We hope that each of you are winding up a good year and enjoying this holiday season.

AGCVA has had a good year and recently celebrated another advocacy win! In collaboration with other like-minded associations, AGCVA was able to work to defeat the DOLI Heat Illness proposed regulation before it could get to a vote. In general, this bill would have required contractors to provide approximately one case of water for every worker when the temperature hit 85 degrees. AGCVA continues to lead the way in protecting workers while maintaining reasonable safety standards for the construction industry.

Harman Construction recently received Best in Class Safety Award for Safety in General Construction from The Virginia Contractors Group Self-Insurance Association's (VACO).  The company posted a celebratory picture to their Facebook page, recognizing the efforts of their entire team to develop and maintain a culture of safety.

In October, for “Careers in Construction Month (CICM),” Lantz and other educators/industry members across the nation pledged to promote careers in construction, an initiative of the National Center for Construction Education & Research (NCCER) and Build Your Future (BYF).  Throughout the month, Lantz shared student-produced videos on their social media platforms that promoted Massanutten Technical Center’s various construction programs (and launched a friendly contest for the most popular video), they hosted MTC students at Lantz to assist with a carpentry related project, and they went to MTC to speak to second year students about career opportunities and industry trends to better prepare the young men and women.

On Friday, December 17, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit dissolved the Fifth Circuit’s stay of the OSHA Vaccination and Testing Emergency Temporary Standard (ETS). This decision allows OSHA to proceed with implementation and enforcement of the rule issued on November 5, 2021. AGC of America is a party to the proceedings in the Sixth Circuit, having filed its own petition for petition for review, and is actively engaged in a review of its legal options moving forward. AGC of America will continue to keep its chapters and members updated on any future developments.

The figures come from a new analysis of federal employment data released by the Associated General Contractors of America. Association officials said one reason employment is below pre-pandemic levels in many parts of the country is the lack of available workers to hire.

Without question, labor shortages are sobering and have presented a number of challenge for the construction industry in the past year. However, according to this article from Forbes, there is reason to hope that things will take a turn for the better in the coming year. 

With President Biden’s $1 trillion infrastructure bill—signed into law in November—promising to bring scores of new construction jobs in the coming years, many are hoping for a reshaping of the construction industry.

 

 

 

Citing higher-than-average vaccine hesitancy among construction workers and a worsening skills shortage, the Associated General Contractors of America (AGC) and two of its chapters in Texas filed suit last week in federal court to block the Biden administration’s effort to impose a COVID-19 vaccine mandate on federal contractors.

The recently passed Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) re-establishes One Federal Decision, which aims to streamline and expedite the federal environmental review processes required for infrastructure projects of a certain size under the National Environmental Protection Act.

The number of commercial construction and infrastructure projects continues to grow, which is excellent news for the economy. But there's a problem: companies can't find enough workers.

The field of construction has long been known for several things, namely rigorous hours, the physical nature of the work and, perhaps most prevalently, the way the field has been male-dominated. From this author's perspective, little has been said about how women in construction can find significant career fulfillment in a field that historically has been assumed to cater exclusively to men.

While OSHA is busy attempting to implement its vaccine/testing mandate, it also has numerous other significant matters in the works of which employers in the construction industry should be aware. These include new rule drafting and several national and regional emphasis programs, which illustrate OSHA’s current priorities.

According to 2016 data from the CDC, individuals working in the construction industry have one of the highest suicide rates compared to other industries and a suicide rate about four times higher than the general population.

Prices increase January 1. Deadline to register is January 7.