|
|
MAINTENANCE ALERTS, TRICKS AND TIPS
"POOLS & SPAS" 
The Federal Government has passed a new law requiring the replacement of existing main drain covers with an "UNBLOCKABLE COVER" The deadline for this is December. 19, 2008 Read all about the new law by clicking on these links. Guide to Complying If you have any questions the SCMBAA recommends contacting your local Pool and Spa Dealer with any questions or email info@cpsc.gov Also click HERE for the NAA's article on this subject. Posted 12.09.08 Send to: djiles1961@aol.com |
Six Ways to Buy a Kitchen Appliance
Click this link to read a great article on appliances. Six Ways to Buy a Kitchen Appliance SAFETY FIRST by: Paul Rhodes Three simple safety tips can help maintenance technicians avoid injury while on the job. The volume of information about safety that a maintenance technician must have is huge. Maintenance technicians have an extremely dangerous job, handling hazardous materials—such as chemicals, electricity or the goop left over in a resident's sink—or moving heavy or dangerous objects—such as a refrigerator from one third-floor apartment to another. And many times, they have to act quickly to complete all these tasks in time for a move-in. Learning maintenance safety often comes from the trial-by-error method. To avoid dangerous errors, follow these three safety suggestions. 1. COMMUNICATION COUNTS. With their varying daily tasks, maintenance technicians often are unaware of what is happening elsewhere in the community— and often, apartment staff is unaware what might be happening to them. On a regular basis, maintenance technicians handle duties that can cause injury, or worse, produce great harm or even death. To ensure their safety, main¬tenance technicians should have some idea of where others are if they need assistance, and other staff members should know where the technicians are in case they go missing. At one community, staff members are . encouraged to make an announcement - over the radio if they wanted others to be aware of a potentially dangerous situation. For example, maintenance technicians understood that if they were going to be conducting electrical work, they would announce that they were "code one in Apartment No. 402." By announcing this on the radio, the maintenance supervisor knew that a member of his staff would be in No. 402 performing potentially dangerous electrical work and that if the supervisor did not hear from that technician in the near future, it would be wise to check on him or her. This tactic worked for the leasing pro¬fessionals, as well. If a leasing professional found himself or herself conducting a tour and did not feel completely comfortable with the potential residents, the leasing professional would pick up the radio and announce, "There is a light bulb out in the model" or another destination of the tour. When the maintenance staff heard this phrase on the radio, a technician would respond to check it out—in other words, just to be around. If there truly was a light bulb out, it was understood that the request needed to be on a service form. |
2. SAFER ALTERNATIVES. At a seminar on swimming pool operations, a chemist discussed dangerous chemicals. She disclosed that the most dangerous chemical is not found in the pool pump room; instead it is under the residents' sinks and on the shelves in the community's maintenance shops: drain cleaner. Although drain cleaner is the only way to get a drain unclogged in some cases, maintenance technicians should start with an alternative that is less dangerous to them and to the environment. Often, a technician can free a disposal that is clogged with rice or potatoes with the proper use of a plunger. In such a case, put the plunger in the sink and carefully release the air trapped in the water from under the plunger's bell. Using a pulling motion, with one hand on the bell holding it to the sink, bring the handle toward you. This will dislodge the obstruction. Technicians also can use this procedure in the vanity sink and tub, as long as they block the overflow. A pipe snake or the sink stopper itself has unclogged numerous problems, as well. Avoiding drain cleaner is just one example of how a maintenance technician can complete a repair with a safer alternative. In such a case, put the plunger in the sink and carefully release the air trapped in the water from under the plunger's bell. Using a pulling motion, with one hand on the bell holding it to the sink, bring the handle toward you. This will dislodge the obstruction. Technicians also can use this procedure in the vanity sink and tub, as long as they block the overflow. A pipe snake or the sink stopper itself has unclogged numerous problems, as well. Avoiding drain cleaner is just one example of how a maintenance technician can complete a repair with a safer alternative. 3. PROTECTIVE LAYERS. For a maintenance technician, "insulation" can be anything that protects him or her from harmful elements. It takes the form of the glasses that they wear when cutting keys on the key machine, the rubber gloves they use when changing a resident's toilet seat and the dust masks they use when they blow the breezeways. It's the thick plastic that covers a pair of lineman's pliers—separating technicians from the live circuit—or the volt sensor pen that helps to determine whether they flipped the wrong breaker. Insulation is important because it separates technicians from dangerous conditions. Paul Rhodes has been an Apartment Maintenance Supervisor for several communities in the \ Atlanta area. Currently he is a Lead Customer Training Instructor for HD Supply. He is also an SMB for the CAMT'rewrite. October 2008 |