Upcoming Events

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June 10th

Paula Workman

Avoid the Train Wreck: How to

Successfully Transition

Business Ownership

5:30 - 8:00 pm

Embassy Suites Austin North

5901 North IH-35 (290 &IH-35)

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July 8th

Gary Kulp & Chris Lambert

Monthly Meeting

5:30 - 8:00 pm

Embassy Suites Austin North

5901 North IH-35 (290 &IH-35)

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August 12th

Greg Smith

Is Your Jobsite OSHA Compliant?

5:30 - 8:00 pm

Embassy Suites Austin North

5901 North IH-35 (290 &IH-35)

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September 9th

Monthly Meeting

5:30 - 8:00 pm

Embassy Suites Austin North

5901 North IH-35 (290 &IH-35)

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May Newsletter

2015 Legislation Issues

PO Box 1087 Cedar Park, TX 78630

(512)255-6373 fax(512)535-6202

www.ctsaonline.org

In our practice we often see where minor injuries, left untreated or having had treatment delayed, have de-veloped into situations much worse. I have even seen a fatality after a restaurant employee who had fallen in a commercial kitchen and hit his head was sent home for the rest of the day and later died at home that night of internal head injuries. It is important to provide adequate care promptly, and this often means first aid. This month I will share some info from OSHA and their position on first aid. The rest of the article is taken from OSHA’s website. I hope everyone is having a good year so far and being safe at all times. Parker Holt, CIC - Construction Practice Leader at Higginbotham. FROM OSHA: First aid services and provisions for medical care shall be made available by the employer for every employee covered by these regulations. Regulations prescribing specific requirements for first aid, medical attention, and emergency facilities are contained in Subpart D of this part. It is a requirement of OSHA that employees be given a safe and healthy workplace that is reasonably free of occupational hazards. However, it is unrealistic to expect accidents not to happen. Therefore, employers are required to provide medical and first aid personnel and supplies commensurate with the hazards of the workplace. The details of a workplace medical and first aid program are dependent on the circumstances of each workplace and employer. The intent of this page is to provide general information that may be of as-sistance. If additional information is required, an Occupational Health Professional should be contacted. Medical and first aid services are addressed in specific standards for the general industry, shipyard em-ployment, marine terminals, long-shoring, and the construction industry.

First-Aid Supplies

It is advisable for the employer to give a specific person the responsibility for choosing the types and amounts of first-aid supplies and for maintaining these supplies. The supplies must be adequate,

should reflect the kinds of injuries that occur, and must be stored in an area where they are readily avail-able for emergency access. An automated external defibrillator (AED) should be considered when

selecting first-aid supplies and equipment. A specific example of the minimal contents of a workplace first-aid kit is described in American National Standards Institute ANSIZ308.1 - 2003, Minimum Requirements for Workplace First Aid Kits. The kits described are suitable for small businesses. For large

operations, employers should determine how many first-aid kits are needed, and if it is appropriate to aug-ment the kits with additional first-aid equipment and supplies. Employers who have unique or changing first-aid needs should consider upgrading their first-aid kits. The employer can use the

OSHA 300 log, OSHA 301 reports or other records to identify the first-aid supply needs of their worksite. Consultation with the local fire and rescue service or emergency medical professionals may be beneficial. By assessing the specific needs of their workplaces, employers can ensure the availability of adequate first-aid supplies. Employers should periodically reassess the demand for these supplies and adjust their inven-tories.

This month we were privileged to have Raymond Risk from Texas Construction Association come speak to the group about what is going on right now with the prep for legislation to start in January. I know most of us feel like this is pretty far away and would rather focus on summer plans, but it takes time for them to research the important topics to subcontractors and make sure they are fully ready to go to fight for us in the legislation. While some of these issues are items you’ve seen before, there are new issues too.

Consolidated Insurance Programs

No legislation was filed in the 83rd

Legislature to deal with CIPs because of ongoing discussions between TCA and the Texas Department of Insurance. TCA will continue to work with the department through the rulemaking process to resolve TCA’s concerns about these programs. In addi-tion, TCA expects there to be an interim study of CIPs and minimum standards that should apply to the use of them.

Lender Notice to Contractors

Lenders should be required by law to give notice to a prime contractor when the lender determines it will no longer disperse funds that are part of the loan for a con-struction project. The law would allow the contractor and subcontractors the opportunity to stop working on a project when this notice is given.

Lien Law Reform

The Texas lien law should be revised so that the proc-esses and procedures for providers of construction labor or materials to preserve their lien rights are easier to under-stand and are straightforward in their execution. The re-sult would be that compliance under the law would no longer be a stumbling block to trip up a laborer or mate-rial man resulting in the loss of lien rights. This can be ac-complished while providing property owners mechanisms to assure a lien-free project.

Public-Private Partnerships (P3) - Large Project Surety

Bonds

There is a growing use of P3 for construction activity in Texas. On those and on traditional projects in excess of $250 million, payment security needs to be in place to as-sure that sufficient money is available to pay the subcon-tractors and suppliers for their work and there is a reason-able method to obtain that money.

Retainage Trust Fund

The owner should be required to set aside in a separate ac-count the retainage amount not paid each month to contrac-tors and subcontractors for construction costs during the life of a project to ensure that those contractors and subcon-tractors will be paid the retainage to which they are entitled. This account can be a simple bank checking or savings ac-count and does not require a lawyer-prepared agreement. As an alternative to setting aside the retainage each month, the owner could be given an option to purchase an inexpen-sive payment bond to ensure that contractors and subcon-tractors would be paid the full amount of the retainage they have earned and are owed.

Worker Classification

Legislation is needed to amend the Labor Code to require a construction employer to report properly the employment status of each of its employees as required by the Texas Workforce Commission (TWC) rule and the Texas Unem-ployment Compensation Act. A construction employer who violates this law would be required to pay the TWC an ini-tial violation m o n e t a r y penalty for each employee not properly reported by the employer. For each subsequent violation, the employer would b e required to pay a much higher penalty t h an t he pe na l t y imp o sed f o r t he f i r s t v i o l a t i on o f t h e la w for each employee not properly reported. The law should have safeguards to allow companies to continue using legitimate independent contractors on construction projects.

Do you currently have an issue that you think needs to be fixed? TCA wants to know what issues you have and what they can do to help. They won’t know there is a prob-lem unless we let them know. Please feel free to contact anyone over at TCA or let Chris Lambert, our TCA repre-sentative, know what the problem is and they will do their best to help you out if they can. You do have a voice and TCA is working to make it stronger and louder each year.

Keep an eye on our newsletter for the date for the Walk on the Capitol coming up in January and our PAC fundraiser this fall!

Safety Tip –First Aid & OSHA

Thank you!

We would like to thank Todd Hewitt, Texas

Fifth Wall Roofing, for his years as our

Texas Construction Association represen-

tative and as the Chairman this past year!

Todd has been a very involved member of

both our organization and TCA. He still

serves on our Board of Directors and has

passed on his TCA representative spot to

Chris Lambert from L&O Electric.

Thank you Todd!

Membership Dues

Membership dues went out this

month for our 2014-2015 membership

year. Remember that many of you have

your Texas Mutual dividends tied to mem-

bership and must be an current member to

receive those. If you are not taking advan-

tage of the Texas Mutual Worker’s Comp

program or want to know more about other

membership benefits we offer, please

check out our Membership Benefits page

on our website.

2014 Golf Tournament

We had another wonderful golf tournament this year! Thank you to all those who came out to play

and enjoyed the beautiful weather with us. BIG thanks go to Shawn Young and H&E Equipment for spon-

soring our dinner and our first Ball-Drop. If you missed out on seeing it then plan on attending next year to

be a part of the fun. The winner of the Ball-Drop walked away with $432!!! I would also like to thank Bon-

nie Sells, from Alpha Painting, and Chris Avery, from Leasing Associates, for helping me out at the registra-

tion table. These ladies made check in go smooth for all our players. And lastly I would like to thank our

beverage cart sponsors WR Grace Construction and Whorton Insurance, and all our hole sponsors Alpha

Painting, Anchor Ventana Glass, Atchley & Associates, Austin Gutter King, Bailey Elliott, Blazier Christen-

sen Bigelow & Virr, Biggs Plumbing, Construction Metal Products, Floyd’s Glass, HL Chapman Pipeline

Construction, Hertel Insurors Group, Higginbotham, L&O Electric, Leasing Associates, NextSystems, PPG

Architectural Coatings, Richard’s Electric, Rudy’s BBQ, Senox, Sherwin Williams, SSI, Sunvison Electric,

Texas Construction Association, Texas Fifth Wall Roofing, and Vector Risk & Safety.

Congratulations to W.R. Meadows for taking 1st place, L&O Electric for taking 2nd place, and Biggs

Plumbing for taking 3rd place. We love all our players so we had to recognize the Brown, Graham, & Co

team for coming in Dead A** Last place. We gave them some kiddie golf club sets so they can practice

their swing for next year. We are working on setting a date for next year so watch the newsletter for that

date so you don’t miss out on the fun!

Board Elections

Are you interested in serving on our Board

of Directors or curious what is involved? It

is a very small time commitment but helps

our organization out a lot. Please let

Wendy or any of the other board members

know if you are interested.

Clockwise from

top left: 1st

place WR

Meadows, 2nd

Place L&O

Electric, Last

Place Brown,

Graham, & Co,

and 3rd place

Biggs Plumbing