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On Oct. 11, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration issued a memorandum clarifying its position on workplace safety incentive programs and post-incident drug testing included in the 2016 final rule, Improve Tracking of Workplace Injuries and Illnesses (also known as the Electronic Injury Reporting and Anti-Retaliation final rule), issued under the Obama administration.
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ABC was one of thirty members of the Construction Industry Alliance for Suicide Prevention that met recently in Princeton, New Jersey, to collaborate on how to equip companies to better address mental health issues and reduce the risk of suicide in the construction industry. Members of the Alliance, which was classified as a 501(c)(3) public charity this summer, formed governance, fundraising, education and marketing task forces during a strategic planning session centered around National Suicide Prevention Month.
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Project labor agreements are special interest schemes that end open, fair and competitive bidding on public works projects. PLAs drive up the cost of construction by reducing competition and effectively excluding merit shop contractors and their skilled employees from building projects paid for by their own tax dollars. Check out ABC’s new video below to learn more about PLAs.
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If you’ve recently been in an airport or watched either the Masters Tournament or the World Series, you’ve probably heard the terms
cloud computing,
artificial intelligence and
Internet of Things. But what do these terms imply for someone working in the construction industry? ABC President and CEO Mike Bellaman invites ABC members to educate themselves about the digital builder of the future by checking out a new book,
Precision Construction, available for Kindle today, with print and audiobook versions due out shortly. Sign up to receive the Kindle e-book for free through Oct. 26!
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October is Careers in Construction Month, which creates the perfect opportunity to highlight the many career paths the construction industry provides for people with a variety of experience, education and expertise. And especially given the estimated 500,000 open construction positions in the United States right now, workforce development and filling the skills gap remains a key priority for ABC and its members.
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On Oct. 10, the U.S. Senate approved the America’s Water Infrastructure Act, a waterways infrastructure bill that requires reauthorization every two years, with a bipartisan 99-1 vote. The House passed the bill earlier this year, and the president is expected to sign it into law this week. The legislation authorizes at least $9 billion for critical water infrastructure projects across America, including flood protection and drinking water improvement projects.
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Prices for inputs to construction rose 0.3 percent in September and are 7.4 percent higher than a year ago, according to an ABC analysis of U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data. Overall prices for nonresidential construction inputs rose 0.4 percent, reversing last month’s downward trend. Among individual subcategories, softwood lumber prices are down 0.4 percent, yet are up 5.4 percent on a year-over-year basis. Crude petroleum and natural gas prices are both up on a monthly basis, 8.7 and 1.1 percent, respectively.
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The U.S. construction industry added 23,000 net new positions in September, according to an ABC analysis of data released by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.During the last 12 months, the industry has added 315,000 net new jobs, an increase of 4.5 percent. Nonresidential construction employment expanded by 18,600 net jobs on a monthly basis, while the residential sector added just 4,400 net positions.Though construction unemployment rose to 4.1 percent in September, it remains low by historical standards. National unemployment dropped to 3.7 percent across all industries, the lowest rate since December 1969.
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On Oct. 3, a federal judge temporarily blocked the Trump administration’s plan to end Temporary Protected Status for more than 300,000 immigrants from El Salvador, Haiti, Nicaragua and Sudan. This preliminary injunction will allow the merits of the case in Ramos v. Nielsen to be considered—whether these immigrants face irreparable harm if the designation is eliminated. Some of these immigrants have spent decades in the United States under the TPS designation.
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On Oct. 9, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division announced a six-month extension to its overtime and minimum wage compliance initiative, the Payroll Audit Independent Determination program. According to a WHD news release, the PAID program helps workers receive more back wages due in an expedited manner, without having to wait for lengthy investigations to conclude or court cases to resolve.
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