Time to Check Your Smoke Alarms
Leave a CommentAccording to the National Fire Protection Association, more than 66 percent of home fire deaths that occurred between 2003-2006 were in homes without a working smoke alarm. A working smoke alarm significantly increases your chances of surviving a deadly home fire.
A properly installed and maintained smoke alarm is the only thing in your home that can alert you and your family to a fire 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Whether you’re awake or asleep, a working smoke alarm is constantly on alert, scanning the air for fire and smoke. Smoke alarms must be maintained! A smoke alarm with a dead or missing battery is the same as having no smoke alarm at all, so test your smoke alarm monthly by pushing the “test” button, if it has one.
Smoke alarms are powered by either a battery or are hardwired into your home’s electrical system. Hardwired smoke alarms are usually equipped with a backup battery. If your smoke alarm is powered by battery, the battery needs to be replaced annually unless it is a long-life battery (check the owner’s manual). All batteries should be maintained and replaced in accordance with manufacturer’s guidance.
Choose an annual date, such as the time change, when you will remember to maintain your smoke alarm in tip top condition. Check the manufacturer’s expiration date on the label, replace the batteries if needed, and clean dust away from the slots so that smoke can enter freely. All smoke alarms, hard-wired and battery powered, should be replaced every ten years. These simple steps will help ensure that you and your family will have the best chance of surviving if fire should strike.
Guest Post?
We are looking for guest bloggers! Send your post to maren.guse@noaamembers.com to see your article here!
Listen: Storm Water Fee for Landowners
The March 23 edition of Sound of Ideas on WCPN featured a discussion of the Sewer District’s stormwater management program plan, why it matters, and what it could mean to residents and ratepayers. Featured guests included our Manager of Watershed Programs Kyle Dreyfuss-Wells, local attorney (NOAA Member) Sheldon Burns, and Director of the GreenCityBlueLake Institute David Beach. (Source)
Listen to the broadcast.
Undercover Boss: Roto-Rooter
Easter Sunday, April 4th at 9:00 p.m EST on CBS
Watch the episode anytime after the broadcast on CBC.com
As most of you now know, CBS Television issued a news release on Friday naming Roto-Rooter as one of the companies taking part it its new series, Undercover Boss. This means it is now OK to talk openly and publicly about Roto-Rooter’s involvement in the show. Unfortunately, the network still has not given us an air date for our episode. But as soon as we have a date, we will distribute printed materials to each branch so that our service technicians will be able to hand out something to our customers, promoting our involvement in the show and encouraging them to watch it.
Additionally, we will provide information, video and local Roto-Rooter contact information to CBS affiliates throughout the country, with special emphasis on New Orleans, Chicago, Des Moines and Cincinnati where our episode was taped. We want to give CBS stations every opportunity to localize the story and promote the show and Roto-Rooter on their local newscasts.
We will also be pitching stories to radio, newspaper and web reporters / bloggers who cover TV entertainment. CBS is going to help us with a radio media tour on all CBS radio stations. This means we will be offering up Rick Arquilla and some of the featured employees for interviews wherever possible so that we can take full advantage of this special opportunity to promote Roto-Rooter. This effort will build gradually as we approach our episode’s actual broadcast. We want most of the promotions to occur during the week leading up to the broadcast in order to build the audience.
Additionally, we will be adding Undercover Boss banners and new UCB content to the Roto-Rooter web site, our Facebook page and our Twitter page. Meanwhile, click on the link below to read a topical story in the on-line version of today’s Cincinnati Enquirer. This article also appears in print in today’s newspaper:
‘Boss’ lets secret out: Roto-Rooter undercover
By John Kiesewetter: Cincinnati.com
Roto-Rooter employees summoned to a 75th anniversary celebration last month at Duke Energy Convention Center received quite a surprise.
As TV cameras rolled, President Rick L. Arquilla told 225 people that he just finished shooting “Undercover Boss” for CBS – and then asked everyone to keep the secret.
“We’ve been dying to talk about it,” says Paul Abrams, public relations manager for the Roto-Rooter Services Co., a wholly owned subsidiary of Downtown-based Chemed Corp.
CBS announced the news Friday. It’s the second “Undercover Boss” episode shot here for the nine-week series. No broadcast date has been set.
Arquilla, who turned 57 Sunday, spent 10 days last month filming scenes at Chemed headquarters on East Fifth Street, at his Symmes Township home, and with Roto-Rooter crews in New Orleans, Des Moines and Chicago.
He did not work with any plumbers here on the show, which follows a company executive doing tasks side-by-side with employees.
“He was doing anything any Roto-Rooter technician would do. He fixed clogged toilets and crawled around in places where you wouldn’t want to venture,” says Rodger Roeser, owner of Eisen Marketing Group in Newport, which works with Roto-Rooter.
Arquilla, who started with the company in 1989, also used a high-pressure water jet to blast grease from sewer pipes.
“He did a lot of the dirtiest jobs in Roto-Rooter, but we don’t know which ones will be in the show,” Abrams says.
Shooting started Feb. 7, the day “Undercover Boss” premiered to record ratings after the Super Bowl on CBS.
Employees were told that the company was filming a documentary for the 75th anniversary of Roto-Rooter, the largest plumbing provider in North America, founded in 1935.
Arquilla’s Roto-Rooter Group oversees 116 locations with about 3,000 employees. He was identified as Hank Denman, a new employee.
“The explanation was that we were showing the company through the eyes of employees, including the eyes of this new guy,” Abrams says.
The Greater Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky Film Commission, which has marketed the area to Hollywood-based reality TV producers, helped the company secure permits and book hotel rooms, says director Kristen Erwin.
The film commission also helped “Undercover Boss” shoot Dave Rife, a Columbus-based White Castle executive, in Covington and Hamilton restaurants, and the Covington frozen food plant, for the Feb. 28 episode.
Sunday’s “Undercover Boss” also was shot in the region, with Churchill Downs COO Bill Carstanjen doing various jobs at the Louisville racetrack.
In addition to Roto-Rooter, CBS announced that the remaining new episodes star executives from 1-800-Flowers, Georgia-based Herschend Family Entertainment and GSI Commerce. Herschend owns Newport Aquarium, Dollywood, Branson’s Silver Dollar City and two dozen other family theme parks and attractions. No scenes for that show were shot at Newport Aquarium, a spokesman says.
Air Duct Cleaning Will Change the Way You Breathe
By Ed Duke, Carrara Companies
(Carrara Companies are holding free maintenance seminars throughout the year at a variety of locations in northeast Ohio and covering a variety of topics. Courses are taught by NOAA Members!)
As we spend more time indoors during this time of the year, breathing clean air is even more critical, especially for those with respiratory disorders. Many people spend countless hours cleaning their homes, vacuuming, dusting etc. only to ignore their central air system and have their contaminated air blowing throughout their home.
As you prepare to make the investment in having your central air system and duct system cleaned, there are many questions you should ask.
Can having our system cleaned REALLY improve our indoor air quality?
Bacteria, fungi, mold and small particles of dust collect in your HVAC (Heating, ventilation and air conditioning system) and have potential to cause health problems. You can improve your indoor air quality (IAQ) by removing these contaminants.
How often should I have my air ducts cleaned?
There is not a right or wrong answer, the homeowner needs to make their own decision taking into consideration the following factors:
- Recent renovations or remodeling in the home
- Pets in the home
- Water or smoke in the HVAC system
- Anyone with respiratory challenges who would benefit from improved air quality
- Smokers in the home
- Visible mold growth in the duct work
- Ducts clogged with dust or debris
EPA-Certified Lead Based Paint Training
Recommended Training: The Dell Group’s Lead Experts
Visit NOAA’s LEAD LAWS page on our website for information on this new law!
Key Awards 2010
The Key Awards are a celebration of excellence within the apartment industry in northern Ohio. The awards recognize property owners and managers of communities that achieve the highest standards of property management professionalism.
Winners of the Key Awards demonstrate to their communities, residents and peers that their property has the physical qualities, marketing creativity and management caliber necessary to be called one of Ohio’s best!
Join in the excitement and enter your property in the seventh annual Key Awards program. Show your customers – and competition – that your property has what it takes to be an outstanding example of apartment living in northern Ohio.
In continuing with last year’s successful changes, there will be 33 awards: 15 Platinum Key Awards for the best of each category, 15 Gold Key Awards for the runners-up, and 3 speialty awards including Property of the Year, Manager of the Year and Customer Service Hero. Silver Key Awards will be given to properties scoring over 80 percent but they will not be presented on stage.
This year’s awards will be aired on Time Warner Cable and Cox Communications. We want the entire northern Ohio region to see how hard our members work for their residents!
Download your entry form on NOAA’s website.
Directory Update Info
Everything for the 2010-2011 Directory is Due: August 31st
Information about pop-out ads have not yet been sent out yet so please do not fret! You will be receiving info about updates and chances to upgrade your listing in the near future. Please direct any questions to Maren.Guse@noaamembers.com.
President’s Circle Ads:
- Format: PDF
- Size: 8.5 x 11
- Bleed: permitted – just specify bleed or no bleed
Updates for Associates
Website:
If you would like to advertise on NOAA’s website in March, now is your chance! Please see the attached document for information on rates and sizes. You can visit the http://www.noaamembers.com to see FirstAdvantage SafeRent’s ad as an example! As many of you are aware, I have been working to increase the quality of the website and this has substantially increased the amount of visitors to the site. If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to call or email me at maren.guse@noaamembers.com.
Suites:
You should all be receiving Suites in the mail this week! If you have an interest in advertising in the next issue or contributing an article, please let me know at your earliest convenience. If you currently advertise in Suites and would like to update your ad, please send it over by March 15th.
Blog:
Thank you to everyone who has contributed to the blog so far, we have been receiving excellent feedback and a significant number of views each day! If anyone would like to contribute to the blog, simply email me your article and I will get post it right away!
*Buyer’s Guide 2010*
For those of you who were members of NOAA in 2005, you may remember NOAA’s Buyer’s Guide which includes articles, advertising and a directory listing of associate members. For those of you new to NOAA, think of the buyer’s guide as a combination Suites/Directory where you can write an article about your services, advertise and be included in the directory. We have recently decided to create a buyers guide for 2010 and you will be receiving more information via email in the near future.
Contact me at: Maren.Guse@noaamembers.com or 216-241-1635.
Blood Borne Pathogens
Dealing With Accidents and Death in Your Community
By: Lee Surgener, President, Ohio Biohazardous Recovery
Did you know?
- Blood borne Pathogens are blood, all body fluids and fecal matter.
- All of these pathogens can be very life threatening if not handled properly.
- You can be at risk of being infected by Hepatitis B virus (HBV), Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV), E coli, TB, and other diseases.
- Ohio Bio is highly trained in the cleanup and removal of infectious/biohazardous wastes
- If a contaminated scene is NOT properly cleaned up by a professional company, there is still a risk of blood borne pathogens being present after the public has tried to clean it up themselves.
OSHA’s Federal Regulation 29CFR1910.1030 states that no employer can expose an employee to cleaning blood without first providing:
- Blood borne pathogen training
- A written exposure control plan
- Personal protective equipment
- The opportunity to receive the Hepatitis B vaccine, exposure evaluation and follow up
- A method to remove and properly store and dispose of the bio-hazardous waste
Non-compliance with 29CFR1910.1030 has resulted in OSHA fines ranging from $7,000 to $70,000.
