Flashings

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SBA releases H1N1 preparedness guide

Small Business Administration (SBA) Administrator Karen Mills and Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano have announced the availability of a preparedness guide designed to assist small businesses with planning for the possibility of an H1N1 flu outbreak.

The preparedness guide offers small-business employers tools and information to help them plan for and respond to varying levels of severity of an H1N1 outbreak. An outbreak may lead to increased employee absenteeism and, if the outbreak becomes severe, may restrict service capabilities and disrupt supply chains.

Employers are encouraged to put strategies in place to protect their employees and businesses. The preparedness guide includes tips for writing an operations plan, steps for keeping employees healthy, frequently asked questions about the 2009 H1N1 flu and a list of additional online resources.

"Small-business owners should take the time to create a plan, talk with their employees and make sure they are prepared for flu season," Mills says. "For countless small businesses, having even one or two employees out for a few days has the potential to negatively impact operations and their bottom line. A thoughtful plan will help keep employees and their families healthy, as well as protect small businesses and local economies."

For more information or to view the preparedness guide, visit www.flu.gov.

Get the most out of employee complaints

Employee complaints should not always be viewed negatively. They can alert you to serious problems, as well as let you know whether an employee has a negative attitude. Remember the following guidelines when sorting through employee complaints:

• Always follow up. Don't ignore employee complaints even when they don't appear pressing. Although a complaint may seem trivial to you, the employee probably believes it is important.
• Maintain standards. Being consistent can protect your company from legal backlash. Don't raise or relax standards for a complainant. If you need to adjust performance expectations, adjust them for everyone.
• Review the documentation. Keep track of complaints. Be ready to take action if an employee regularly disrupts business by making unfounded complaints. Keep detailed notes about employee complaints and attitudes using objective language and citing specific examples. Don't consider an employee's complaint as evidence that he or she has a negative attitude; rather, focus on behavior and its effect on work performance.

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

OSHA updates PPE standards

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has announced a final rule revising the personal protective equipment (PPE) sections of its general industry, shipyard employment, longshoring and marine terminals standards regarding requirements for eye- and face-protective devices, as well as head and foot protection.

OSHA is updating the references in its regulations to reflect recent editions of the applicable national consensus standards incorporating technological advances. OSHA requires PPE to be safely designed and constructed for the tasks performed.

"Workers exposed to occupational hazards requiring head, foot, or eye and face protection now will be provided protection based on a standard that reflects state-of-the-art technology and materials," says Jordan Barab, OSHA's acting assistant secretary of labor. "This final rule is another step in OSHA's efforts to update or remove references to outdated national consensus and industry standards."

The PPE standards' amendments include a requirement that filter lenses and plates in eye-protection equipment pass a test for transmission of radiant energy, such as light or infrared.

The final rule took effect Oct. 9. For more information, visit www.osha.gov. For technical inquiries, contact Ted Twardowski, OSHA's directorate of standards and guidance, at (202) 693-2070.

In addition, OSHA recently published Controlling Silica Exposures in Construction, a guidance document addressing the control of worker exposure to dust containing crystalline silica, which is known to cause the lung disease silicosis. The publication is intended to assist employers in providing a safe and healthful workplace and includes methods for controlling silica.

Employers should monitor silica exposure by periodically testing air samples at construction sites to determine whether the level of silica in the air exceeds the permissible exposure limit (PEL) outlined in the construction PEL standard. Silica is one of OSHA's areas of emphasis, and the agency has developed standards to ensure work practice controls are effective.

For more information, visit OSHA's Safety and Health Topics page about crystalline silica at www.osha.gov/SLTC/silicacrystalline/index.html.

Reduce unnecessary employee absenteeism

Most often, employees who call in sick actually are sick. However, sometimes they may just want to take the day off. You can reduce employee truancies by paying attention to some common causes:

• Management style. Are employees avoiding you? Bosses who don't consider their employees' needs often experience high absenteeism rates. Review your management style. If employees feel comfortable at work, they are more likely to want to show up regularly.
• Working conditions. Do your employees have the tools they need to complete their jobs? Is the work environment comfortable and climate-controlled where appropriate? Is the workplace free of harassment and intimidation? Are employees treated with respect? Is the workload balanced? If working conditions are poor, employees may avoid coming to work.
• Lack of incentive. Incentive programs can inspire enthusiasm and make people want to come to work. Consider awarding prizes for perfect attendance; however, make sure employees know to stay home if they actually are sick.
• Larger problems. Focus your attention on chronic absenteeism; this can be a sign of other serious problems, such as an ill loved one, inability to find adequate childcare, substance abuse or depression. Offer assistance whenever possible to help employees handle such problems.

Source: Adapted from The Motivational Manager, August issue

Details

Jim MacKimm

What is your position within your company?
I am senior vice president of Beacon Roofing Supply Inc., Peabody, Mass.

What is the most unusual roofing project of which you have been a part?
Replacing sections of Ludowici Roof Tiles on the Boston Public Library. We had to match the new tiles to the original 1937 tiles.

Why did you become involved with the roofing industry?
I answered a blind ad in a newspaper for a sales job just out of college and ended up getting a job selling shingles and built-up roofing.

What was your first roofing experience?
Loading shingles on a strip mall when I was working for a general contractor while I was in college

What was your first job?
Cleaning cages in a kennel

If you could travel anywhere in the world, where would you go?
Mount Everest

What do you consider a waste of time?
Long explanations. Just give me the answer; I don't need the story.

List three words that best describe you.
Energetic, competitive and disciplined

What is your biggest pet peeve?
I really don't have one.

If you could invite any three people (dead or alive) to dinner, whom would you invite and why?
Gen. Omar Bradley and Gen. Joshua Chamberlain—both had teaching backgrounds and even-tempered management styles and became great leaders; and Richie Schley—a world-class mountain biker who lives by a great motto: "Don't die wondering."

What are the most challenging aspects of your job?
Getting a group of people to work together to accomplish the company's objectives and goals

What is your roofing industry involvement?
I am a Roofing Industry Alliance for Progress director, North/East Roofing Contractors Association director and North/East Roofing Educational Foundation trustee.

People would be surprised to know …
At 53, I still compete in mogul competitions.

Construction workers account for one-third of August job losses

According to the Associated General Contractors of America's (AGC's) analysis of construction employment figures released by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, construction workers accounted for almost one-third of jobs lost during August.

Construction employment nationwide declined by 65,000 during August. Construction workers accounted for 30 percent of the total nonfarm job losses reported for the month though the industry accounts for only 5 percent of the workforce. AGC's analysis also indicates 1.4 million construction workers have lost their jobs since the recession began. As a result, the construction worker unemployment rate is 16.5 percent (not seasonally adjusted) while the overall unemployment rate is 9.6 percent (not seasonally adjusted).

Nonresidential construction continues to account for more of the industry's job losses compared with residential construction. Nearly 43,000 nonresidential construction workers lost their jobs during August compared with 22,600 residential construction workers.

"It is time for federal agencies to convert stimulus project announcements into actual contracts and construction activity," says Stephen E. Sandherr, AGC's chief executive officer. "Congress also needs to look for ways to encourage the kind of sustained private economic growth that will generate significant new construction activity."­

Vegetative roof systems may reduce carbon

According to a study performed by Lansing-based Michigan State University's (MSU's) Green Roof Research Program, vegetative roof systems can help reduce carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. According to the university, the study is the first to measure how much carbon a vegetative roof system can absorb.

As part of the study, university researchers measured the amount of carbon stored in vegetation above the growth media on 12 typical vegetative roof systems in Michigan and Maryland. For two growing seasons, they also measured carbon above and below the growth media on an experimental roof system at MSU. Although measurements varied among roofs and among areas of the same roof, researchers found 375 g of carbon in an average square meter of roof.

Based on the study's results, researchers reported installing vegetative roof systems throughout Detroit's metropolitan area (which contains between 65 million and 85 million m² of rooftop area) would be equivalent to removing 10,000 midsized sport utility vehicles or trucks from the roads for a year.

"The key to fighting global warming is capturing carbon from the atmosphere and storing it in new reservoirs that weren't storing carbon before," says Kristen Getter, lead researcher at MSU. "In the whole scheme of things, green roofs are not the one answer to sequestering carbon, but they will certainly help."