AWPT Operator Course Available in Spanish

“Vulnerable workers” in the United States who are not proficient in English may be at risk of not being properly trained for safe work at height.

At the IPAF Summit in Miami, Jordan Barab, U.S .Deputy Assistant Secretary of Labor for Occupational Safety and Health, highlighted the need to target vulnerable workers with limited English proficiency and commended IPAF’s ongoing training and safety initiatives. IPAF CEO Tim Whiteman committed to provide the AWPT operator training program in Spanish.

The aerial work platform (AWP) operator course managed in the US and Canada by IPAF’s North American subsidiary American Work Platform Training (AWPT) is now available in Spanish, as part of IPAF’s continuing commitment to provide training and safety material in other languages. IPAF has, thus, fulfilled the commitment made to the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration.

AWPT-approved training centers that will be offering the operator course in Spanish include Valcourt Exterior Building Services based in New Jersey. The AWPT eLearning module will be available in Spanish by the end of September.

“IPAF has met the commitment it made to provide materials in other languages,” says Tony Groat, IPAF USA and AWPT executive VP. “We open up the challenge to those in the industry. Get your employees trained in a manner they can understand for safe AWP operations. The material and the tools are there, and there is no excuse for untrained workers when working at height.”

Belgard Hardscapes Announces Ultimate Contractor Contest

Belgard Hardscapes is launching its Ultimate Contractor Contest, running through May 15, 2013.

Belgard challenges contractors across the country to share a new sales or marketing approach that will grow their business in 2013. Submissions will be accepted through May 15 at www.Belgard.biz/ultimate. 

The contractor with the most innovative idea will be named the Ultimate Contractor and receive a $15,000 business improvement package including:
    • 1,000 square feet of a product from Belgard Hardscapes’ 2013 introductions (product may depend on geographic region)
    • One year subscription to VisionScapes design software
    • A marketing consultation facilitated by the Belgard Hardscapes Marketing Team
    • A “Come Alive Outside Day” hosted by leading industry consultant Jim Paluch
    • One year enrollment in the Working Smarter Training Challenge
    • One year enrollment in A Better Way 2 Learn Financials.
  
For full contest rules and regulations and to enter, visit www.Belgard.biz/ultimate.

Mason Contractors: Learn About Life-Cycle Assessment

SCS Global Services (SCS) is pleased to announce a one-day, intensive introductory training course in life cycle assessment (LCA). The one-day course will be held in Emeryville, Calif., at SCS’ headquarters on March 5, 2012.

LCA is an assessment tool used to evaluate the environmental and human health impacts of products and services from a cradle-to-grave perspective, taking into account each stage of raw material extraction and processing, manufacturing, transportation, use and final disposal. LCA has evolved over four decades, and has been used to guide product design, purchase preferences, and investment decisions. Increasingly, LCA is considered the new paradigm for transparency in environmental labeling, and is being widely adopted for use.

This overview course is suitable to all levels and provides an introduction to LCA principles, a review of the international LCA framework and environmental product declaration standards (ISO 14040, 14044, and 14025), and a summary of the key provisions in a new draft national LCA standard (LEO-SCS-002) being developed under the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) process.

  
The new standard provides a detailed framework for conducting comprehensive life cycle impact assessment that is sufficiently robust to support public declarations, claims and comparisons. It builds upon and complements the basic international LCA framework, providing guidance to support the calculation of results that are complete, accurate, and will stand up to stakeholder scrutiny.

  
SCS programs span a wide cross-section of sectors, recognizing exemplary performance in natural resource management, green building, product manufacturing, food and agriculture, retailing and more. SCS is a Certified B Corp^., reflecting its commitment to socially and environmentally responsible business practice.

Maxwell Systems Launches 'My Maxwell'

Maxwell Systems Inc., a provider of construction business management software solutions, has unveiled enhancements and redesign of online customer-exclusive support and resource website to deliver a fresh look, added convenience, and other enhancements.

Accessible via secure login at www.maxwellsystems.com/mymaxwell, the site provides what customers need for around-the-clock access to support, training, product information and account details, and much more from a central location. It is a flexible way customers can learn more about using Maxwell Systems software to its fullest, and so work with greater ease and efficiency, while maximizing their technology investment through the lifetime of the solution used, whether construction estimating software, construction accounting software, construction project management software, or complete construction software.

The My Maxwell website is a convenient way for contractors to accomplish more in less time with greater ease and efficiency. Users can live chat with a support tech; download valuable software updates; submit product enhancement requests; watch self-paced training videos; coordinate classroom or on-site training; and reference thousands of searchable, helpful how-to articles, user guides, tax information, product news, and more.

"The redesign makes it easier to get to favorite features and puts navigation at a glance," says Mike Zarzeka, VP, customer operations at Maxwell Systems. "Plus the entire site is now packaged neatly and conveniently within the Maxwell Systems home page. So My Maxwell, made available exclusively to customers with an active Maxwell Systems support agreement, is now a single bookmark for a powerful online resource."

Terex Equipment Opens Columbus, Ohio, Location

Terex Equipment Services (TES) is opening a new service center location in Columbus, Ohio. The location will service all brands of aerial and industrial crane equipment in the Great Lakes region. 

“We are very excited to bring TES together with Crane America Services (the North American service segment of Terex Material Handling and Port Solutions) for the first time,” says Siva Balakrishnan, VP and global manager, Terex Aerial Work Platforms. “CAS has many strengths to offer our aerial customers as they are a recognized leader in providing equipment maintenance and have built a reputation on a quality staff. Crane America Services invests thousands of hours per year to keep their personnel current with today’s codes and technologies.”

The new location will be staffed by factory-trained technicians to perform extensive engine repairs, warranty updates, annual inspections, maintenance and preventative maintenance on aerials and industrial cranes. The 17,500-square-foot location offers two full bays, additional space and a secure yard.

OSHA Awards $10.7 M in Safety, Health Training Grants

The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safetyand Health Administration awarded $10.7 million through the Susan Harwood Training Grant Program to 72 nonprofit organizations, including community/faith-based groups, employer associations, labor unions, joint labor/management associations, and colleges and universities.

The goals of the Susan Harwood Training Grant Program are to provide training and education for workers and employers on the recognition, avoidance, and prevention of safety and health hazards in their workplaces, and to inform workers of their rights and employers of their responsibilities under the Occupational Safety and Health Act. Target trainees include small-business employers and under-served, low-literacy workers in high-hazard industries. Since 1978, more than 1.8 million workers have been trained through this program.

The award categories for fiscal year 2012 grants include Capacity Building Developmental, Targeted Topic Training, and Training and Educational Materials Development. 

Sixteen new organizations have been awarded a total of $1.6 million in grants for Targeted Topic Training, and Training and Educational Materials Development. Both grant types require that recipients address occupational safety and health topics designated by OSHA, and support the development of quality training materials and educational programs that address identifying and preventing workplace hazards.

OSHA has awarded approximately $785,000 in new Capacity Building Developmental grants to seven organizations whose past activities have demonstrated their ability to provide occupational safety and health training, education, and related assistance to workers and employers in high-hazard industries; small-business employers; and vulnerable workers. Organizations selected to receive these grants are expected to institutionalize organizational capacity to provide safety and health training on an ongoing basis.

An additional $8.3 million representing follow-on grants has been awarded to 49 FY 2011 Capacity Building Developmental grantees that performed satisfactorily during the last year and provided awardable applications this year.

For information about the FY 2012 Susan Harwood Training Grant Program recipients, visit http://www.osha.gov/dte/sharwood/2012_grant_recipients.html and

http://www.osha.gov/dte/sharwood/2012_grant_targeted_recipients.html.

OSHA Training to Enhance Federal Worker Safety

The Occupational Safety and HealthAdministration (OSHA) has scheduled a three-day training event for federal agency staff responsible for keeping federal workers safe and healthy on the job.

The OSHA Training Institute (OTI) and OSHA’s Office of Federal Agency Programs collaborated on developing a daily series of seminars that address ergonomics issues, hazard communication focused on the global harmonizing system, indoor air quality and workplace violence, among other topics. OSHA developed this training event to ensure that federal workplaces have safety programs equal to those in the private sector.

Federal agencies reported 53 federal worker deaths in fiscal 2010. Additionally, federal workers filed more than 30,000 workers’ compensation claims for injuries that resulted in lost time. This training event is intended to help federal managers implement and manage their injury and illness prevention programs which include finding and fixing workplace hazards.

The event will be held July 31 - Aug. 2, 2012, at the OSHA Training Institute, 2020 South Arlington Heights Rd., Arlington Heights, Ill. Registration will be open until July 24, 2012. Students can access registration forms, course descriptions and other details at www.osha.gov/dep/fap/fedweek_fy12.html. Completed registration forms must be emailed to OTI Student Services at oti.registration@dol.gov.

Government agency personnel will not be charged tuition or fees to attend the training courses. However, Department of Labor regulations require OSHA to charge tuition to private sector attendees and federal government contractors.

The OTI provides training and education in occupational safety and health for federal and state compliance officers, state consultants, other federal agency personnel, and the private sector. For more information on OTI, visit OSHA’s Directorate of Training and Education Web page. OSHA’s Office of Federal Agency Programs’ responsibilities include coordinating OSHA investigations of safety and health complaints from federal workers, coordinating with federal agencies on improving injury and illness prevention, and coordinating OSHA inspections to ensure agencies provide federal workers with safe work environments.