Putting Safety in Executives’ Hands – With an App

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By Brian Thomas and Vi Nguyen More construction firms are investing in technology tools to ensure a safe environment for employees and partners. In California, Skanska USA is putting jobsite safety in the palm of its executives” hands with a new app. The company developed an electronic report using the iAuditor app to enhance jobsite safety and reinforce accountability and safety practices. Known as the executive site safety visit, or ESSV, app, it is used by executives to perform site safety inspections on jobsites such as the Palo Alto Medical Foundation’s San Carlos Center and the Regional Medical Center in … Read more

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ADOSH Presents Top Safety Designation to McCarthy Building Companies at Banner Estrella Hospital

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Phoenix, Ariz. — The Arizona Division of Occupational Safety and Health Consultation Department awarded McCarthy Building Companies with top safety designation, naming the $161-million Banner Estrella Hospital expansion a “STAR Site” through the state’s Construction Voluntary Protection Program. ADOSH representatives conducted an audit of safety and health management systems and practices at the six-story, 279,000-square-foot tower project. The expansion project, which is set to open to patients in March 2014, also contains additional obstetrical suites, additional neonatal intensive care unit capacity, new cardiac catheterization labs and a new endoscopy suite. The Banner Estrella Hospital tower expansion is the only hospital … Read more

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Increased Activity in Design Firms, Increased Construction Activity Result in Steady Growth

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Turner Construction Company announced that the Third Quarter 2013 Turner Building Cost Index — which measures costs in the non-residential building construction market in the United States — has increased to a value of 868. This reflects a 1.05 percent increase from the Second Quarter 2013 and 4.33 percent annual increase from the Third Quarter 2012. “The design and construction industry has been recovering over the past several quarters and pent up demand is resulting in increased activity in design firms,” said Karl F. Almstead, the Turner vice president in charge of the Cost Index. He added that material prices … Read more

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BCCI Completes Renovation of Historic Building in San Francisco

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BCCI Construction Company has recently completed the renovation of the historic 1907 Musto Building at 717 Battery St. in San Francisco, Calif. The 57,000-square-foot building, which is located near the northern edge of the North Beach neighborhood, has been converted into a private club. The renovation of the existing three-story unreinforced masonry building — designed by early 20th-century architect William Mooser II — required a mandatory seismic upgrade and also included restoration work, basement expansion and the addition of a fourth floor penthouse to the L-shaped building, which for years featured a courtyard and entrance on Pacific Avenue. The new … Read more

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ABC Members Experience Skilled Worker Shortage, Launch Blog to Share Outreach Efforts

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According to a survey of Associated Builders and Contractors members, 75 percent of respondents" companies are experiencing a shortage of willing and qualified craft professionals. These results support the findings of the Construction Labor Market Analyzers" 20/20 Foresight Report, which shows there will be a nationwide shortage of nearly 2 million skilled craft workers by 2017. The worker shortage is likely the result of the nearly 30 percent of the construction workforce lost at the peak of the recession combined with an aging workforce, an insufficient pipeline of new workers and workers that moved on to other industries. ABC and … Read more

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