Pittsburgh-based safety equipment manufacturer MSA has come up with a way to make hard hats greener — it uses sugar.

While it sounds like construction workers would be in for a sticky mess after that first rainstorm hits, that’s not the case. MSA developed the hats in Brazil using high-density polyethylene sourced from sugarcane.

“By developing a hard hat sourced from sugar, we have reduced the overall carbon footprint that’s associated with the entire life-cycle of this particular product, from start to finish,” said Eric Beck, MSA’s global director of strategic marketing, in a release.

The “green” polyethylene is made from sugarcane ethanol, which results in a smaller carbon footprint because, for each ton of the material produced, up to 2.5 pounds of carbon dioxide are captured from the atmosphere. Conversely, Beck said one ton of polyethylene sourced from petrochemicals emits more than 2 pounds of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.

The final kicker is that green polyethylene is 100 percent recyclable.

MSA claims the hats are the first industrial safety product produced from nearly 100 percent renewable resources. I wonder if the U.S. Green Building Council has LEED points for that.

For more information, check out www.MSAsafety.com.

In addition to the spate of workers’ comp bills Jerry wrote about, there are also numerous prevailing wage reform bills that have been introduced. Some seek to expand the scope of the act — to continue what seems to be a never-ending expansion of who must be paid prevailing wage, some seek to shrink the act back to its original job site boundaries, another requires certified payrolls on all projects. There are others that seek to increase transparency through public postings of wage determinations or remove the payment of prevailing wage from certain school construction. It’s much too early to predict where these bills might end up, but it certainly is proof that prevailing wage reform is a hot topic for organized labor and for construction firms — and should be for public owners and taxpayers who ultimately foot the bill when the application of prevailing wage increases the cost of roads, schools and other publicly funded construction projects.

A trio of workers’ comp reform bills were passed by the State Senate last week. Three others may be voted on soon.

The bills that passed are:

• Senate Bill 5112 – Allows claims representatives for retro employers and groups to schedule independent medical examinations and vocational rehabilitation assessments, subject to certain conditions. Click here for vote tally.
• Substitute Senate Bill 5127 – Addresses the arbitrary 55-year-old age limitation on structured settlement availability. Original bill would have removed the age restriction on voluntary claims settlements but an amendment lowered the age restriction to 40 rather than eliminating it. Click here for the vote tally.
• Senate Bill 5128 – Also deals with structured settlements, the bill streamlines the program in keeping with the legislation that passed in 2011 with a strong bipartisan vote. Click here for the vote tally.

These bills must still be passed by the State House of Representatives. The three other workers’ comp bills are:

• Senate Bill 5124 – Streamlines the way time-loss benefits are calculated for injured workers by replacing the current formula, which varies based on the worker’s marital status and number of children to a standard two-thirds percent.
• Senate Bill 5126 – Addresses a recent Supreme Court ruling by reaffirming that the state and self-insured companies can reimburse their benefit costs when a third party outside of the employment relationship causes a workers’ injury on the job.
• Senate Bill 5125 – Redefines “occupational diseases” to be a condition that must arise out of the course of employment and be proximately caused by the distinctive conditions of that employment. The increased frequency of occupational diseases for the natural aging process is one that has been seen on many cases. This legislation would put back in place the original intent of what the law was designed to cover for Industrially related Occupational Diseases.

These bills will help stem a looming $110 million a year surcharge on employers. The reforms passed in 2011 slowed big rises in premiums but didn’t solve all of the problems plaguing the system. Unless lawmakers take the next step, employers are facing a $110 million surcharge for each of the next 10 years as L&I attempts to rebuild its depleted reserve fund. Building reserves is a good thing, but doing it with large surcharges will hinder job creation.

Contractors should keep an eye on House Bill 1007 about covered loads.  The bill:

• Requires that from August 1, 2013, through June 30, 2014, any vehicles operating on a paved public highway hauling dirt, sand, rocks, or gravel susceptible to escaping must use a cover if the vehicle is equipped with a load cover.
• Requires that after June 30, 2014, a vehicle operating on a paved public highway hauling dirt, sand, rocks, or gravel susceptible to escaping must use a cover and must not exceed the horizontal freeboard of the bed of the vehicle hauling the load.
• Provides an exemption for the Department of Transportation when applying deicers and sand for snow and ice control, maintenance operations for emergencies, or maintenance on closed roads, but still requires six inches of freeboard.
• Requires the Washington State Patrol to conduct random emphasis patrols to enforce covered load requirements.

The bill is sponsored by Reps. Kagi, Clibborn, Stanford, Ryu, Moscoso, Hudgins, Reykdal, Fitzgibbon, Appleton, Maxwell, Green and Fey.

Does recent economic data signal a return to weakness in the economy or even the beginning of another downturn, before we’ve had much of an uptick? To read what ABC’s economist, Anirban Basu, has to say, keep reading….

Despite a decline in the nation’s gross domestic product (GDP) in the last quarter of 2012, the Bureau of Economic Analysis Jan. 30 reported nonresidential fixed investment increased 8.4 percent for the fourth quarter as investment in equipment and software jumped 12.4 percent, which outweighed a 1.1 percent decline in investment in structures. For the year, nonresidential fixed investment increased 7.7 percent, with investment in structures up 9.6 percent and investment in equipment and software up 6.9 percent. Residential fixed investment increased 15.3 percent in the fourth quarter following a 13.5 percent increase in the third quarter. Annually, residential fixed investment increased 11.9 percent over 2011.

“Fourth quarter GDP is not only disappointing, it reveals how much damage was done to the economy by the ongoing slowing of much of the balance of the global economy and fiscal cliff fears,” said Associated Builders and Contractors Chief Economist Anirban Basu.

“Much of the economic momentum generated during the initial nine months of the year dissipated during the fourth quarter as investors, business decision-makers, consumers and others paused in anticipation of a resolution to fiscal issues such as automatic sequestration, the scheduled expiration of the Bush tax cuts and the fate of the payroll tax cut,” Basu said.

“While some of this uncertainty is behind us, confidence among key economic decision-makers continues to be compromised by impending federal spending cuts associated with automatic sequestration, a scheduled end to the federal budget continuing resolution in late March, and debt ceiling discussions to take place later this year,” remarked Basu. “For construction contractors and others, this means that the first several months of 2013 will remain too soft to produce an environment consistent with more robust nonresidential construction recovery.

“Based on the clues supplied in today’s GDP release, construction industry stakeholders can expect construction spending data to also reflect ongoing weakness in momentum,” said Basu. Stakeholders also can expect plentiful discussion in the days to come regarding whether or not last year’s fourth quarter represents the beginning of the next economic downturn.”

I wasn’t really counting on it, being a bit jaded, but I had hoped that Gov. Inslee’s opening speech would have a little more substance now that he is duly elected and moved into the second floor of the Capitol. His campaign speeches were feel good, no specifics, green energy, yay for innovation pablum aimed at potential voters. I thought that since he has no executive experience and served with little distinction in his years in Congress and probably knows way more about THAT Washington than THIS Washington, we might be in trouble. Let’s hear specifically how you are going to unleash the economy, lessen the stranglehold of regulation and urge job creators to create. Let’s talk real-life job creation. I truly hope I am wrong. We need to worry about the economy first, Jay! Let’s get specific.

The following post is from Jason Kane:

Following a task through to completion is the common denominator of all successful people. The effort required to construct some of the great buildings of the world is best described as excruciating. The following is a list of the five tallest buildings completed and currently under construction:

Shanghai World Financial Center
This award winning structure has a distinctive trapezoid aperture. Designed by the American architectural firm Kohn Pedersen Fox, it is located in the Pudong district of Shanghai, China. Construction began August of 1997 and it reached is height of 1,614 feet on September 14, 2007. The office building has 101 floors and opened to the public August 28, 2008. The cost of construction was $1.20 billion.

Taipei 101
Located in Xinyi District, Taipei, Taiwan, this structure held the rank of world’s tallest from 2004 to 2010. It stands 1,670 feet tall and houses 101 floors. Construction began in January 1999. It reached its current height on October 17, 2003. It houses office space, restaurants, stores, a library, fitness center and meeting facilities. It opened to the public in December 2004 and cost $1.80 billion to build.

Makkah Royal Clock Tower Hotel
Like the name says, this combination hotel and residential building houses a four-faced clock atop the Faimont hotel. Located in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, it stands 1,972 feet tall to the top of its spire. The highest of its 120 floors is 1,833 feet. Construction began in 2004 and it was completed in 2012.

Burj Khalifa
Located in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, this building holds 17 records. It has remained the world’s tallest structure at 2,722 feet since its completion in 2010. It also houses the world’s fastest elevators, highest nightclub, highest restaurant and the most floors of any other building with 163. Construction started in January 2004. Floor area is estimated at 3,331,100 sq ft and it cost $1.5 billion.

Sky City
Construction is underway on a 220 floor building in the city of Changsha, China. It will be about 30 feet taller than Burj Khalifa. The plan is to complete the 2749-foot tower in 90 days. If completed as planned by the the end of March 2013, it will be an engineering accomplishment beyond all others. That is a rise rate of thirty feet per day. Broad Group Construction Company says they will finish the project at a cost of $1,500 per square meter compared to the $15,000 per square meter cost of Burj Khalifa by using prefab technology. Broad Group has quieted skeptics before by constructing a 30 story hotel in 15 days.

Jason Kane writes about construction sites and construction safety equipment like lanyards and ladder safety systems.

Ever want to play poker with a skid steer? Or, maybe you’d like to bash a pinata with a backhoe? How about using a telehandler to sling barrels at a giant stack of barrels?

I’m not making this up. The Discovery Channel on Sunday is launching a new reality series that pits three teams of equipment operators against each other in bizarre competitions that include the above and more.

The “Machines of Glory” series starts at 6 p.m. with a backhoe brawl where the teams will be pushing their skid steers to the limits in four challenges. At 7 p.m. crews will navigate a maze with the backhoes and launch projectiles from what’s billed as the world’s largest slingshot.

A third episode at 8 p.m. will have bulldozers flattening cars and excavators dropping bombs.

Twelve grand goes to the winning team.

Tune in or set your DVRs! Here’s a sample clip:

For more information, visit www.discovery.com.

More holiday cheer.
Kenworth employees earlier this month collected so much food for Northwest Harvest that they needed one of their trucks — a medium-duty T270 — to deliver the goods.
The bounty of nearly 7,500 pounds of food was collected by nine Kenworth food drive teams in a friendly competition and delivered to Northwest Harvest’s warehouse in Kent.
Northwest Harvest is a nonprofit food bank distributor operating statewide to supply a network of more than 350 food banks, meal programs and high-need schools. It provides more than 1.7 million meals every month to its network.
Kenworth is part of Paccar.

Construction giant Skanska earlier this month loaded up a pickup truck with toys to help out the Kiwanis Club with its toy drive on Vashon Island. Skanska is a sponsoring partner this year and is working with the Vashon Island School District.

Organizers of the annual toy drive expect to have enough donations to give three gifts of toys, clothes and other items to 225 children ranging from infants to teenagers.

Jolly good Skanska!