Our industry’s future leaders are getting a closer look at the field of mechanical contracting at MCAA’s 2018 GreatFutures Forum. MCAA President Michael Brandt welcomed everyone, and Career Development Committee Chair Jon Finch reviewed plans for the event, which includes a variety of education, the debut of a new Student Chapter Presidents Advisory Council, a job fair and a tour of Southland Industries.

Have you ever wished your field leaders were more focused on results? Would you like them to help grow your company’s profits and brand? The Field Leaders Conference gives them the skills they need to make those wishes come true.

Take it from Rick Gopffarth, Vice President of Dynamic Systems, Inc. (DSI), who said, “Getting back to fundamentals and understanding that mechanical contracting is a ‘people’ business are the key takeaways” that he and the 10 DSI superintendents who attended the Houston Field Leaders Conference garnered.

Eric White, DSI Piping Superintendent and a self-professed “kind of person who would rather have someone ‘get out of the way’ so I can do it myself,” found he needed to change his mindset and learn how to build a team, delegate and trust his crew to follow through. Inspired by Kevin Dougherty’s presentation, he has a new personal goal: getting his people to work with him, not for him.

First-time superintendent Luke Long found the session on the impact on profitability the most eye-opening. He learned that it’s his responsibility to dig into the job, review the specs and details and make certain everything is correct before turning the project over to his foremen. He appreciated the opportunity to attend the conference. He added that, building the skills of millennials like him, who want to work when they’re engaged in the project and involved in making decisions, is crucial to the future growth of the company.

Join Us in San Francisco

The next Field Leaders Conference will take place November 7-9, 2018 in San Francisco, CA. It’s a great time to reward your team members for a job well done and infuse your company with new energy for the year ahead.

Many construction owners, general contractors, and construction managers require affected companies to establish written crane and derrick safety programs that minimize risk to their employees and ensure compliance with OSHA’s Cranes and Derricks in Construction safety standard. MCAA’s Model Crane Safety Program can be quickly and easily tailored to create your program. It makes development and implementation of such a program as easy and cost-effective as possible.

In addition to this model program, MCAA offers a safety bulletin summarizing OSHA’s Cranes and Derricks in Construction safety standard.

If you have any questions about this or any other safety resources, or about other occupational safety and health issues, please contact Pete Chaney.

MCAA’s Toolbox Safety Talks for Construction Contractors – Volume IV simplifies worker safety training with 52 talks, enough for a full year of weekly worker safety training.

Topics covered include:

• Ladders and stairways
• Vehicle safety
• Wellness
• Hazardous substances, such as hexavalent chromium and lead
• Rigging
• Electrical
• PPE
• Emergency preparedness
• And more!

Instructions and a worker safety training documentation sheet are included to further simplify the process.

Download

Want even more safety resources?

MCAA has you covered, with a full range of resources to help you protect your workers from injury and comply with applicable safety regulations. Here’s where to find them:

On our Direct Links to MCAA & MSCA Safety Resources page, where they’re listed by category with links.

Go there now

In the Resource Center, where you can use the blue Refine Your Search bar to pinpoint exactly what you’re looking for.

Visit the Resource Center

Have questions or need personal assistance?

Contact MCAA’s Pete Chaney.

3M Fall Protection is issuing a Stop Use and Recall Notice regarding the 3M™ DBI-SALA® 16 Ft. Talon™ Self Retracting Life Line. The company detected a small quantity of these lifelines that are defective due to an assembly error. There have been no reports of fall-related injuries associated with this. However, defective units would not arrest a fall, resulting in serious injury or death. Your immediate action is required.

This incredible learning opportunity is back for 2018.

MCAA’s Collective Bargaining Seminar is here to help members and local association executives improve their understanding of the bargaining process to assist in preparing properly for negotiations, and to make bargaining a constructive event for management and labor.

Register now!

Learn negotiating techniques and constructive approaches to labor negotiations that will improve workforce performance along with contractor and industry competitiveness.

The program starts Wednesday afternoon, October 31, and concludes at 11:00 a.m. on Friday, November 2, at the Madison Washington DC Hilton Hotel.

Topics covered will include:

• The Interpersonal Aspects of the Bargaining Relationship and Process
• Do’s and Don’ts of the Bargaining Process.  Best Practices and Lessons Learned
• Procedure and Law, Basic Principles, Structure of Multiemployer Bargaining Unit
• Drug Testing Issues
• Apprenticeship Issues
• Paid Family and Medical Leave Requirements
• The Union’s Perspective, Constraints in the Bargaining & CBA Administration Process
• Current Issues at the National labor Relations Board, Labor Departments Impacting Union-Signatory, Open Shop Construction Employers and Benefit Fund Administration

Featured Speakers include:

• Richard Barnes, C. Richard Barnes Associates
• Bob Battista, Counsel, MCA of Maryland and MCA of Detroit; Former Chairman NLRB
• Ellen Boardman, Partner, O’Donoghue & O’Donoghue, UA Legal Counsel
• Dale Hagedorn, Construction Data Services
• Michael Kreps, Partner at Groom Law Group
• Lou Malone, O’Donoghue and O’Donoghue, Counsel International Training Fund
• Rocky Miller, Partner, Cox Castle & Nicholson
• Ryan Poor, Partner, Ice Miller
• Glenn Rex, MCA of Houston
• Dick Sawhill, ARCA-MCA
• Steve Weissenberger, MCA of Maryland