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December 21, 2020
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Featured Content
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OSHA Guidance on the Use of Cloth Face Masks in Construction
(We Must Remain Vigilant in Following COVID-19 Safety Protocols)
Following is an excerpt from OSHA’s website (www.osha.gov). It is one of the COVID-19 Resources for the Construction Industry. Since we are an essential industry and continue working, even as numbers of COVID-19 cases rise in Ohio, it is a good idea to regularly review those protocols designed to help reduce the spread of the virus and keep our projects safer. Today, let’s stop and revisit what OSHA has to say about the use of cloth face coverings in construction:
CDC recommends wearing cloth face coverings as a protective measure in addition to social distancing (i.e., staying at least 6 feet away from others). Cloth face coverings may be especially important when social distancing is not possible or feasible based on working conditions. A cloth face covering may reduce the amount of large respiratory droplets that a person spreads when talking, sneezing, or coughing. Cloth face coverings may prevent people who do not know they have the virus that causes COVID-19 from spreading it to others. Cloth face coverings are intended to protect other people—not the wearer.
Cloth face coverings are not PPE. They are not appropriate substitutes for PPE such as respirators (like N95 respirators) or medical facemasks (like surgical masks) in workplaces where respirators or facemasks are recommended or required to protect the wearer.
While wearing cloth face coverings is a public health measure intended to reduce the spread of COVID-19 in communities, it may not be practical for workers to wear a single cloth face covering for the full duration of a work shift (e.g., eight or more hours) on a construction site if they become wet, soiled, or otherwise visibly contaminated during the work shift. If cloth face coverings are worn on construction sites, employers should provide readily available clean cloth face coverings (or disposable facemask options) for workers to use when the coverings become wet, soiled, or otherwise visibly contaminated.
Employers who determine that cloth face coverings should be worn at a construction site, including to comply with state or local requirements for their use, should ensure the cloth face coverings:
• Fit over the nose and mouth and fit snugly but comfortably against the side of the face.
• Are secured with ties or ear loops.
• Include multiple layers of fabric.
• Allow for breathing without restriction.
• Can be laundered using the warmest appropriate water setting and machine dried daily after the shift, without damage or change to shape (a clean cloth face covering should be used each day).
• Are not used if they become wet or contaminated.
• Are replaced with clean replacements, provided by employer, as needed.
• Are handled as little as possible to prevent transferring infectious materials to the cloth; and
• Are not worn with or instead of respiratory protection when respirators are needed.
Additional COVID-19 Safety Resources can be found on OCA’s website at www.ohiocontractors.org by clicking on the prompt for Comprehensive COVID-19 Resources.
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News |
ACEC Ohio Offering On-line Professional Engineer Licensure Ethics Course
The end of the year is nearing and ACEC Ohio is offering an online, on-demand ethics training course customized for Ohio ethics and law for you to complete on your own time. In 2018, the Ohio Legislature added a new requirement for license renewal; two-hour’s worth of ethics training pertaining to the Ohio Revised Code every two years. With this new requirement, ACEC Ohio acted and developed a low-cost course to satisfy the training requirements. The ACEC Ohio course consists of a two-part module equating to two hours of work and is available to all engineers working in Ohio for only $50.
The course is now available! Please visit acecohio.cd2learning.com to get started! Call Haley Phillippi at (614) 487-8844 or email her at [email protected] with any questions.
ODOT Prime Contractor Trucking Update - January 12, 2021
The Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT) will host a webinar for prime contractors to discuss important trucking topics including:
• Updates to Proposal Note (PN) 7
• Roles and responsibilities of ODOT, prime contractors, and trucking firms
• Other Updates
Please join session to learn more regarding impending changes and updates.
You may register today at: https://industrytruckinginformational.eventbrite.com
Please note: this session will be held via Microsoft Teams. An event link will be sent to all registrants prior to the start of the event.
For more information, click here. If you have any additional questions regarding this webinar, feel free to contact: Juleda Stoltz, [email protected]; 513-933-6562.
Capital Bill Funding
The Ohio General Assembly will likely wrap up work for the two-year session this week. One of the items awaiting final approval is a bill to authorize $2.1 billion in capital funding, which includes:
• $171.4 million in community projects
• $305 million for K-12 construction
• $452 million for higher education projects
• $280 million in Ohio Public Works Commission projects
• $62.5 million for Clean Ohio
• $253 million for ODNR for damn construction and park improvements
• $18 million for the MARCS communications system
• $95.6 million for mental health facilities
• $287.7 for prison projects
The funding has already been approved by the Senate and the House is expected to concur as early as tomorrow.
OCA Safety Award Winners Announced During the Winter Conference
OCA announced the winners of its annual Jerry Keller Memorial Safety Awards on December 10, during day 3 of our Virtual Winter Conference.
This year’s winners were faced with a difficult construction season. Not only did they manage the normal hazards posed by our work, but they also faced a strange, new, and life-threatening virus while continuing work in an essential industry.
As is the norm for OCA members, they took on those new challenges, and worked constantly and creatively to maintain the health and safety of their employees, while helping to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
According to the latest Bureau of Labor Statistics, there were nearly 900 thousand injuries and illnesses last year that caused workers to miss at least one day of work. In contrast, seven of our program entrants this year, four of whom are Division Winners, had zero injuries! Our five Division Winners worked an aggregate of 1.6 million hours and had only 1 lost time injury among them. Four of the five Division winners had zero recordable injuries. This is the best aggregate performance in the history of the OCA Safety Awards Program! Truly amazing!
Following are this year’s Safety Award winners:
Best Safety Record Division IV (50 to 100 thousand hours)
(There was a tie in this Division)
Paul Peterson Company, Columbus
Turn–Key Tunneling, Columbus
Best Safety Record Division III (100 to 250 thousand hours)
BOCA Construction Company, Norwalk
Best Safety Record Division II (250 to 500 thousand hours)
Mt. Carmel Stabilization Group, Carmel Indiana and Dublin, Ohio Area Office
Best Safety Record Division I (500 thousand to 1 million hours)
Beaver Excavating Company, Canton
Congratulations to the winning companies! Also, thank you to all OCA contractors who submitted entries for this year’s awards program. Your efforts to prioritize the health and safety of your employees helps rank Ohio’s construction industry as one of the safest in the country. Happy Holidays and keep up the great work in the coming new year!
2020 OCA Annual Business Meeting
If you were unable to attend the 2020 OCA Winter Conference, we are providing a link to the 2020 OCA Annual Business Meeting. It includes the presentation from our keynote speaker, Steve Sandherr, AGC CEO. Also, remarks from the outgoing OCA Board Chair, Mike Ciammaichella and the incoming Chair, Brad Miller as well as the annual financial report. Chapter awards, safety awards, membership awards and the presentation of the Distinguished Service Award, Past Presidents Award and the induction of Nick DiGeronimo to the Hall of Fame are also included.
Click here to view the meeting.
Merger Creates New Entity for Managed Care of Ohio Workers Comp Claims
Following is exciting news from CompManagement, Third Party Administrator (TPA) for OCA’s Workers Comp Group Rating Program.
Introducing: Sedgwick Managed Care Ohio
We are writing with the exciting news that CompManagement Health Systems, Inc. (CompManagement) is merging with CareWorks of Ohio, Ltd. (CareWorks) effective Monday, December 21, 2020. This merger will accompany a name change to Sedgwick Managed Care Ohio (Sedgwick MCO).
You will recall that Sedgwick, CompManagement’s parent company, acquired CareWorks in 2019. For the past 16 months, the teams at CareWorks and CompManagement have partnered to develop best practices to ensure that we are providing outstanding outcomes for you and your injured workers. We are excited to now bring you a new level of managed care excellence.
The service team that you know, and trust will remain the same. Your nurse case manager, case examiner/case specialist and account executive will continue to work with you, your employees, and your organization. Your employees with an active claim will also receive a letter regarding this merger, along with updated instructions and reference information to share with treating physicians. Again, there will be no change in MCO contacts for you or your injured workers because of this merger.
For more information, you can review Frequently Asked Questions by clicking FAQ'S. Visit our new website by clicking New Website . We look forward to the expanded depth of resources that Sedgwick MCO brings to Ohio employers. If you have any questions or would like to discuss in greater detail, please reach out to your account executive, Mike Stadtmiller, Account Executive via email at [email protected] , or by phone at 614) 376-5488.
If you are not currently participating in OCA’s Workers Comp Group Rating Program would like to find out how your company can reduce its annual workers comp premium, please contact Mark Potnick in the OCA office.
OSHA Reveals Most-Violated Standards Related to COVID-19
OSHA has published a list of the most-violated standards during COVID-19 inspections to help employers better protect their workers. The agency also issued guidance that will assist contractors and other businesses in passing jobsite inspections.
The most frequently cited violations are those related to respiratory protection (1910.134) and specifically, the lack of medical evaluations and fit tests. The next-most violated standards are related to respiratory protection programs: not implementing a written program with worksite-specific safety procedures; not providing employees with information about using respirators when their use is not mandatory; and not designating a qualified administrator to ensure the respiratory program's effectiveness.
OSHA is using existing standards when inspecting jobsites for COVID-19 violations because it chose not to develop and issue COVID-19-specific emergency standards due to the evolving guidance from public health officials. The AFL-CIO tried to get the agency to provide specific guidance, but its legal challenge was unsuccessful.
In addition to respiratory protection citations, OSHA also cited employers with violations of:
• Recording and Reporting Occupational Injuries and Illnesses (Subpart 1904).
• Personal Protective Equipment (1910.132).
• General Duty Clause (OSH Act 5(a)(1)).
On its website, OSHA says that to come into compliance in advance of an inspection, employers should consider:
» Providing a medical evaluation before a worker is fit-tested or uses a respirator.
» Using a tight-fitting respirator to perform the fit test.
» Assessing the workplace to determine if COVID-19 hazards are or are likely to be present and if they will require the use of a respirator and/or other PPE.
» Establishing, implementing, and updating a written, worksite-specific respiratory protection program.
» Providing an appropriate respirator and/or other PPE to each employee when necessary.
» Providing up-to-date training to workers on the safe use of respirators and/or other PPE.
» Properly storing respirators and other PPE to protect them from damage.
» Timely reporting of work-related fatalities.
» Keeping required records of work-related fatalities, injuries, and illness.
Employers are required to make sure employees wear respirators when jobsite conditions call for their use. Some respirators capture fumes, others dust, but they should not be confused with face coverings like masks and shields that do not achieve as tight a fit. OSHA has issued guidance that construction workers wear face coverings while on the job to help prevent the spread of COVID-19 and to practice social distancing when possible.
In the absence of federal OSHA standards regarding the novel coronavirus, some states — Virginia, Michigan, and Oregon, which have OSHA-approved state safety programs — have introduced COVID-19 emergency standards. While each program is different in its details, they all have similar components such as the mandatory use of face coverings, social distancing and daily screening of workers and visitors for signs of infection.
One COVID-19-related rule that OSHA has introduced is the mandatory reporting of workplace-related COVID fatalities within eight hours of learning about it. The reporting is only required if the case was connected to workplace exposure.
To review additional information about COVID-19 on OSHA’s website, click here.
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The Ohio Contractors Association and Laborers' District Council of Ohio would like to invite Ashtabula, Youngstown and Warren Ohio Chapter Contractors to a unique webinar, scheduled for Tuesday, January 19th at 9:00 a.m.
During the hour-long webinar, contractors will receive vital information to enable your business to win more projects.
Here's what you can expect to learn from this session:
* Laborers' Health & Safety Fund
* Fair Contracting Staff
* Apprenticeship Standards and Recruitment
* Training and Upgrading Opportunities
* Health and Pension Benefits Available
Click here for a program flyer and registration link. Please contact Vince Irvin at 740-504-2707 with any questions about the virtual program.
Several OCA Chapter Scholarships Currently Available
OCA’s nine Chapters award scholarships at various times of the year throughout the state, totaling nearly $30,000. Scholarships typically range from $1,000 to $2,500 per award. Currently, four OCA Chapters are accepting scholarship applications. Students pursuing construction-related careers in Ohio’s heavy highway industry are encouraged to apply.
Current chapter scholarship applications available are:
Akron-Canton Chapter – click here for the application
Eastern Ohio Chapter – click here for the application
Toledo Chapter – click here for the application
Southwest Chapter - click here for the application
Columbus Chapter - click here for the application
Please help us get this information out to our future workforce! If you know of students working or going to school in any of the above chapter areas that would benefit, please pass this information along. For more information about OCA Chapter Scholarships, please contact Director of Chapter Development Melanie Kitchen at [email protected].
Tell President Trump and Congress to enact legislation this year to protect construction jobs by blocking a surprise federal tax increase of up to 37 percent on Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loan forgiveness.
If Congress fails to act by the end of the year, thousands of construction jobs funded through PPP loans could be in jeopardy because, rather than 100 percent of PPP funds going to payroll, rent, utility payments, and mortgage interest, up to 37 percent will go to the IRS instead.
Click the "Take Action" button below and simply submit the pre-written message as is to President Trump and your members of Congress or customize it with personal information on how this issue impacts you and your employer.
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Enacted in the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, the PPP is one of the most impactful pandemic relief measures utilized by tens of thousands of construction firms to retain their employees amid the greatest economic disruption of our lifetimes. The terms of the PPP were supposed to be simple: if a qualifying small business takes out a federally guaranteed loan to pay its employees and cover other non-payroll expenses, the loan will be forgiven, tax-free.
While Congressional tax writers made clear that they intended for PPP loan forgiveness to be completely tax-free, the IRS disagreed. On April 30, in IRS Notice 2020-32, the agency decided that expenses associated with PPP loan forgiveness were not tax deductible. Then, on November 18, the IRS issued Revenue Ruling 2020-27. In that ruling, the IRS declared that expenses funded through a PPP loan are not deductible for this tax year if “the taxpayer reasonably expects to receive forgiveness of the covered loan on the basis of the expenses it paid or accrued during the covered period, even if the taxpayer has not submitted an application for forgiveness of the covered loan by the end of such taxable year.”
The effect of these IRS rulings are to transform tax-free loan forgiveness into taxable income, regardless of whether a business has applied for PPP loan forgiveness this year, raising the specter of a surprise tax increase of up to 37 percent (or higher, once state income taxes are included) on small businesses at the end of the year.
AGC urges support for legislation in the Senate (S.3612 sponsored by Sen. Cornyn (R-Texas)) and in the House of Representatives (H.R. 6821 sponsored by Rep. Holding (R-N.C.) and H.R. 6754 sponsored by Rep. Fletcher (D-Texas)) that would overturn the IRS’s position and ensure that PPP loan recipients are provided the full benefits intended in the CARES Act. AGC is asking Congress to not delay in enacting this legislation, and to pass it before the end of the year.
Taking action is easy. Simply click the below button to submit the pre-written message as is to your elected officials or customize it with personal information on how this issue impacts you and your company. If you would like to forward the alert to colleagues and friends, please wait for the instructions that will be included in the confirmation email after you take action.
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OHIO881 Update - Important Changes Take Effect in January 2021
During the November 19th OHIO811 quarterly Board meeting, the Board of Trustees adopted the following change to the OHIO811 call center operations.
Beginning January 1, 2021, OHIO811 Customer Service Representatives (CSRs) will no longer be processing “Routine” or “Design” excavation notices (tickets) via phone between the hours of 10:00 p.m. each evening and 6:00 a.m. the following morning.
Please note that during this timeframe “non-emergency” excavation notices can still be submitted through the i-dig online ticket entry system. The i-dig system allows excavators to submit excavation notices 24/7/365. More information about i-dig can be found at https://www.oups.org/idig/.
Additionally, during the above referenced timeframe, OHIO811 CSRs will continue to process “Emergency” excavation notices (tickets) via phone with no restrictions.
The definition of an “Emergency” contained in the Ohio Revised Code (ORC) is as follows…
Sec. 3781.25 paragraph (V) “Emergency” means an unexpected occurrence causing a disruption or damage to an underground utility facility that requires immediate repair or a situation that creates a clear and imminent danger that demands immediate action to prevent or mitigate loss of or damage to life, health, property, or essential public services.
In conclusion, OHIO811 CSRs will continue to process all excavation notice (ticket) types (Routine, Design, Emergency, Large Project, Insufficient etc.) via phone between the hours of 6:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. each day.
OHIO811 appreciates your continued dedication to underground damage prevention and in helping to make Ohio a safe place to live and work.
Should you have any questions regarding this change, please feel free to contact our Operations Team at 1-800-311- 3692 ext. 4729 or 4730.
ODOT Announces DBE Trucking Disclosure Affidavit - Begins January 1, 2021
As the final measure to close out the FHWA Conciliation Agreement regarding ODOT’s DBE Program, ODI will ensure that Prime Contractors are monitoring DBE trucking/hauling operations on projects with federal funding. ODOT is proposing the creation of a Trucking Disclosure Affidavit. This form will be completed by the Prime Contractor along with each pay estimate and will affirm DBE and non-DBE trucking utilized by each DBE firm performing those duties during that pay estimate period. ODOT is proposing to monitor trucking (updating PN007) with the following requirements for all ODOT-let projects bid after January 1, 2021. The requirements may be found here.
On behalf of ODOT’s Division of Construction Management and Office of Roadway Engineering, registration is currently open for the following sessions of Worksite Traffic Supervisor (WTS) Prequalification Testing.
• January 5 – Morning » Click here to register.
• January 5 – Afternoon » Click here to register.
• February 2 – Morning » Click here to register.
• February 2 – Afternoon » Click here to register.
• March 2 – Morning » Click here to register.
• March 2 – Afternoon » Click here to register.
Click here to access the PDF flyer.
Prerequisites – Do not register for WTS Prequalification testing until the prerequisites have been completed. Please see the online registration form and flyer for details.
Pre-registration is required for WTS Testing. Seating capacity is limited for each session, based on social distancing requirements due to COVID-19.
Please review the important updates and safety protocols as described per the links above.
Quick Links to On-line OCA Resources
• Current Ohio Contractor Magazine
• Safety Resources
• Labor & Employment Information
• OCA President's Commentary
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