CAWP News 15-12

September 14, 2012

TRAINING

Operating Engineers Break Ground on New Training Facility

The Western Pennsylvania Operating Engineers Joint Apprenticeship and Training Fund held a groundbreaking ceremony on Wednesday, September 12, 2012, at the site for its new LEED-certified training center.  The new facility will be located at 457 Christopher Road, New Alexandria, PA 15670, with construction scheduled to begin October 1, 2012.  Scheduled completion of the training center is targeted for October 1, 2013.  

The 30,000-square-foot future training site will boast four large multimedia classrooms, including a “dirty classroom,” a mud room, administrative and instructor offices, and a lunch room.  It will also offer apprentices and instructors the ability to utilize a 200-foot-by-80-foot equipment maintenance and training area with four drive-through equipment repair training bays (including a half bay), a ten-ton overhead crane to service the entire building, and a vehicle lift.  Enhancements also include eight welding booths and a heavy equipment welding station, a mechanic classroom, a component rebuilding room, and a machine tool area. 

As part of its LEED-certification, the training site will feature environmentally friendly measures such as natural daylighting, high-efficiency heating and cooling systems and plumbing fixtures, a geothermal ventilation system, rain gardens and rainwater harvesting.  This new state-of-the-art training center will enable the Western Pennsylvania Operating Engineers Joint Apprenticeship and Training Program to offer an enhanced level of training vital to the construction industry’s future workforce. 

 

SAFETY

 

Winners of the 2013 CAWP Kids Construction Safety Calendar Contest

Congratulations to the winners of the 2013 CAWP Kids Construction Safety Calendar Contest.   First place winners will each receive a $1,500 savings bond, second place winners a $750 bond, and third place winners a $500 bond.

 Ages 5-6
First:  Aidan Jones, Joseph B. Fay Co.
Second:  Evan Brady, Quaker Sales Corporation
Third: Haley Chilenski, Swank Construction Company, LLC

Ages 7-8
First: Nathaniel Beyer, Quaker Sales Corporation
Second:  Ethan Brady, Quaker Sales Corporation
Third:  Cooper Stahlman, Francis J. Palo, Inc.

Ages 9-10
First:  Cejae Margan Wyman, Swank Construction Company, LLC
Second:  Thomas Beyer, Jr., Quaker Sales Corporation  
Third:  Maria Kimmel, Swank Construction Company, LLC

Ages 11-12
First: Ashley Canovali, Matcon Diamond, Inc.
Second: Kierra Shreffler, McKinney Drilling Company
Third: Troy Stahl, Gulisek Construction, LLC

As a special thank-you for participating, entrants who did not place in the contest will receive an engraved medal and official certificate recognizing them as an Honorary Member of the CAWP Safety Patrol. 

There are still sponsorship opportunities remaining for the Kids Construction Safety Calendar.  Don’t miss the chance to promote the importance of safety in the heavy and highway construction industry.  If you are interested in becoming a sponsor, please contact Gina at 412-343-8000 for more information and a sponsorship form.

The 2013 Kids Construction Safety Calendar will be distributed this fall.  

 

Over 80 Trained at AGC Fall Protection Program in Pittsburgh

On September 6 and 7, The Associated General Contractors of America (AGC) presented a one-day training program covering best practices on fall protection in the construction industry.  Over 80 contractor members of both CAWP and MBA attended the class, which was held at the MBA offices.

Training the industry on fall hazards is vital.  Every year, falls consistently account for the greatest number of fatalities in the construction industry.  Over the last five years, on average, more than 350 workers were killed every year in construction-related falls, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. 

 

WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT

Recruitment into the Heavy/Highway Construction Trades

To enhance your firm’s recruitment initiatives, H2AP developed a flyer as a tool for your firm to use in attracting potential employees to the industry.  It highlights the benefits of the heavy/highway union contracting industry and how to get started in a career in one of the crafts. 

The flyer includes pertinent information for someone searching for a career in this industry.  A description of each craft is listed along with the apprenticeship program contact information and websites. 

Distribute these flyers at career days, and post on your company’s website or on a bulletin board.  The flyer will also serve as a resource to walk-in applicants or referrals to your company.  Note, as part of your firm’s EEO compliance program, this flyer, when provided to minority and female applicants, can be used toward your good faith efforts in assisting applicants in finding employment in the industry.  

You may ask after reading this, “Why should union contractors be concerned with recruitment?”  The simple answer - you have too much to lose not to be concerned.  A fair amount of craft workers are retiring, leaving behind a void of experienced, skilled workers.  Both the Unions and the Association acknowledge this and have been working to build a pipeline of future workers. 

Collectively, the industry has placed commercials and run radio ads, held career fairs and open house events, streamlined apprenticeship admission processes, and worked with community-based organizations and non-profits to attract minorities and females, along with many other workforce development initiatives.

When your local school or Veteran’s Assistance office asks for some career information about the heavy and highway construction industry, provide this flyer to them, or contact the Association for other recruitment resources.  The industry’s future depends upon it.

Click Here to download the flyer.

For additional copies of this flyer, call the Association at 412-343-8000.  

 

DISADVANTAGED BUSINESS ENTERPRISES

DOT Proposes Stringent Changes to DBE Program

On September 6, 2012, the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking asking for comment on significant changes it is proposing in its Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (DBE) rules. Comments are due by November 5, 2012. The proposal suggests a series of changes in the bidding process, counting DBE participation and documenting good faith efforts for compliance. The proposed rule also would tighten down on the certification process that determines whether or not a firm qualifies as a DBE. The following is a summary of the most significant proposed changes.

 

Meeting Contract Goal Requirements: The DOT is proposing to require that all bidders on contracts that have a DBE participation goal must submit, with their bid, a list of the DBEs that will be used to meet the goal requirement. (Under the current rule, states have the option of requiring that the list be submitted with the bid or at a later time). The list must include a description of the work each DBE will perform as well as the dollar amount. A written confirmation from each listed DBE must be included confirming the work and dollar amount that it will perform.

The state DOT would be required to include in the contract a provision requiring that these DBEs must be used in compliance with the list unless the contractor obtains a written consent from the state to make a change. The provision will also indicate that the contractor will not be paid for the work unless it is performed by the listed DBE.

 

The contractor must make good faith efforts to replace a terminated DBE with another DBE. If an acceptable DBE is not found, the best faith efforts must be detailed in writing, including a statement indicating why an agreement with a certified DBE could not be reached. A prime contractor’s inability to find a replacement DBE at the original price is not alone sufficient to support a finding that good faith efforts have been made to replace the original DBE.

 

Good Faith Efforts: DOT proposes to revise and greatly expand the types of actions that qualify as “Good Faith Efforts” by a prime contractor in order to to be awarded the contract if it has failed to meet the contract goal requirement.

Bidders that do not meet the goal may be required to submit documentation of their “Good Faith Efforts” (GFE) with the bid. As an alternative, the state can require only the apparent successful low bidder to submit GFE documentation within one day of the bid opening. The apparent successful bidder must document its best faith efforts at that time and no credit will be given for efforts undertaken after the bid opening. DOT proposes that this GFE documentation include all subcontractor quotes, not just quotes from DBEs, in order to review whether DBE price quotes are substantially higher than other subcontractors. The state is also required to contact all DBEs listed in the documentation to ensure that they were in fact contacted by the prime.    

 

States must include in contracts a provision indicating that failure to carry out the DBE commitments is a material breach of contract. Administrative remedies shall include withholding of monthly progress payments, declaring the contractor in default and terminating the contract, assessing sanctions in the amount of the difference in the DBE contract commitment and actual payments to DBEs, liquidated damages, and disqualifying the contractor from future bidding.

 

Counting Trucking Operations: The DOT proposes to change its current requirements for how much of a DBE trucking company’s involvement can be counted towards goal achievement. The proposal would give credit for a DBE that leases trucks equipped with drivers from a non-DBE entity up to the amount of transportation services provided by DBEs with their own trucks and drivers. DBEs that lease trucks from non-DBE entities but use their own employees as drivers would receive full credit for these transportation services.

 

Certification: The DOT proposes to make a series of technical changes in the requirements for certification, including modifications in determinations related to ownership, and control.

 

Comments: A task force of AGC members will be reviewing the NPRM to assist AGC in providing substantive comments to the DOT on the proposed revisions.

 

CAWP is reviewing the proposed rules and will providing comments as well.

www.agc.org