Our Website – Check
Out Your Company Profile
Did
you know that you have your own personal company profile in our database
system? To view your profile, log onto our website using your
username and password – www.ohiocontractors.org.
Your username is your e-mail address. If you don’t know your
password, just click “forgot my password” to receive a link in your email
to set up your password. Once you are in the system, you’ll see “Hi,
” at the top. Click on that to view your
profile. We constantly strive to provide better services for our
members, and that includes our new website/database that will continually
improve as we tap into its many features. Let us know if your
information needs updated in an area where you are unable to make the
change. Emily Pickens will be happy to help with any
questions you may have. You can reach her at 614-488-0724.
OCA Winter Conference – Hilton Deadline Approaching
As
of today, there are no rooms left in our room block at the Hilton. The Hilton is otherwise full and there are no other
available rooms to add to our room block. We have some rooms blocked
at the following hotels, both just a five-minute walk across Easton Town
Center to the Hilton where our conference is held. Contact Rachel
Sirca or Emily Pickens with questions. Link to Easton map.
·
Courtyard Columbus at Easton, 3900 Morse
Crossing, Columbus, OH 43219 – 614-416-8000. $199 + tax. Group
Code is Ohio Contractors Association.
·
Residence Inn Marriott, 3999 Easton Loop
West, Columbus, OH 43219 – 614-414-1000. $195 + tax. Group Code
is OHC.
2015
OCA Safety Awards
OCA’s annual safety award program is a great opportunity for our contractor
members to showcase their safety programs and be recognized for their
achievements. All OCA members are encouraged to participate!
Awards are presented in several size divisions, based on total hours
worked. Recognition is also given to any contractors who worked
accident and injury free during the year!
This year’s winners will be announced during the Winter Conference Awards
luncheon on December 8th at the Hilton Easton in Columbus. Please
click here to access the application form. The deadline date
for submission is Friday, November 20, 2015. Please return the completed
form at your earliest convenience so that your company will be in the
running for OCA’s coveted safety award!
If you have any questions about the Safety Awards Program, please contact
Emily Pickens or Mark Potnick in the OCA office. Please continue to
keep worker safety and health at the forefront of all you do! We’ll
be looking for your application, and good luck!
Equipment
Management Council Meeting
The
Equipment Management Council will meet during OCA’s winter conference at
the Hilton at Easton. This meeting, open to ALL OCA members interested in
new equipment technology, will be held on Monday, December 7 at 3:30
p.m. If you want to register for the winter conference activities as
well, you will find the brochure here. Call
Rachel Sirca or Emily Pickens with questions.
Opportunities in Transportation
Safety
The Ohio Chapter of
the American Traffic Safety Services Association (ATSSA) is hosting Opportunities in Transportation
Safety in conjunction with ODOT on March 3, 2016.
For more details about the
conference or to submit questions for ODOT officials to address in the Ask the Owner Q&A
session, please visit www.ohioatssa.com.
Immediate Action Required
Workers’ Compensation Payroll Reporting Deadline Approaching
As a current member, you may be
aware that the Ohio Bureau of Workers’ Compensation (BWC) has recently
transitioned to its new prospective premium payment system. The BWC
is providing a ‘Transition Credit’ in place of your January through June
2015 premium payment.
In order
to receive the credit, employers needed to file a payroll report for the
January – June, 2015 period with BWC by August, 31, 2015. Employers
that did not file the payroll report, had the premium for that period
estimated and the BWC invoiced them on October 1, 2015.
If
you have not reported your payroll for this period there is still time to
resolve the issue. You can use the BWC website (www.bwc.ohio.gov and click on
‘Report & Pay’) to report the actual payroll for the referenced
period. Note you are simply reporting the payroll, and if done by
October 30, you will not need to make a premium payment for that payroll
period. Once reported BWC will reverse the estimated premium, post
the actual premium and issue the transition credit to eligible
policies.
It
is imperative that you report this actual payroll by October 30th. Employers
that do not resolve this reporting issue timely:
·
Are subject to certification to the Ohio
Attorney General for final collection of the outstanding premium.
·
May jeopardize their eligibility for Group
& Alternative Programs for Policy Year 2016.
·
May lose the transition credit for the
January through June 2015 reporting period and be required to pay the
premium in full.
If you
have recently supplied the payroll to BWC, and fulfilled your requirement,
please disregard this notice.
OCA's
Board of Directors Has Taken Positions On Two Ballot Issues That Will Be On
The November 3rd Statewise Ballot
OCA SUPPORTS THE PASSAGE OF ISSUE 2:
The goal of Issue 2 is to create a constitutional amendment that would
prohibit the creation of monopolies in the Ohio Constitution. The “Ohio
Initiated Monopolies Amendment” would require voters in the future to
approve two
questions pertaining to citizen initiatives establishing economic
monopolies. Ohio’s legislators developed the Ohio Initiative Monopolies
amendment in response to Issue 3 (see below)
Issue 2 would work by requiring the Ohio Ballot Board to determine if an
initiative would create an economic monopoly or special privilege for any
nonpublic entity, including individuals, corporations and organizations. If
the Ohio Ballot Board determines an initiative would create an economic
monopoly, then the board would be required to create two separate ballot questions.
The first question would ask, "Shall the petitioner, in violation of
division (B)(1) of Section 1e of Article II of the Ohio Constitution, be
authorized to initiate a constitutional amendment that grants or creates a
monopoly, oligopoly, or cartel, specifies or determines a tax rate, or
confers a commercial interest, commercial right, or commercial license that
is not available to other similarly situated persons?" The second
question would be the ballot initiative. If both questions are approved, then
the amendment would take effect. If only one question is approved, then the
amendment would be defeated.
If voters approve the amendment, it could potentially
invalidate any initiatives voters approved on the November 3 ballot that
establish economic monopolies - specifically, it may invalidate the
Marijuana Legalization Initiative. However, it is likely that if
Issue 2 and Issue 3 both pass, the final decision of which one rules
supreme would be fought out in the courts.
OCA OPPOSES ISSUE 3. Issue 3 is a proposed
constitutional amendment that was submitted by a group of wealthy investors
to create a monopoly that would give them, and only them, the ability to
commercially cultivate marijuana on 10 predetermined sites around
Ohio. The marijuana grown at those sites would be available for sale
for recreational and medical marijuana usage. The amendment would
allow over 1100 retail marijuana stores, more than three times the number
of liquor stores currently in Ohio. In addition, adults would be able to
grow marijuana for their own recreational use.
The use of the Ohio constitution to create a monopoly
for a few wealthy individuals is a threat to our free market system that is
built upon economic competitiveness. The fact that Issue 3 would also
create many uncertainties and problems for Ohio’s employers, however, is
even more troubling. Does state or federal law regarding marijuana
use, possession and cultivation take precedence? How would
drug-testing and the ensuing results be handled? How would safety standards
be maintained in our hazardous profession? Would union contracts have
to be amended for this new contingency? How would this impact our
ability to attract and retain employees? To view more facts on issue 3,
please click here.
We know
that Ohio’s contractors value predictability, safety, and a reliable and
drug-free workforce, all of which will be jeopardized if Issue 3
passes. For that reason, we urge you to vote no on Issue 3.
Please click here for more information.
OUPS
Hosting 7 Free Excavator Seminars In November
Ohio Utilities Protection
Service (OUPS) is hosting seven (7) free excavator seminars across the
state during the month of November. These seminars will provide you
and your crews valuable information.
·
Nov. 4th – St. Clairsville
·
Nov. 5th – Athens
·
Nov. 10th – Grove City
Nov. 11th – Dayton
·
Nov. 12th – Findlay
·
Nov. 17th – Elyria
·
Nov. 18th - Astabula
Topics include legislative update for SB 378, Ohio’s
new underground damage prevention law which includes enforcement
provisions, new and improved remote ticket entry (RTE), or I-dig usage,
excavator training, features to OUPS’ new mobile app and so much more.
Registration begins at 8:30 and lunch will follow the meeting at noon.
Confined Spaces Rule Compliance
Deadline Extended
Full enforcement of OSHA's
confined spaces in construction rule has been delayed once again. The new deadline is Jan. 8, but the
extension applies only to residential construction.
The
Occupational Safety and Health Administration announced the Jan. 8 deadline
in a memo dated Oct. 1 and posted late Oct. 2, the day on which the
previous deadline expired.
The memo,
from James Maddux, head of OSHA's construction directorate, extends the
temporary enforcement policy only for “employers engaged in residential
construction work.”
Prior to
Jan. 8, the memo says, OSHA won't issue citations under the confined spaces
in construction standard to residential contractors if “the employer is
making good faith efforts” to comply with the standard as long as the
employer is in compliance with either the training requirements of the new
standard (29 C.F.R. 1926.1207) or the old training requirements (29 C.F.R.
1926.21(b)(6)(i)).
The
guidance is the same as a July 8 memo extending the deadline to Oct. 2,
with the exception that the prior memo covered all construction work, not
just residential (61 CLR 487, 7/16/15).
Among the
requirements put on hold for residential builders are that a “competent
person” conduct the initial job-site inspection, that specific information
be shared among employers and that continuous air monitoring of confined
spaces be performed.
OCA
conducted the required training for the construction confined space
regulations on September 30th in Columbus in order to meet the
October 2, compliance deadline for all construction except
residential. Only 12 individuals registered and attended. We
expect that there will be additional demand for the confined space training
among the OCA membership, and will schedule future training classes
accordingly. Please contact OCA’s Safety Department if you are
interested in confined space training as required by the new
regulations.
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