OSHA Issues Recommended Practices to Promote Workplace Safety, Health Programs in Construction

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Occupational Safety and Health Administration issued Recommended Practices for Safety and Health Programs in Construction to help industry employers develop proactive programs to keep their workplaces safe. The recommendations may be particularly helpful to small- and medium-sized contractors who lack safety and health specialists on staff. Safety and health programs encourage finding and fixing workplace hazards before they cause injuries, illnesses and deaths. Implementing these programs also helps reduce the financial difficulties these events can cause for workers, their families and their employers. Contractors can create a safety and health program using a number of simple … Read more

Filed under: eNews, SafetyTagged with: , ,

BNBuilders Awarded UC Riverside School of Medicine Lab Remodel

SAN DIEGO, Calif. – BNBuilders was recently awarded the UC Riverside School of Medicine Biosafety Level 3 remodel project. This $1.7-million project is one of several recent wins in the Los Angeles and Orange County region for BNBuilders’ San Diego, California office. BSL-3 laboratories must have certain features to ensure appropriate containment of dangerous biological agents. The laboratory must be behind two sets of self-closing doors, and any seams in the floors, walls, windows and ceilings must be sealed for easy cleaning and decontamination. A ventilation system must force clean air into the lab where infectious agents are handled, and air from … Read more

Filed under: eNews, ProjectsTagged with:

McGrath Completes Construction on $1.9M Expansion, Renovation of Pi Beta Phi international HQ

ST. LOUIS, Mo. – McGrath & Associates has completed construction on the $1.9-million expansion and renovation of the Pi Beta Phi Fraternity for Women international headquarters in St. Louis, Missouri. HKW was the architect. The expansion connects to Pi Beta Phi’s international headquarters building, which McGrath built in 2002. The 4,200-square-foot, two-story expansion includes an enlarged break room, conference room and mailroom on the first floor, and office space and expanded archives on the second floor. The layout of the existing building also was adjusted to add new offices. Interior finish improvements were made to approximately 65 percent of the … Read more

Filed under: eNews, ProjectsTagged with: ,

National Construction Spending Reaches Cyclical Highs in Q3 2016

CHICAGO, Ill. – According to JLL’s latest report on United States construction activity, construction spending in 2016 has continued to hit cyclical highs, reaching $317 billion in the third quarter, a one percent growth increase year-over-year. While this may be the highest point this cycle, compared to past third quarter growth averages of 7-10 percent year-over-year, the small increase could indicate an impending slowdown. A robust construction pipeline combined with rising building and materials costs and a shrinking labor pool could explain the lackluster growth. Materials costs have reached a 2.2 percent growth rate year-over-year, a five-year high, largely due … Read more

Filed under: Economic News, eNewsTagged with: ,

CPWR Offers New Online Safety Climate Assessment Tool

When a company’s management and workers alike believe that safety is valued, recognized and rewarded, that means it has a positive safety climate. Thousands of construction contractors and others in the industry have already used CPWR’s safety climate workbook to review and improve their company’s safety climate across eight leading indicators. Now CPWR has a new S-CAT website that companies can use to learn more about safety climate and complete a Safety Climate Assessment Tool to measure their safety climate maturity in more detail. Visitors to the website learn about safety climate and then can answer the S-CAT questions for … Read more

Filed under: eNews, SafetyTagged with: , ,