beginning in 2018 and in future years. Essentially, any improvements to nonresidential roofs, including full reroofs of existing buildings, may now be expensed in the year of purchase by any taxpayer eligible to deduct expenses under Section 179.
Please contact us (or contact your tax professional) if you have questions regarding how your company can take advantage of this more favorable tax treatment for improvements to nonresidential roofs in 2018.

Project Spotlight: Saline Recreation Center

CEI completed a re-roof and wall panel project this past year at Saline Recreation Center. The project consisted of a flat roof job with EPDM and metal wall panels. The wall panels are definitely the highlight of the job as the cover about half of the building. The panels were made of a blue insulated metal and were crafted in-house at CEI’s sheet metal shop.

The Saline Rec Center is a host to amazing facilities for the people in the area. CEI was happy to provide a quality roof and wall panels to help keep the facility up to standard.

The Insight: Safety Segment

In the last couple weeks, CEI had their monthly safety meeting. Safety concerns for roofing can come both on and off the roof.  With 12 service trucks on the road, it is always important that we stress safety when driving.
The crew members reviewed some of the basics in safe driving techniques, being in control of the vehicle, being aware of the drivers around you, distracted driving and being courteous on the road. That way they are prepared for anything on the road.
Having our crews be safe drivers protects…
·        Our crews and workers
·        Company vehicles or materials
·        Most importantly, other people on the road.
As we prepare for the busy roofing season, we understand the importance of safety throughout the entire work day and pride ourselves on limiting job site accidents. In 2018 we are striving to achieve even higher safety standards.

The Insight: New Website?

Everyone knows the importance of having a website for any business. Big or small, business around the world have turned to the internet to promote themselves to a larger audience than ever before. To some, it almost seems that if you do not have a website your business does not exist. The technology world is moving and it is moving fast. Having no website means missing opportunities to reach a whole different customer base. Yet, there is another unspoken rule of businesses on the web; It involves the quality of your website.

According to an online Forbes article,

“This said, if you have a bad website it is better to have no website. While no website equals missed opportunities, a bad website can actually be worse since it literally makes your business look bad.”

Over the years, the world wide web has advanced and sometimes faster than businesses that are not technology centered can keep up. It is a whole full-time job just to keep up with internet marketing.

Trying to keep up with the ever-changing web, CEI is launching a new website design! The complete redesign and update will allow for all current and new CEI customers to be able to navigate and see our work or services with ease. CEI would love for you to check out this brand new addition to there online marketing re-vamp at

ceigroupllc.com

As well as, follow CEI on Facebook, Twitter, or  YouTube

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