Presented by CEI Group
Every month we host a photo of the month. All of the photos are taken and sent in by our staff. This month we focused on the efforts of our safety department. Our photo of the month came from one of the monthly safety meetings that we have at CEI. We get together all of our field staff and some of our office staff to discuss various safety measures.
The weather is going to be getting extremely hot in the upcoming month. Being informed on how to properly work in the heat is more than important. The weather in the following weeks is looking to reach record high’s. Roofers are placed out in the sun high up with often times nothing to cool them off, no shade and a hot roof. This can make for an even hotter environment. Being informed about taking care of yourself and your crew in these conditions is important for making a safe and productive job site.
June’s photo of the month was sent in by Sheet Metal Foreman- Darrell Perez. The picture is from the Oakland University Student Housing Building in Rochester Hills.
The Fowlerville School District proposed a bond to go to vote in May of 2018. They are using the money to improve many of the schools building. They are a focusing on repairs for “Boilers, classrooms, instructional technology, and athletic fields”, according to a report from WHMI. Yet, the biggest project was replacing the shingle roof on Kreeger Elementary that was long due for repair.
CEI started the project in the middle of May. It is their first shingle roof project in over 10 years, making this an exciting project. The job included a full shingle tear off and replacement, as well as an addition of custom ridge vents fabricated by CEI’s sheet metal shop. Kreeger is a good change and gives the crews something different to work on. In the last 4 weeks, CEI has completed about half the reroof. They are still pushing forward as we begin to craft the ridge vents. The project is set to be done by August. 
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!
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.
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-
Source: https://www.health.harvard.edu/staying-healthy/the-importance-of-stretching
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.
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.
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.
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-
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.
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”
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.
© 2024 Roofer Madness
Theme by Anders Noren — Up ↑
