John E. Ahern, Jr., MCAA’s President in 1995 and Chairman Emeritus of the J.F. Ahern Company in Fond du Lac, WI, passed away on February 12, 2019. He will be sorely missed and fondly remembered by the entire MCAA family.

In addition to his service to our industry, John was passionate about giving back to his community. He served in leadership roles for several community organizations as well as his church.

An avid golfer and family man, he will be remembered not only for his public service, but also for quietly helping others through countless acts of kindness.

Visitation will be held on Thursday, February 21, 2019 from 3:00 to 7:00 PM at the Zacherl Funeral Home and on Friday, February 22, 2019 from 11:00 AM to 12:45 PM at Holy Family Catholic Church.

A Memorial Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated at the church at 1:00 PM on Friday, February 22, 2019. A celebration of John’s life will be held at a later date in Naples, FL.

OSHA recently published a final rule modifying its recordkeeping regulation that required employers with 250 or more employees to submit recordkeeping forms 300 (log of work-related injuries and illnesses), 301 (incident report form), and 300A (annual summary of work-related injuries and illnesses). The new rule eliminates the obligation for employers with 250 or more employees to submit their forms 300 and 301. However,  they will still be required to submit their 300A annual summary forms. Employers with fewer than 250 employees are already required to submit 300A summary forms annually. The new rule also requires covered employers to electronically submit their Employer Identification Number along with the 300A  annual summaries.  The deadline for electronic submissions of recordable injury/illness information from 2018 is March 2, 2019.

FINAL RULE

For the 16th consecutive year, attendance at MCAA’s annual Safety Directors’ Conference increased substantially. The conference was presented last week in Orlando, Florida to a record crowd of 286 attendees, who enjoyed 17 educational sessions addressing the most current mechanical industry-specific safety and health topics and issues. They also appreciated several networking and team building opportunities throughout the conference.

The educational topics included:

• The value of professional safety certifications
• New video scanning technology to identify safety hazards
• New back injury prevention techniques
• Safety leadership and group dynamics
• Telemedicine to help prevent recordable injuries
• Virtual safety training technology
• Traversing marijuana and post-accident drug testing traps
• Exoskeleton technology
• Construction safety tools
• Fall arrest suspension trauma
• Open-topic discussions
• How to make safety training messages memorable
• The UA Standard for Safety
• What’s working for mechanical industry safety professionals around the country
• The most effective way to create a safe, healthy, productive workplace

Attendees also learned about new safety and health equipment and services at the annual Safety Directors’ Conference exhibit.

Planning for next year’s conference is already well underway. The conference will be presented January 21-23, 2020 in San Antonio.

MCAA’s Advanced Institute for Project Management (AIPM) Class 16 took place in sunny Austin, TX. After six intensive days of studying everything from customer relationships and finance, to legal issues and operations management, to claims and how to avoid them, 38 individuals from MCAA member companies became the newest group of AIPM graduates.

Thirty companies from across the country sent their best and brightest to AIPM 16. Participants brought both energy and enthusiasm to the classroom and beyond as they engaged with the industry experts, consultants, and professors who made up their faculty, as well as each with other.

As many of our new grads observed during the program’s concluding session, the connections built with peers at AIPM are perhaps as great a benefit as the many skills and tools developed while in class.

The AIPM is a once-a-year opportunity that prepares senior project managers, project executives, and operations officers for future advancement and increased responsibilities, providing them with essential senior-level project management skills.

AIPM Class 17 will take place January 23-28, 2021. You can find all the details here.