MIOSHA 29th Michigan Worker Death of 2017
Written by SpringfieldNovember 28, 2017 We are so saddened to see that MIOSHA has recently posted the 29th Michigan Worker Death of 2017. That death being a 25-year-old roofer from Ludington, MI. “While installing roofing materials on a steep pitched residential roof, the roofer fell approximately 15 feet to the lower level.” He was not wearing fall protection at the time of the fall and later succumbed to his injuries on November 21st.
As commercial roofing installers and fall protection advocates, we cannot stress enough the importance of fall protection when working on elevated areas. Even the most experienced employee can have a minor trip-up that leads to a fall.
We offer facility evaluations to highlight areas in which your facility needs to have fall protection, followed by a proposal of custom solutions that fit any facilities needs; big or small. Please call us with any questions you may have!
“BUTTS” on the Roof
Written by SpringfieldJuly 27, 2016 Recently a rooftop fire consumed a restaurant in Grand Rapids Michigan that was caused by a roofing contractor smoking while handling combustible materials.
When you hire Springfield, the only “BUTTS” you will see on your industrial facility rooftop are those of the hardworking men and women of northern Michigan who are hustling around and getting things done for you, our valued clients. We have a strict “no smoking” policy. The lack of cigarette “butts” on your rooftop will enable our Springfield crews to cover your “ASS-ets” in the best, safest method possible. The “butts” we bring to your rooftop are not flammable and will not damage your facility.
What Does Roofing and Terrorism Have in Common?
Written by SpringfieldJune 28, 2016 
Good question: What does roofing and terrorism have in common? We are not trying to worry you, but think about it: how could a terrorist organization contaminate and poison thousands of people? Answer: By getting hired on with the roofing crew thereby gaining access to industrial mixers, vats of cherry pie filling, etc.
Springfield has an extensive background check for all new hires. Further, our employees are hired from local communities of Fife Lake, Beulah, Cadillac, Manton, Kingsley, Traverse City, Elk Rapids. Springfield has a very low employee turnover rate and most of our employees have grown up here and have stayed after high school and college to raise their families in this beautiful northern Michigan region. You can be safe and assured that when Springfield arrives at your job site, you will encounter people from local communities who have undergone close scrutiny prior to being hired by Springfield.
Michigan Rooftop Safety: “These boots are made for walking”.
Written by SpringfieldJune 2, 2016 When your employees are strolling, ambling, trudging, and trekking “Out on the roof” of your building, please know that Springfield can help them stay safe (and help you stay in OSHA compliance) with Duro-Last Walk Pads. If you have employees who need to stride, hike, stomp, or sashay across your rooftop as part of their regular job duties you need our Walk Pads.
If you depend on HVAC subcontractors to dawdle, wander, prowl, and traipse across your roof to check on and repair air conditioner units or heating units you need our Walk pads. In fact, as a building owner, you have a legal responsibility to keep people on your rooftops safe from slips and falls. Good news!!! The Duro-Last walk pads, while relatively inexpensive and easy to install, reduce slip and fall accidents by 80%. Saunter on over to the “contact us” portion of our website and give us the opportunity to “walk” you through our roof top safety plan which includes the famous Duro-Last Walk Pads.
Roofing in Michigan: Performing Re-Roof Jobs in Windy Conditions
Written by SpringfieldMay 20, 2016 
We love performing re-roof projects in Cadillac, Michigan. The spring weather does bring some very strong WINDS to northern Michigan. Here are some items to consider for windy day roofing.
- Double and triple check all trucks and trailers to make sure the load is securely fastened to the vehicle.
- Tie off your ladder – – attach it to the Springfield Ladder Anchor to ensure the ladder doesn’t slip, slide, or kick out on your employees
- Only load the rooftop with materials that are absolutely essential for that day’s work – – keep those items secure on the rooftop
- Use caution when opening bunks of ISO – – whether on the ground or the rooftop, a single piece of ISO can quickly blow away.
- Is there an area of the rooftop that is sheltered from the wind? Perhaps the rooftop materials can be stored there?
It is important to consider the project when doing a windy day risk assessment. Most of all, weight down your skinny employees by putting some heavy rocks in their tool belts.
NORTHERN MICHIGAN INDUSTRIAL CONTRACTOR INTRODUCES SMARTANCHOR™
Written by SpringfieldApril 20, 2016 When a construction worker who is the head of the household is seriously injured or killed, there is a tremendous burden placed upon the entire community. On average 400 people die each year and 135,000 people are injured as a result from scaffolding and ladder-related injuries. Even if only 1% of those injured people become disabled that would equate to roughly 54 Million dollars of subsistence needed compounding each year to support the injured worker and their family. The portable ladder is the most dangerous construction tool – 34% of all deaths on construction sites were from falls!
Further, there is a prevalent mindset accepted by the general population that construction workers have accidents and get hurt.
We honor our tradesmen and created the Springfield Ladder Anchor to address fall related deaths and injuries, which in turn, reduces the strain on the social infrastructures in our communities and throughout the state.
The Springfield Ladder Anchor safely secures an extension ladder to the roof of a building in order to keep the ladder from slipping sideways along the roofline or slipping out from the wall at the ground level. The product was invented through collaboration between Springfield, Inc., our related commercial roofing enterprise and Great Lakes Stainless (GLS), one of the country’s top stainless steel manufacturers. The Springfield Ladder Anchor is the result of decades of experience in the field, safely and effectively climbing ladders to reach rooftops of every imaginable dimension and grade.
OSHA (Occupational Safety & Health Administration) has a mission to help employers and employees reduce job related injuries, illnesses and death. As such, they provide safety standards and guidelines for multiple industries. The Springfield Ladder Anchor fully complies with the safety requirements for properly securing an extension ladder set forth by OSHA.
Below is a brochure of the LadderAnchor™
Springfield Inc. Makes The Business News
Written by SpringfieldApril 12, 2016 Thank you Ross Boissoneau and TC Business News for capturing the essence of what we do!
View the article on the TCBN website as well: http://www.tcbusinessnews.com/roofing-company-keeps-on-top-of-safety-innovation/
Roofing Company Keeps On Top Of Safety, Innovation
Most roofing companies do fine work, but they just put on roofs. They don’t concentrate on insulation or have a safety division that works with clients to provide them with dependable and reliable access to roof areas. And they probably don’t receive patents for their solutions in either area.
Of course, most companies don’t have a CEO who lives off the grid, either.
Springfield in Kingsley focuses on innovative solutions for its clients, whether that means simply roofing or providing insulation that keeps refrigerant tubes from icing up or leaking.
“We do a lot of work for food and fruit companies,” explained CEO Terry Umlor. That included trying to find ways to prevent ice buildups in freezers, or refrigerant lines filled with ammonia from being contaminated by water from leaks.
“We weren’t trying to create a widget (to) patent, but to solve a problem,” he said. “We struggled to find anything (that would work).” 
But a search for a solution proved, well, fruitless. So they created their own. It took two years of research and development for the company to develop a product that would prevent contamination and protect against ammonia vaporization inside the pipes and the subsequent degradation of the insulation. It began using the process in 2008, and in 2012 was granted a patent for it, which it dubbed SmartShield™ technology. Not only do company clients see a return on their investment due to savings on energy and maintenance costs, they no longer face the specter of replacing the insulation every few years.
That’s not the only area where the company stands apart. It recently received a second patent, this time for its SmartAnchor™ Fall Prevention System. The product safely secures an extension ladder to the roof of a building in order to keep it from slipping sideways along the roofline or slipping out from the wall at the ground level.
“The old way of working was to run and hide from OSHA (the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration),” said Nick Jacqmain, company president. “Terry made the decision to embrace safety, make it an everyday thing. It’s the right thing to do.”
Springfield workers work on roofs of all shapes, sizes, and pitches. “We’re confronted with many different issues,” said Umlor. “We want to ensure a safe work environment.”
Since the issue of worker safety can keep people up at night, it seems only right that that’s when the solution came to Umlor. “I woke up in the middle of the night and came up with the idea,” he said. The next day he presented it to the rest of his staff for discussion and modifications, and within a week they were using it.
That was two years ago. Six months after the initial design they began the patent application, and received the patent earlier this year.
The company also touts its use of rooftop natural daylight fixtures. The so-called “skylights on steroids” are tube fixtures which concentrate and evenly distribute sunlight from the roof into the industrial workspace. The natural light can cut energy bills in half by eliminating the need for artificial lights.
The skylights are made in the U.S. by Orion Energy Systems and are used by beverage company MillerCoors in its distribution facility in Milwaukee, resulting in savings of $127,000 a year on electric lighting.
All in a day’s work for the company, which has clients across Michigan as well as some nearby states. Jacqmain said it stems from Springfield’s focus on the entire scope of a client’s needs. “Even before entering the fall protection business we were always looking at the building envelope,” he said.
And ye
s, Umlor and his wife Terri Jo (company CFO and human resources director) do indeed live off the grid. Their home is a mile from the road, and the cost to get hooked up was steep. Umlor had always been interested in alternative energy, and today their home is powered
by solar cells and wind turbines. He estimated that the cost of purchasing and installing all the energy sources they currently have would run around $30,000-40,000 today, though he built it bit by bit over the years. “We have a TV, microwave, washer and dryer,” he said. “We have just become more conscious of using energy.”
That kind of innovative thinking has obviously served his company well.
Rooftop Safety Plan
Written by SpringfieldMarch 15, 2016 
Do you have employees who access the rooftop of your industrial facility? Perhaps they do routine maintenance up there or check on rooftop equipment? If so, you are required to provide safe access for these employees and have a rooftop safety plan on file with your safety department. If you have not prepared a rooftop safety plan – you are not alone. Springfield can assist with preparing and implementing a rooftop safety plan for your business to follow.
Call us today. It’s a WIN/WIN. Your employees stay safe and your corporate office stays compliant with OSHA requirements.
Expansion of the SmartAnchor Division
Written by SpringfieldFebruary 24, 2016 In the last few months we have begun expanding our SmartAnchor division. With the approval of our newest patent, the LadderAnchor, and our growing clientele that are looking for smart solutions for their safety needs, we have hired new team members for the division!
Scott Pryde
SmartAnchor General Manager
Scott Pryde has joined the Kingsley commercial contractor Springfield Inc. as the Smart Anchor General Manager, the Fall Protection division of the company. He brings to Springfield over 26 years of experience in Health and Safety, sales and technical service in a number of different industries.
Tim Korson, P.E.
Senior Engineer
Tim joined our team in December of 2014 and has been working diligently to help grown the SmartAnchor division. Tim manages all product design and is our lead engineer. He has 15 years of engineering experience.
Eian Richard
Engineer Tech
Eian has been with Springfield since January of 2015. He began working with our crew to learn the ins and outs of the business then was transferred to an engineering tech so that he could utilize his experience and education in engineering and CAD design. As well as designing fall protection equipment, Eian also handles material ordering, organizing and disbursement.
Nick Downey
Engineer Tech
Nick joined the Springfield team as an engineering technician. He has been working on designing custom fall protection equipment. Nick has over 10 years of experience in the engineering field utilizing his skills in product design.
Fall Protection Design/Build
Written by SpringfieldFebruary 10, 2016 “SKIN IN THE GA
ME”
I heard once that the US Coast Guard requires the helicopter mechanic who repairs the chopper to go up with the pilot for the “test fly.” Talk about SKIN IN THE GAME!!! Those mechanics are undoubtedly checking and double checking every mechanical repair they made prior to take off.
With industrial construction, there are no test flights involved, and yet as a design/build fall prevention contractor, Springfield strives for the same level of attentiveness with all of our team members. We take keeping people alive and safe very seriously.
Our fall prevention equipment is designed by Tim Korson, our own in-house Professional Engineer, with attention to the needs of the client and with studious attention to MI-OSHA and OSHA regulations. Routine inspections are performed periodically to ensure the systems are performing as designed.