Site Safety: Heading back into the field.

A former safety student of mine, came looking for me.  He offered me a position with the company that he is currently working for.  Honestly, I was not really interested.  I just started working with my safety training company's clientele.  Since I left the previous company in September, of last year.  I was in no rush to get back into the field.  I was having fun conducting safety trainings and even scheduling new trainings with new clients.  

I was even working with another company that was replying to federal RFP's.  I was writing most of the Safety Narratives for those bid proposals.  One of the bids was supposed to have been awarded back in October 2014.  But due to the amount of costs we put into it.  The government did not realize that it would actually cost that much.  So they held off. 

Another bid was supposed to awarded early January 2015, did not happen.  It was cancelled in December of last year prior to me going on vacation.  Last month, the government released it again with a due date mid February, this month.  The award would probably be late February or March/April time frame.  

I was patiently waiting on those two bids to get awarded.  However, my financial state was beginning to weaken.  Although, my family could survive on my training income.  I knew it wouldn't be enough.  But even with that going on in my life.  I was not interested in the job opportunity that was offered to me last week Friday.  Out of respect for my former student, I agreed to listen to his offer.  

We spent over an hour and a half, listening and talking about both our expectations in regards to safety.  I was surprised to find common ground on what was discussed.  The more the general manager and superintendent talked.  Listening to what they were saying and understanding their needs, and analyzing their demeanor.  I gleaned from the information bombarding me, that they wanted to take their safety program up to the next level.  The general manager wanted his team to know the science of safety, how to find the references, and the reasons based on the standards, whichever is the most stringent...on why his leaders have to work safely.  I thought to myself, isn't that what I'm teaching at the college and safety trainings with my clients, the science of safety.  

I thought there were other safeties coming in to be interviewed.  I did not realize that I would be offered the safety position at that moment.  When the general manager hit my preset triggers...I could not resist any longer, but accept the position.  

However, this job opportunity is contingent of my approval with NAVFAC for a certain project on AAFB.  I'm going to have to call my NAVFAC network tomorrow.  Although, I'm officially, but unofficially, on board with the company and start next Monday.  I called some of my safety mentors and discussed the situation with them. 

I played out my options...Wait for those bids to get awarded or head back into the field on Monday.  One safety manager mentor explained that although I am a great safety trainer and Site Safety & Health Officer, and also have a lot of years and work experience in Construction.  I need more time in the field as a safety.  He explained that I shouldn't just meet the minimum requirements to get a "job".  But to solidify my time with experience so that no one questions my skills, knowledge, and credentials.  Don't chase the money.  Do your time, gain experience, and apply your skills and knowledge in the field as a Safety Officer.  Your reputation as a good SSHO will precede you, and the money will chase you. 

With that...I will be back in the field...next Monday.  I start at the Dusit Hotel and then down to Hagat Marina.  


ESTA.


KEEP SMILING 

Fighting Jet Lag.

I've been back on island more than 2 weeks from my vacation with my family in the Philippines.  Yet, I'm still fighting jet lag.  Well, since I am still awake.  I might as well post a blog about something.  It's been a long time since I last posted a blog anyway. 

Well, I'm praying that the company I am working with gets awarded these two DOD bid proposals we submitted months ago.  We're working on submitting more bids though.  Ever since I got involved in helping to write up the bid proposals, especially the Safety program.  I now understand how the numbers work.  So that is part of what is keeping me busy. 

I'm slowly cleaning up the house.  I've made plans to start renovating the house, room by room.  Each room, one at a time, until I'm done.  So the main bedroom will be the first, followed by the other corner room, the living room next, then kitchen, after that will be the middle room, and finally the bathroom last. 

The other project is outside, around the house.  I'll post those updates on the ranch blog.  Lots of cleaning to be done too.  One day at a time. 

I was asked what have I been up to.  I've been busy.  I'm not sitting around twiddling my thumbs.  I'm doing something.  If it's not working on bid proposals, doing research, or teaching safety classes, I'll be in my ranch working on chores or projects. 

On the Safety side.  Well, I'm teaching for GCA Trades Academy at a local high school for the Core Curriculum.  I started the week I returned from the Philippines.  Talk about fast.  The high school students interaction is good.  I learned that one of the assistant principals is my niece.  I haven't seen her since I left for the army in 1987.  Her dad, my cousin, was one of the journeymen I worked with while I was an apprentice. 

I started my college classes in Industrial Safety this week, as well.  I have two classes at the college both start at 1800 hrs for an hour and a half, mostly apprentices in both classes.  My Monday/Wednesday class is at my old classroom that I've been assigned for a couple of semesters. When I went to Student Services to confirm my classroom for my Tuesday/Thursday class.  I was given a classroom in the newly built, Building E.  I got to the room early to familiarize myself with the setup and to know where it was actually located.  It was amazing to see a new classroom.  Talk about excitement, and moving up from the older classrooms. 

Unfortunately, that excitement didn't last long.  To many students were coming into the classroom if that was for Drafting.  I informed them that it was for Industrial Safety.  After a handful of students came and asked...I finally called Student Services to confirm that I was in the right room.  They affirmed that I was.  Still more students were coming in asking if I was the Drafting Instructor.  I decided to call the department chairman to find out what was going on.  After a quick phone call, there appeared to  be a mix up with the classroom assignments.  It was decided the best action was to go back to my old classroom up the hill.  So we did.  At least both my classes are in the same classroom. 

I was informed that I'm the Lead Safety Instructor now.  I'll be working with the Department Chairman to develop a Safety Certification Program for the college.


ESTA

Keep Smiling 

Neni Girl's Request.

A week ago, Rhoda informed me that our Neni Girl, Larraine, wants to ask me a question.  If I will allow her to have straight hair.  I knew since she was 5 years old.  Larraine wanted to have straight her like her mommy and her Tita Rizza.  I, on the other hand, enjoy seeking my Neni with her curly black hair.  She is beautiful with her curly hair.  

I remember a moment several years back that Rhoda told me when Larraine was still 5 or 6 years old.  One day after taking a shower, Larraine had combed her hair out making her curly hair straight.  She asked her mommy if she can take her picture to show me, that she has straight hair.  Taking the picture had taken longer than necessary, in the mean time, Larraine's hair had dried and became curly again.  She was upset.  I laughed when Rhoda told me the story. 

So this evening, I asked my Neni Girl, what question did she want to ask me.  She told me wait, went out the room, then came back in.  She asked, "Daddy, may I have straight hair?"  We discussed it for about a minute.  I knew since ever since, she's always wanted straight hair.  I had already made my decision last week after Rhoda told me about it.  I just waited for the time when we're alone. 

So after the torturous seconds of having Larraine patiently wait.  I said, "Yes". 

Not yet time

Veteran's Day came and went yesterday.  It was good to see a lot of Vets posting their military service pictures on facebook.  Better yet was the support they were getting from their family and friends.  That was awesome.  It felt really good to see that.  

The day before, I had made plans of Veteran's Day.  Where I was going to eat breakfast.  Going to a funeral.  Attend the Veteran's Day Ceremony at Adelupe.  Going to Applebee's for lunch.  Watch a movie.  Dinner at Capricciosa.  It was to be an eventful day.  It has been years since I've been to the Veteran's Day Ceremony. 

Veteran's Day, I got up early.  Checked my email and messages.  Checked and fed the animals.  Got my haircut. Then got ready to head out.  It wasn't until I saw that familiar chocolate chip desert BDU in my closet.  Out of curiosity, I pulled it out to look at it again.  Looking at the familiar hand sewn Sergeant rank insignia on the collar.  No unit insignia.  This was the uniform that I had worn on the flight to Saudi Arabia.  We didn't know what we were getting into or where we were actually going.  So our uniforms were sterile except for rank, that we hand sewn on the flight from Ft. Bragg to Germany. Inspecting the uniform slowly, first the shirt, then the trousers. seeing T4983 on the inside.  It's amazing how a set of clothing brings back so much memories from the sandbox.  

Unfortunately, after reliving the memories, I just stayed home. 

I'm okay...just needed time.  


ESTA

Keep Smiling

Matua Consultants...Moving Forward.

It's been awhile since I've blogged on this site.  Normally, I'm blogging at the Matua Ranch Blog Page.  I'm trying to keep each site unique to it's topic.  Sometimes it is not easy.  Since ranching is my passion when I'm not doing Safety.  I'm usually posting blogs about the ranch and our animals there.  But now that I've started focusing more on Matua Consultants, my safety company.  I'll be posting those adventures here, on the Matua Warrior Post.  

I'm currently working on getting Matua Consultants incorporated.  It's been a dream of mine for a long time.  And soon, that dream will come to pass.  I've been working on the Articles and By laws at the moment.  Once I'm done with that.  I'll get my company incorporated.  

It surprises me when I run into a colleague or a former student every now and then.  Who were trying to get a hold of me at the company who I used to work for.  I am no longer with P&S Construction due to professional differences.  I'll leave it at that.  I have left and moved on.  

Since leaving P&S Construction, I have been focusing majority of my energy with Matua Consultants and our clientele.  I've been picking up new clients who were my former subcontractors on the various projects with the military.  Now they're asking me to provide consultations to them and training for their employees. 

The other day, I ran into a former subcontractor employee, at a store.  He's no longer with the subcontractor who worked on one of my former projects.  He's now with another company, whose owner I know.  He asked me to meet with them regarding Safety Consultations and training.  I asked him, why me.  I was pretty hard on this guy because his Activity Hazard Analysis (AHA) for their job task was all jacked up.  I wasn't going to let them work until they fixed it.  His boss confessed to what they did and apologized for it.  I then helped them with their AHA, that day, to help them start work the next day.  And, people say, I'm the meanest safety on Andersen Air Force Base. 

I guess this guy was trying to find me for awhile since he joined his new company.  I'll call him up after Veteran's Day to make an appointment to talk with him and his new boss regarding Safety Consultations and Training.  We'll see where this leads me.  

I've also been asked to provide consultations to a much bigger company.  I'm still thinking about it.  This company's new safety manager really wants me to help him.  He just got promoted to that position and needs all the advice to help him make his job easier to do.  I'll call him up too, after Veteran's Day.  I'll ask for a meeting with him and his boss.  

Writing up safety technical papers for a bid is really challenging.  But I enjoy it.  The process brings me to another higher level of my safety career.  I'm no longer just a Site Safety & Health Officer or Safety Trainer.  I'm now writing safety policy for bid proposals to be submitted.  Each one is different and has me thinking outside the box on what the intent of the federal government wants from us, the contractor.  What's great.  I'm working with an aggressive team that is focused on their tasks.  

I've never been on the ground floor of a bid proposal.  Normally, I come in after the contractor gets the award.  Now, I'm working with an experienced proposal team, writing the safety technical write up, and helping with the numbers for the bid proposal.  It is exciting.  

I know what it feels like not winning the bid.  One of the bids we were working on and had submitted, all 3 bids--that includes us, was turned down.  This wasn't thousands or hundreds of thousand dollar bids.  This was millions of dollars bid.  So now it's get back up and moving on, keep looking for new proposals and bring it to the attention of the team to see if we can do it.  If we can, we hit it again.  The cycle starts over. 

Working with this team the last two months has me thinking about my own company, Matua Consultants.  I've learned so much from the leadership and seeing the Vision and the Opportunities that are out there.  From what I've learned and absorbed, the best thing for my company is to incorporate and start submitting bid proposals on what I know we can do.  Partnering up...helps.  

I'm going for it!  


ESTA!


Keep Smiling.  

SAFETY IS 24/7!!!

Got a call from one of my Contractor Clients this morning.  Apparently, they have a crew working this morning at a job site.  NAVFAC Safety drove right by their job site and noticed that the crew was not wearing PPE.  He pulled over, took some pictures, and talked with the supervisor. 

The call came in a few minutes ago from the corporate safety, asking me to intercept since I know the NAVFAC Safety Inspector.  Before I committed to that request.  I asked several questions:

Is that job authorized for today, It's Sunday today?

Yes, I am sure it is, but I will confirm authorization for today.  

Why was the crew not in PPE? 

The supervisor thought they didn't have to be in PPE because it's Sunday.  

What job is this? 

Fencing project. 

Where is the job site?

Central

How many involved?

3 or 4 workers including supervisor.  I'll confirm number. 


After hearing the story and asking several questions, I gave instructions on what shall be done before I even consider intercepting this issue.

1. I want the Supervisor written up.  
2. I want the crew to go through a Safety Stand Down regarding PPE and the Standard, EM 385-1-1, Section 5 Personal Protection Equipment. 
3. I need pictures of the unserviceable PPE that was confiscated from the workers and the new PPE issued to those workers. 
4. I need all documentation emailed to me no later than 0700 hours tomorrow morning. 

I accepted the request.  NO Promises, NO Guarantees that they get off.

I hope the contractor client knows that I'm going to send them a huge invoice for this issue.

Unknown Gas Odor causes Job Site Evacuation.

We had an experience this morning at the job site.  

This morning at approximately 0700 hours, there was a peculiar smell in the air.  Somebody had probably overfilled their fuel tank with diesel and it's now causing this heavy concentration of odor blowing into our canopy area, so I thought.  

At first we assumed it was the front end loader since it was almost directly in front of us moving loads into the dump trucks.  The project super called the subcontractor's lead equipment operator/supervisor to have him check the front end loader.  A little bit later, the call came back that it wasn't the front end loader, but they did a check on all their heavy equipment on site.  None were leaking fluids.  

The subcon super came by the canopy and informed us that the smell is getting worse and coming from the other side of the building.  So I went out to check, while the project super, and primary safety checked the building.  As I walked over to 12th street, the odor was pretty strong and concentrated in that area.  I walked back to the group of leaders, and the decision was made to call, Control.  I informed the primary safety, that I felt dizzy and my throat felt constricted. 

As I walked back to 12th street, the building was being emptied out, the workers in there were complaining of the strong odor inside the building.  I crossed over the orange fence barrier and stopped a worker who was operating the jumping jack, and ordered him to evacuate to the gate.  There was a backhoe operator still working.  I signaled him to stop and evacuate.  Most everyone were trying to cover the nose and mouths due to the concentration of the unknown gas odor.  A lot of the workers were scrambling to get into vehicles to evacuate.  At the canopy, I ordered 3 stragglers to move out.  The project superintendent had already left to inform Control to what was going on.  The primary safety had a left to lead the workers out to the gate.  Being Rear End Charlie, I made sure that all the workers were gone from the job site, as I got into my truck and drove around the different gathering areas to insure that there was nobody left behind. 

My eyes were tearing and I was gagging.  Had to stop once to throw up on the road.  As I got on the hardtop from the gravel road.  I told myself, to hell with the speed limit and sped up to catch up with the convoy heading out.  I was already dry heaving inside the truck.  I turned my AC on high and closed the fresh air vent to recirculate the air.  Finally, at the gate...Federal Fire was there with a SUV, an Engine, and an Ambulance.  The project superintendent had to turn around to show FedFire where the job site was at.  I drove through the gate, and parked next to the other subcontractor vehicles.  As I exited the truck, I walked to the back to get some fresh air, and threw up the last of my breakfast.  I got a bottle of water from the backseat, and gargled a couple of times to get that taste out of my mouth.  

At the evacuation site,  we learned that I wasn't the only one that was affected by the unknown odor.  2 or maybe 3 workers from one subcontractor complained of dizziness and nausea.  Another subcontractor had 2 workers that complained of their throats tightening up or scratchy.  A total of 6 workers were affected by that unknown gas odor.  

About an hour later, the military officials declared the job site, clear.  They assessed that the odor came from the front end loader that was leaking hydraulic fluid.  The lead operator and I agreed that it wasn't the front end loader.  That the military's assessment was wrong.  Just to be safe, I ordered that the front end loader get checked out again.  

Back at the job site, I drove up and parked close to the front end loader.  The lead operator supervisor and operator assured me it wasn't the equipment.  The hydraulic line broke as they parked the equipment just before we called for the evacuation.  The Environmental Officer was still on site doing his assessment.  I had walked around to the other side of the building to watch a crew off load CMU blocks.  I could still smell that odor in the air.  I walked to the other crew that was operating the jumping jack.  As I got there, the backhoe operator informed me that the foreman from the other crew was trying to get my attention.  When I walked back to the crew off loading the CMU blocks.  I noticed that they were covering there nose and mouths again.  Then I smelled the unknown odor again.  Still strong, but not as concentrated as before the evacuation.  I signaled the project superintendent to come over, and discussed the issue with the other foreman.  We agreed that the odor was coming from C Avenue and blowing right into the job site since it was an open area.  

Again, the project super informed our military liaisons about the situation, the Environmental officer left the site to talk with those higher in the chain of command. 

I pray that this odor is not hazardous.  We were told that the odor possibly came from a LPG container burst.  I have this burning sensation around my eyelids and top of my lip.  Also, my lungs hurt.  I'm still here...so I must be okay.  I'll head in to see my doctor tomorrow. 


ESTA