By Debbie Dickinson

Crane Institute of America Certification

Just because OSHA has proposed a delay to operator certification, doesn’t mean it will happen. Take notice of recent activity in Washington, D.C.

We recently learned about a different regulation in a similar situation to 1926.1400 Cranes and Derricks in Construction; on Aug. 7, OSHA withdrew a proposed rule to amend the On-Site Consultation Program.

https://www.osha.gov/pls/oshaweb/owadisp.show_document?p_table=NEWS_RELEASES&p_id=24504

Although not related to cranes and derricks, there are parallels worth noting. Stakeholder concerns that a delay discourages employers from participating was the key reason for moving forward. Many in the crane industry fear the same would happen if crane operator certification is delayed.

OSHA first issued an intent to delay and outlined plans for changing the Consultation Program at the end of July, just a few months after its proposal about crane operator certification. Yet, no such plan has been forthcoming from OSHA for cranes and derricks. The final rule for both are just 8 days apart.

While we remain unsure of what OSHA will do regarding crane operator certification, we do know that:

1. A delay is unnecessary; CIC has offered specific solutions to OSHA that fully solve the concerns raised.

2. According to industry studies, 80% fewer crane-related deaths and 50% fewer accidents occur with certified crane operators.

In addition, Peg Seminario, Director of Safety and Health for the AFL-CIO testified on Aug. 1, 2013 before the Subcommittee on Oversight, Federal Rights, and Agency Action Senate Judiciary Committee on “The Human Cost of Regulatory Paralysis.”

http://www.aflcio.org/Legislation-and-Politics/Testimonies/Seminario-on-Justice-Delayed-The-Human-Cost-of-Regulatory-Paralysis

According to Seminario: “It is inexcusable and shameful that even where there was broad agreement that the cranes and derricks standard was needed and about what the rule should require, that the regulatory system failed to protect workers…During the eight year rulemaking, 176 workers died in crane accidents that would have been prevented.” Seminario’s testimony is clear: OSHA knows that certification saves lives and that delays will mean more people will die, unnecessarily.

Please contact OSHA and express your expectation that the agency remember its mission “to ensure a safe and healthy workplace,” which does not align with OSHA’s recent attitude that the purpose of regulations is to provide the agency with greater authority for imposing citations and fines on employers.

I hope that out of respect for the lives at stake, for the negotiated rule-making process that was fully supported by industry experts, and for the millions of dollars already invested by the industry, that OSHA does not delay. CIC will continue to remain compliant with OSHA and to drive our business based on the safety and needs of the industry.  Employers can rely on CIC to:

1. Conduct meaningful certifications; CIC certified by type and capacity years before the OSHA regulation because this helps employers make sound decisions and gives operators credentials with merit.

2. Assess the knowledge, skill and abilities of operators for the purpose of reducing accidents.

3. Provide affordable, accessible and accredited certifications for crane operators and riggers.

Debbie Dickinson is executive director at Crane Institute of America Certification, which offers NCCA accredited certifications for mobile crane operators (five classifications) and qualified and advanced riggers and signal persons.

Two substantive efforts to consider reforms of WSDOT and transportation spending are underway.

The Legislature mandated a study of transportation cost-drivers.  Meanwhile, Senate Transportation Committee Co-Chair Curtis King has announced a series of meetings around the state to review reform proposals.

House Transportation Chair Judy Clibborn chairs the advisory committee overseeing the Transportation Project Efficiencies Study required by the Legislature.

“As we make policy we need to do it from an educated point of view, and not just have it be something we pulled out of the air that we heard two years ago and nobody has ever been able to validate,” said Rep. Clibborn, D-Mercer Island, at the committee’s first meeting. “The other side of it is that there are some things that are myths and there are some things that are reality, and we have to deal with them in a realistic way.”

The study will conclude with a report to the Legislature on the cost drivers by the end of the year.

On a separate track, Sen. King, R-Yakima, said he has contacted WSDOT Secretary Lynn Peterson, requesting her agency’s cooperation in coordinating a series of public meetings around the state. King said he and his colleagues in the Senate’s Majority Coalition Caucus would like to gather as much input as possible from Washington residents and WSDOT officials in various regions around the state in order to craft a viable transportation package that could be supported by lawmakers as well as taxpayers.

“In order to pass a transportation package of any substance there will likely be a need for additional revenue to pay for projects,” King said, “but before we go to the people asking for more money, the state needs to prove that it’s already stretching every dollar it has. We’ve compiled a list of ten reforms that could be implemented to save millions of dollars with minimal impact to other areas of the budget, and it’s our intention to discuss those ideas with DOT and the public at these meetings.”

King’s letter to Peterson requests that regional administrators present a prioritized list of projects based upon safety, congestion relief and economic development, and asks that their list contain a detailed scope and a cost estimate for each project that would be valid through the 2014 legislative session. In addition, the letter asks for reform suggestions from each regional office and seeks to encourage public comment on the Majority Coalition Caucus list of specific reform proposals. The proposals include exempting transportation construction projects from the state sales tax, streamlined permitting and an “open dialogue about prevailing wage and apprenticeship requirements.”

Click here for more info about these meetings.

Seattle-based McKinstry and Leadership Snohomish County worked together to raise money for a new basketball court for Trailside Boys & Girls Club of Snohomish County, which claims to be the smallest club in the country.

The court opened late last month at 1300 100th Place S.E. in Everett. Trailside opened in 2007 and is free for kids.

“The kids are thrilled with the new court,” said Marci Volmer, area director at Boys & Girls Clubs of Snohomish County, in a release. “We are elated to be able to provide a safe outdoor recreational area for our club members.”

Kevin McKay, vice president for finance and operations at Edmonds Community College, originally contacted McKinstry for help. He was part of a team made up of Darrell Smith (manager of site/civil services at Perteet Inc.),  Adrianne Wagner (quality program manager at The Everett Clinic),  Cathy Johnson (manager of medical surgical nursing at Providence Regional Medical Center) and  Robin Sjolund (branch manager at Union Bank).

“When we heard about Trailside’s need for a new court, we jumped at the opportunity to help,” said Mark Jonson, Seattle energy business unit manager for McKinstry, in the release. “Giving back to the communities where we work and live is a priority for McKinstry. We hope we can continue to work with Trailside and other Boys & Girls Clubs throughout Washington state in the near future.”

Slam-dunk for McKinstry!

AGC of Washington, Northwest Laborers-Employers  Training Trust Fund, Integrity Safety Solutions and Anita Johnson were awarded a Safety & Health Improvement Program (SHIP) Grant to  develop a cutting edge, first-of-its-kind training program for  underground construction.  This video based training program (Hazard Observation and Labor Education, or HOLE) is designed to communicate the hazards and basic safeguards of underground  construction as it is done by today’s practices.  All other industry  safety videos related to underground construction safety are outdated  and inconsistent with current practices.  The goal of this project is to help prevent  the accidents and fatalities that are on the rise in this niche industry by creating a consistent, clear, concise video-based learning tool for  workers to help prepare them for the hazards they will face underground.

As underground construction sees its fair share of inspectors,  visitors and project owner tours, there is a need for a  basic visitor orientation for people who will be visiting the project  sites (while chaperoned).

To aid employers and workers keep safety in mind at all times on the  job, the HOLE project includes posters and wallet cards that cover the key points of  the video and can be placed around the job as a  refresher, and hard hat stickers that can be used by the employer to easily identify if a worker has received the training and  as a general reminder to all workers who will see the sticker on their  own hard hat.  For means of documentation purposes, HOLE also includes an  orientation document and acknowledgement that indicates the key concepts conveyed by this training as well as space to cover site-specific  rules, hazards and communications.

These products are provided to all employers in Washington State  (FREE) through funding from the Washington State Department of Labor and Industries’ SHIP grants.

To find the slate of HOLE products, click here.

By a vote of 265-155 the U.S. House of Representatives recently passed HR 2218, Coal Residuals Reuse and Management Act of 2013, which prevents the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) from designating fly ash and other coal ash residuals from being classified as a hazardous waste. The legislation, introduced by Rep. David McKinley (R-W.Va.), establishes a regulatory structure for coal ash that would be controlled by states with little EPA oversight. The White House released a statement this week expressing its concerns about the bill and suggesting improvements, but did not threaten a
veto. A similar bill is pending in the Senate.

Preventing EPA from taking action to deem fly ash as hazardous has been a priority for many in the construction industry. AGC of America submitted detailed comments to EPA urging that it weigh the potential impacts of its regulatory options on the beneficial use of these materials and take into consideration the real environmental benefits of reusing these materials and the lack of negative reports (i.e., alleged or proven damage cases) associated with the beneficial use of fly ash in many construction applications including concrete and wallboard. AGC urged EPA to either rely on state requirements or establish non-hazardous waste requirements that protect the beneficial use of fly ash in construction.

Members of the Washington Congressional delegation who voted “yes” were Reps. Hastings, McMorris Rodgers and Reichert.  Those voting “no” were Reps. DelBene, Heck, Kilmer, Larsen, McDermott and Smith.

ABC’s Chief Economist Anirban Basu recently issued his economic outlook, centering on construction employment. Read his report below:

In June, the nation’s construction industry unemployment rate fell to 9.8 percent for the first time since September 2007 with the addition of 13,000 jobs, according the July 5 report by the Department of Labor. Since June 2012, the industry has added 190,000 jobs—a 3.4 percent increase.
Every major category of construction experienced gains in employment for the month. Nonresidential building construction employment increased by 700 jobs for the month and has added 16,400 jobs, or 2.5 percent, during the last twelve months. Residential building construction employment inched up by 100 jobs in June and is up by 13,100 jobs, or 2.3 percent, compared to the same time last year.
Nonresidential specialty trade contractors gained 2,100 jobs for the month and have added 47,100 jobs, or 2.3 percent, during the last twelve months. Residential specialty trade contractors have added 5,100 jobs since May and gained 77,100 jobs, or 5.2 percent, since June 2012. Heavy and civil engineering construction employment increased by 5,600 jobs last month, and the sector has added 36,300 jobs, or 4.2 percent, from one year ago.
Across all industries, the nation added 195,000 jobs as the private sector expanded by 202,000 jobs and the public sector shrunk by 7,000 jobs. However, the nation’s unemployment rate was unchanged from the previous month at 7.6 percent and remains lower than the 8.2 percent registered in June 2012.
Analysis
Today’s employment report is positive news for the nation’s construction industry.
While the economy continues to face a number of headwinds, including most recently in the form of higher interest rates, the wealth effect associated with rising equity markets and home prices dominates the recovery,” Basu said. “The result has been steady expansion in consumer spending, which is associated with expanding job creation in closely aligned sectors of the economy.
For construction contractors, the implication is that the volume of work associated with lodging and shopping center construction will continue to march higher,” said Basu. “Not coincidentally, more than one-third of the construction jobs added last month were added by specialty trade contractors.
There was also evidence of more people falling into part-time work, and the broadest measure of unemployment, which includes discouraged workers and people working part-time for economic reasons, rose to 14.3 percent in June.
Despite this increase, the construction industry’s diminishing unemployment rate shows that societal income tied to wages and salaries continues to expand slowly, which suggests the economy will only grow at a moderate pace. That should be enough to help drive nonresidential construction spending higher, but progress will remain gradual.

I’ve served as a contractor/management representative on the state Prevailing Wage Advisory Board for more than 20 years. It’s not a fun or easy part of my job, but it is important. Let’s not argue if prevailing wage (PW) is good public policy or not. Let’s just talk about the expansion of PW over those last 20+ years. Since the original court case that allowed the application of PW off the actual job site (Everett Concrete, 1988), with few exceptions (or maybe none since I can’t think of any), every time there has been a question of whether work is covered by the PW Act or not, L&I determines it is. First is was off-site fabrication of non-standard materials (concrete tunnel liners, sheet metal parts, etc.), then it was delivery of materials (sand, gravel, etc.) Now a recent determination (02062013B) not only expands it to materials coming ON to the site, but now materials (dirt) going OFF the site: soil being removed to another disposal site and being spread on that site by an equipment operator and that operator is covered. Why? Because that work was directly “related to the completion of the contracted work…was necessary for its completion” and therefore was “contemplated by the contract.” So where is the line between what work is and is not covered? It gets further out and fuzzier all the time.
During the 2013 legislative session I sat through testimony on several PW reform bills; some were representatives from small public agencies (ports, park districts, schools) and they uniformly complained about things they couldn’t build because the cost with PW is too high. The pot of money Washington has to build or rebuild infrastructure — and not just roads and bridges, think water systems, parks, libraries, fire/police stations — would go a lot further if there were sensible PW reforms. Not paying construction workers low wages for sure — I honor their skill and hard work. But we need to take a long, serious look at the cost of PW given today’s realities. It’s time. It’s past time.

With temperatures expected to hit the 90s next week, workers should prepare for the heat.

The state Department of Labor & Industries says working outdoors in hot weather can put you at risk of heat-related illness and offers these tips:

1. Start work well hydrated and drink as much as a cup of water every 15 minutes.
2. Watch co-workers for signs of heat-related illness, such as headaches, dizziness or nausea.
3. Pace your work and take scheduled breaks.
4. Wear lightweight clothing and remove protective gear when it’s safe to do so.
5. Avoid drinking caffeine or eating a heavy meal.

Be safe!

Immigration reform is a hot topic in Congress these days. There are no ideal solutions to this complex issue, regardless of which side of the argument you are on. Traditional allies can be see the solution differently. No easy answers.
The H-2B section deals with temporary non-agricultural workers. In Washington state, we tend to think of software employers needing H-2B workers for their high tech engineers and programmers, but now that the construction economy is finally rebounding, the construction industry is once again (didn’t take long!) facing a skilled worker shortage. However, the number of skilled construction guest workers per year is maxed at fewer than 20,000. With a projected shortage of hundreds of thousands, that is hardly enough. However, organized labor is opposed to more, so that number may be as good as it gets. Wonder whose going to build the buildings that all those high tech programmers are going to work in?
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics predicts employment in construction will rise 33 percent by 2020, adding about 1.8 million jobs. As much as those of us in construction, both union and open shop, would like those to be “home grown” workers, we all know that isn’t going to happen. There are deep, long-standing societal and public policy/budget issues that stand in the way of achieving that dream. (But addressing those issues could take up a lot of blog space!)
We need more guest workers than we are going to get. But the whole reform bill, in any form, has to pass first. Stay tuned.

On May 23, the Department of Labor and Industries, with the support of business and labor representatives from the Construction Advisory Committee, sent letters to nearly 200 construction employers in this state.  The letter identified the recipients as the employers in their respective Risk Class Code as having the highest claim frequency or highest claim costs or both.

The intent is to try and get L&I resources where they are needed most and not invest as much time on employers who are already doing great things for safety.  These letters firmly set the expectation that recipients had 60 days to contact L&I’s Consultation division for assistance.  Failure to do so puts these employers on an elevated enforcement list for compliance activities.

The Construction Advisory Committee responsible for this effort has worked hard for many years to help L&I get their resources to the employers who need the attention and assistance most.