The national estimated average price-per-gallon for off-highway diesel fuel as of March 24 is $3.720. That is lower than the previous comparison price-per-gallon of $3.761.
Read MoreCategory: Key Issues
MSHA Reports on December Impact Inspections
T he U.S. Department of Labor’s Mine Safety and Health Administration announced that federal inspectors issued 135 citations, 24 orders and one safeguard during special impact inspections conducted at 11 coal mines and two metal and nonmetal mines in December 2013. Only one aggregates operation was inspected: BCJ Sand and Rock Inc. Eight violations were uncovered. The monthly inspections, which…
Read MoreMeadows Stone Settles Past MSHA Debt Through Garnishment
United States Attorney William J. Ihlenfeld, II, announced in a press release that the Northern District of West Virginia had collected $116,183 in delinquent civil penalties from a West Virginia quarry.
Read MoreRequest for Depositions Denied Where Case Designed for Simplified Proceeding
By Ellen Smith R eview Commission Judge William Moran denied a construction company’s motion to conduct depositions where a case was designated for a simplified proceeding under Commission Rule 29 CFR §2700.101. Rule 101 requires that cases designated for Simplified Proceedings not involve fatalities, injuries, or illnesses, and generally include one or more of the following characteristics: the case involves…
Read MoreWhy Do We Have To?
O ne of the MSHA standards that we’ve grown to know and love is captured in the quotation above. It’s a perfect example of MSHA’s institutional neglect in maintaining certain standards with respect to advanced technology – fall arrest harnesses and retractable lanyards.
Read MoreIndustry Slams OSHA’s Crystalline Silica Proposal
By Mark S. Kuhar The Construction Industry Safety Coalition, which represents 25 different construction trade associations, issued the following statement on Feb. 11, 2014, as it filed comments regarding the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s (OSHA) proposed Crystalline Silica Rulemaking: “After an exhaustive analysis that involved hundreds of construction safety professionals, builders, construction managers and specialty trade contractors representing virtually…
Read MoreWorkplace Violence
HOW TO EVALUATE THE RISK AND REDUCE THE POTENTIAL HAZARD. By Nickole C. Winnett Each year, workplace violence results in nearly two million non-fatal acts and approximately 600 employee deaths. It has remained among the top four causes of death at work for the last 15 years. The federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) defines workplace violence as any…
Read MorePermitting – March 2014
Rogers Group Seeks PermitThe last legal hurdle is to follow up on a request made to the Tippecanoe County Board of Zoning Appeals for a conditional use permit. The BZA will weigh the request at its June meeting. Not all are pleased with the proposed Americus stone quarry, specifically those who live in the 200 homes within a mile or…
Read MoreJanuary Construction Slides 13 Percent
HIGHWAY AND BRIDGE CONSTRUCTION FELL AS WINTER TEMPERATURES HIT HARD IN SOME PARTS OF THE COUNTY. By Mark S. Kuhar The value of new construction starts fell 13 percent in January to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $485.0 billion, according to McGraw Hill Construction, a division of McGraw Hill Financial. The downturn followed a healthy performance in December, which…
Read MoreDo-It-Yourself Focus Groups
FOCUS GROUPS CAN BE USED TO GENERATE IDEAS AND DEEPEN YOUR UNDERSTANDING OF ISSUES. By Thomas J. Roach There are two kinds of research: quantitative and qualitative. Surveys are quantitative research. That means they ask questions with answers that can be converted into numbers. Quantitative research is the fastest, most efficient way to gather information from a large public. Qualitative…
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