The Alabama AGC recently kicked off a workforce development program in Mobile to attract, train and retain workers at all skill levels and in many trades and make them available to employers through employee leasing agencies.

The Alabama chapter is recruiting workers from Mobile and surrounding areas, assessing their skill level, providing drug testing, and, when applicable, enrolling new workers in a construction orientation class and an OSHA 10-hour program.

The program also offers continuing construction trade education, which is offered through Bishop State College using the National Center for Construction Education and Research curriculum. Employee pay is based on field experience plus completed classroom work. Employees are placed in one of four levels, from common labor and to journeyworker.

Here’s how it works for employers:

1. AGC and employee leasing agencies will market to potential employees to attract them to the industry. Rates paid to employees will be published for public information to help attract workers.

2. Workers will be employees of employee leasing agencies and all wages, benefits and insurance will be included in the rate charged to contractors. Rate charged to contractors also includes cents per hour to
fund craft education.

3. AGC will publish rates for all contractors. Rates published to contractors will be proprietary and not for public
consumption.

4. Employee leasing agencies will work directly with contractors to determine what trades are needed and when. Workers – skilled and unskilled – will be provided to contractors as needed.

Here’s how it works for employees:

1. Applicants interview and are drug tested and processed by employee leasing agencies.

2. Employees are referred to the Alabama AGC office in Mobile for OSHA 10-hour, skills assessment testing and construction orientation class, as needed. Employees will be issued a card stating trade, skill level and readiness to work.

3. Employees will be offered a catalogue of construction education classes, to be held at three locations.

4. Employees will be ranked through four levels, with the final level being journeyman. Employee pay will increase as classes and on-the-job hours are completed. Level I pay for employees begins at $10 an hour and ends at $12, Level II begins at $12 and ends at $13, Level III begins at $13 and ends at $14, Level IV pay averages $20-$24 an hour, depending on trade.

NCCER is looking for bilingual general industrial electricians to serve as subject matter experts (SMEs) for an update to its Industrial Electrician Assessment (Spanish). The meeting will be held November 10-12, 2008, in Fairfax, Virginia.

The center also is seeking expert millwrights for its Millwright Level 5 validation and assessment, to be held December 8-12, 2008 in Orlando, Florida.

SMEs are construction, maintenance, or pipeline professionals who have journey-level or technician-level experience. SMEs are volunteers who review and revise the curricula for each craft and ensure that the NCCER curriculum remains current with industry standards.

Both sessions will include an NCCER facilitator and a psychometrician from Prov, NCCER’s test development partner.

NCCER will provide all meeting materials, breakfasts, and lunches during the meeting. SMEs are expected to pay their own travel and lodging costs for the meeting.

For more information, please contact Patty Bird at 352-334-0911 ext. 125 or at pbird@nccer.org.

AGC of America would like to thank the latest chapters and members who have stepped forward to sponsor Build Up! kits for Boys & Girls Clubs around the nation.

Faith Technologies sent two kits to Boys & Girls Clubs in Appleton and Dunkirk, Wisconsin; Slate Hill Constructors sent two kits to Syracuse, New York; AGC of Austin sent 10 kits to clubs in Arlington, Austin, and Gatesville, Texas; AGC of Maryland sponsored two kits for the club in Southern Maryland; Enterprise Fleet Management sent a kit to Calhoun, Georgia; and the Louisiana AGC, Inc. and the Louisiana Contractors Educational Trust Fund sent four kits to Alexandria, Louisiana. NAWIC also a kit for a Wisconsin club.

We have fulfilled more than 40 requests for kits. AGC of America is still seeking sponsors for 235 more Build Up! kits, and the requests keep coming!

Each kit costs $199 plus shipping and would be shipped directly to the requesting club. Additionally, AGC will send to the club a letter in advance of each kit, telling the club the name of the sponsoring AGC member or chapter.

We are looking for sponsors for kits to be shipped communities in Alaska, Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Indiana, Maryland, Maine, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Puerto Rico, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Washington state, and Wisconsin.

Boys & Girls Clubs serve nearly 5 million youths from more than 4,000, primarily inner-city, clubhouses. The 102-year-old charity offers youths of all ages a safe, professionally staffed haven that is open after school and on weekends. Club programs and services promote and enhance the development of boys and girls by instilling a sense of competence, usefulness, belonging and influence.

Please contact Liz Elvin at elvinl@agc.org to learn if there’s a club in your area looking for a Build Up! kit.

Laborers-AGC Education and Training Fund (Laborers-AGC) recently received independent accreditation for its curriculum development and instructor training programs for construction craft laborer training. The International Accreditation Service (IAS) presented Laborers-AGC with an accreditation certificate at a ceremony during the Laborers’ International Union of North America (LIUNA) Annual Tri-Fund Conference on August 18.

IAS accreditation requires that Laborers-AGC training programs meet rigorous qualifications and pass comprehensive reviews. Accreditation criteria (IAS AC371 and AC372) for these programs were developed by industry experts and approved through a public hearing process.

The individuals in the photo are (L-R): Terence M. O’Sullivan, LIUNA General President and Laborers-AGC Labor Co-Chair; C.P. Ramani, President of IAS; Edward J. Hynds, Jr., Chairman of English Brothers Company and Laborers-AGC Management Co-Chair; and John J. LeConche, Laborers-AGC Executive Director.

“Independent accreditation by a well-respected organization like IAS sets our training apart,” said Laborers-AGC Executive Director John J. LeConche. “LIUNA members know they’ll receive the best skills training available because it must pass independent quality standards.”

Laborers-AGC is a labor-management trust fund established by AGC and LIUNA in 1969. It provides curriculum and instructor training for LIUNA training programs in construction, environmental remediation, and health and safety. Over 70 training sites in the U.S. and Canada use the resources developed by Laborers-AGC. They reach more than 120,000 workers each year, and the amount and variety of training is growing.

“Laborers-AGC has always been dedicated to high-quality products and services. Accreditation confirms that commitment, but we don’t intend to rest on this accomplishment. We’re proud to be the first to achieve this distinction. Now we want to make sure that as many workers and employers as possible benefit from the quality training that is available,” said LeConche.

For more information on Laborers-AGC, click here.

AGC supports increased investment in our infrastructure and believes that Americans deserve to know the dire state of our neglected and aging water infrastructure systems. That is why AGC contributed $100,000 to PSU Public Broadcasting for the production of Liquid Assets: The Story of Our Water Infrastructure.
Sponsors of Liquid Assets and industry leaders gathered at a screening at Washington, D.C.′s Newseum on September 9.

The documentary is a tool for educating the American public about how our water infrastructure operates. Liquid Assets focuses on how our water and wastewater infrastructure provide a critical public health function and is essential for economic development and growth, and highlights the current status of our national water infrastructure and the tremendous challenges to maintain and modernize these systems to maintain our quality of life. Some estimates suggest that modernizing and replacing aging water infrastructure will be the single largest public works endeavor in our nation′s history.

Liquid Assets began broadcasting on October 1. Check http://www.agc.org/liquidassets for an air date near you.

For more information, please contact Perry L. Fowler at (703) 837-5321 or fowlerp@agc.org

Moretrench employees take advantage of onsite safety training

Meeting the safety training needs of a mobile and widely dispersed workforce is a challenge faced by AGC contractors nationwide. Many tough questions arise in dealing with an individual contractor’s unique training needs.

• When do you schedule safety training to minimize impact on job schedules and maximize production?
• How do you arrange transportation for workers between job sites and safety training sites?
• How many workers can you train effectively in one training session?
• How do you successfully complete desired safety training in the most cost-effective manner?

Moretrench, an industrial contractor based in Riverview, FL, has found its own answers to these questions by taking a portion of its safety training program on the road; directly to the client job sites and to the workers in the field. Towed using the power of a GMC 5500 dually truck, Moretrench delivers safety training out of a dedicated, well-equipped 53’ Safety Training Trailer. The trailer moves on a weekly (and occasionally daily) basis between client job sites and plant locations across Central Florida, delivering site-specific and job-specific safety training to its workers.

Moretrench clients in the electric utility, process chemical, and mining industries demand a wide array of self-performed services, including earthwork and excavation, industrial piping, concrete work, and plant maintenance and repair. Self-performance of these and many other services requires Moretrench to deliver an extensive safety training program to each of its workers. With the company handling over 90% of its safety training on an in-house basis, Moretrench’s Safety Training Trailer plays an integral role in helping to fill the company’s safety training need.

The Safety Training Trailer is outfitted with all the tools needed to deliver on-site safety training. The trailer contains a computer with large monitor, surround sound system, television with DVD and VCR, complete wiring for a 12-station computer lab, wireless internet and satellite receiver system capability, and a dedicated 15KW generator. During times of emergency, such as hurricanes and other natural disasters, Moretrench’s Safety Training Trailer can easily change roles and act as a mobile command center to serve its employees and clients.

Over the past 12 months, Moretrench has delivered over 800 on-site training modules utilizing the Safety Training Trailer. This training has included, but not been limited to:

• NUCA Trench & Excavation
• NUCA Confined Space
• OSHA General Industry
• OSHA Construction
• ASHI First aid / CPR
• MSHA Exp Miner & Task training
• HAZCOM
• Respirator use & fit testing
• Basic Rigging
• Lifting Using an Excavator
• FDOT Flagger training
• Site-specific safety training for two industrial clients

Keith McAlexander, Moretrench Safety Training Coordinator, notes, "After conducting safety and trades training for many years, I can say with certainty the Moretrench Safety Training Trailer is by far one of the best training tools I’ve had the pleasure of using.”

An outside look at Moretrench