Flashings

• 

SBA explains health care benefits for small businesses

Karen Mills, administrator of the Small Business Administration (SBA), has written an open letter to U.S. small-business owners explaining immediate benefits available to small businesses as part of the Affordable Care Act.

Benefits include a tax credit to help small-business owners pay up to 35 percent of their employee premiums; better information regarding affordable health care options; and an exemption for small businesses from employer responsibility requirements.

The letter can be viewed at www.sba.gov/acaletter.

Motivate employees through effective training

Motivation often is linked to effective training; employees won't feel excited about a job they don't know how to perform. Motivate employees through training by using the following tips:

• Set goals. Make sure employees understand what results you expect training to produce. Working with trainers ahead of time can help you establish objective goals.
• Change it up. Because people learn differently, your training program should not rely on one teaching method; rather, various techniques should be used to train employees.
• Make cuts. Frequently review your training program, and cut any aspects that don't yield results. Maintaining ineffective training programs wastes time and money.
• Follow up. Don't assume your training program is effective. Carefully watch employees who have completed the program to determine how they are using their new knowledge and skills.

Source: Adapted from The Motivational Manager, June issue.

EPA extends deadline for certification requirement

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is allowing additional time for renovation firms and workers to obtain the training and certification required by EPA's Renovation, Repair and Painting (RRP) Rule. The rule took effect April 22, but firms and workers affected by the rule voiced concerns regarding difficulties obtaining certification and training.

Now, EPA will not take enforcement action for violations of the RRP Rule's certification requirement until Oct. 1. Additionally, regarding the rule's renovation worker certification requirement, EPA will not take action against individual renovation workers if the individual has applied to enroll in or has enrolled in a certified renovator class by Sept. 30; renovators must complete training by Dec. 31.

EPA established the rule for any company involved with projects that have the potential to disturb lead-based paint, which can release hazardous dust that can harm adults and children. As a result, EPA must certify any company or worker performing renovation activities involving lead-based paint.

To date, training providers have offered more than 15,000 classes and trained 300,000 people. EPA believes offering additional time will facilitate firms' and workers' compliance with the rule.

More information about training is available at www.epa.gov/lead/pubs/training.htm; more information about lead-safe work practices is available at www.epa.gov/lead/pubs/renovation.htm#requirements.

OSHA's Severe Violator Enforcement Program directive takes effect

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration's (OSHA's) Severe Violator Enforcement Program (SVEP) directive became effective June 18. The program was implemented to focus on employers who continually disregard their legal obligations to protect workers.

SVEP focuses enforcement efforts on employers who willfully and repeatedly endanger workers by exposing them to serious hazards. The directive establishes procedures and enforcement actions for the program, including increased inspections, such as mandatory follow-up inspections of a workplace found in violation and inspections of the violating company's other work sites where similar hazards or deficiencies may be present.

The directive explains SVEP is intended to focus enforcement efforts on employers who have demonstrated recalcitrance or indifference to their Occupational Safety and Health Act obligations by committing willful, repeated or failure-to-abate violations in one or more of the following circumstances: a fatality or catastrophe situation; industry operations or processes that expose workers to severe occupational hazards; exposing workers to hazards related to the potential releases of highly hazardous chemicals; and all egregious enforcement actions.

More information about SVEP is available at www.osha.gov/dep/svep-directive.pdf.

In addition, OSHA has announced "Introduction to OSHA," a training component that emphasizes workers' rights and is required content in every OSHA 10- and 30-hour Outreach Training Program class. OSHA developed the module to support the secretary of labor's goal of giving workers the confidence to speak up when they observe dangerous work practices without fear of losing their jobs.

This information affects hundreds of thousands of workers who complete Outreach Training Program classes each year and more than 50,000 authorized OSHA Outreach Trainers. It focuses on the importance of workers' rights and advises workers of their right to work in safe and healthful workplaces; know about the presence and effects of hazardous chemicals; review information about injuries and illnesses in their workplaces; receive training; request or file for an OSHA inspection and participate in the inspection; and be free from retaliation for exercising their safety and health rights.

More information about the new training component is available at www.osha.gov/dte/outreach/teachingaids.html.

Details

David Hesse

What is your position within your company?
I am vice president of Kalkreuth Roofing & Sheet Metal Inc., Frederick, Md.

What is the most unusual roofing project you've performed?
A 22,000-square-foot metal roof system on an office tower 380 feet in the air. The wind never stopped!

Why did you become a roofing contractor?
A yearlong internship with Kalkreuth Roofing & Sheet Metal got me addicted to the industry.

What was your first roofing experience?
Helping tear off a steep-slope roof on a school in the middle of summer. Is there any other first roofing experience?

What is your favorite movie?
"Diggstown"—a little under the radar but worth it!

What do you consider your most rewarding experience?
Time spent helping others is very rewarding to me.

What was your first job?
I started delivering morning newspapers to my neighborhood when I was in fifth grade.

What is your favorite vacation?
Relaxing on a beach with a book

What do you consider a waste of time?
Sitting in Washington, D.C., traffic

What are your best and worst habits?
Persistence is both—sometimes I just don't know when to give up.

What is your biggest pet peeve?
People who won't help themselves

If you could invite any three people (dead or alive) to dinner, whom would you invite and why?
Jerry West and Gen. George Patton to talk about competition and strategy and John Denver for an after-dinner round of "Country Roads"

What is your favorite stress reliever?
Getting away for a weekend on Cheat Lake, W.V.

What are the most challenging aspects of your job?
Keeping our team focused enough to be efficient with our work but flexible enough to address the fast-paced changes in our industry and technology

What is your roofing industry involvement?
I currently serve on NRCA's board of directors.

People would be surprised to know …
I tried out to be the school mascot while attending college.

DOL finalizes rules involving employees' rights

The Department of Labor (DOL) recently finalized rules requiring government contractors and subcontractors to post notices regarding their employees' right to organize under the National Labor Relations Act. The rules were issued pursuant to Executive Order 13496 issued in early 2009 by President Obama, who justified the regulations by declaring workers' productivity is enhanced and federal contracts efficiently and economically completed when workers are informed regarding their federal labor law rights.

The regulations also require most federal agencies to include within their government contracts a provision requiring contractors and subcontractors to post the notice. The posting requirements do not apply to prime contracts under the simplified acquisition threshold, which currently is set at $100,000, or to subcontracts less than $10,000. The requirement became effective June 21 with respect to contracts awarded based on solicitations issued on or after that date.

A fact sheet issued by DOL's Office of Labor-Management Standards (OLMS) outlines the requirements in greater detail, as well as penalties for noncompliance, and is available at www.dol.gov/olms/regs/compliance/fact_labor_rights_poster.htm.

Hard copies of the notice can be obtained from OLMS by calling (202) 693-0123 or e-mailing olms-public@dol.gov.

Prevent workplace violence

Even if it seems unlikely violence will occur within your workplace, you should have a prevention plan in place. Following are some suggestions for creating a workplace violence prevention plan:

• Write a policy. Create a written statement expressing your company's intolerance of violence. Be sure to indicate any disciplinary measures that will be taken against individuals who participate in workplace violence.
• Prohibit weapons. Make it explicitly clear that weapons of any kind are banned from the workplace at all times.
• Put someone in charge. Designate yourself or another manager to be leader in the event of an emergency or threat.
• Build relationships. Talk to your employees and attorney, as well as local law enforcement officers, to devise possible responses to workplace violence.
• Train workers. Employees should be briefed on your anti-violence policy and procedures upon being hired. Training should be repeated about once per year.
• Look for weak points. Audit your workplace for areas that may not be secure, such as side entrances and parking areas.

Source: Adapted from The Manager's Intelligence Report, June issue.