Newsletter I July 2024

SHOWCASE

Your Project at this Year's Excellence in Construction Awards Gala!

CONTRACTOR MEMBERS

Deadline: July 31, 2024

Submit Your Award Application

Nominate an Associate Member

DISCA Scholarship Awards Presentation at Summer Membership Meeting

DISCA recognized the four recipients of the 2024 DISCA Scholarship on July 16, 2024. The awards were presented by former NFL Player, David Tyree, at the Yogi Berra Museum & Education Center on the Montclair State University campus. These four students have earned a four-year, merit-based scholarship to offset some of the college and educational expenses at their chosen collegiate institutions.

In the photo, from left to right: Adisen Aemisegeo (Shane Construction), David Tyree & John Watson (Avon Contractors)

Missing: Damian Scelba (Charles Scelba Contracting Co.) and Kimberly Moser (E.C. Provini Co.)

Industry News

How to Select Appropriate Head Protection for Construction Workers

Construction has the highest number of fatal and nonfatal work-related traumatic brain injuries (TBIs). Nonfatal TBIs are life-altering events, whereby 43% of patients treated for TBI did not attend ordinary work for five years after injury.¹ Helmets are the single most effective tool for prevention of head injury. Over the past decade, an unprecedented variety of helmets has been introduced, differing in style, price point, compliance with standards and manufacturers’ claims of improved protection.

To develop a guideline for selection of head protection, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) tasked the Center for Construction Research and Training (CPWR) to form a panel of experts from academia, labor, government and industry.

AI Takes on Architectural Acoustics

I feel lucky to have an acoustics career that has spanned most of the “computer age.” In that time, our architectural acoustics problems have remained the same, but our computer design tools have continued to get better.

Starting with the shear elegance of physically wiring the patch bay of an analog computer to the big “ka-chunk” sounds when typing on a massive steam-punk looking key-punch card machine; from listening to my dumb9,000-baud terminal dial into a liquid-cooled Cray supercomputer to mounting heavy 1-inch tape drives and administrating roomsize company main-frame computers, to moving individual bits in the ever-shrinking self-contained microcomputer and now back to the dumb smart phone dialed into cloudbased acoustics software-as-service apps.

How To Love the Deal You Cut

Chad Prinkey is CEO of Well Built Construction Consulting, a Baltimore-based firm that delivers strategic consulting, facilitation services and peer roundtables for construction executives. Opinions are the author’s own.

Contractors often resent the deal they agree to when they receive a project award and I understand their sentiments. It’s tempting to complain about multiple rounds of rebids and BAFOs, or best and final offers, that shave your profit margins down to a nub.

The average net profit margins of contractors lag behind many other industries, and the battle for every penny can be very real. What these contractors must realize, however, is that the resentment they feel toward their customers is not helping them to prosper. Instead, the sour feelings they carry into the project translate into avoidable conflict and reputation damage.

Wearable Ways to Work in Extreme Heat

Earth experienced its hottest months yet in summer 2023, and NASA scientists are expecting 2024 to be even hotter. Rising temperatures and high humidity aren’t just uncomfortable for those outside during the summer months: They can cause serious health consequences, including death. While employers are working to find ways to combat the heat, the extreme variability in weather conditions continues to pose threats to employees.

Recently, company leaders have turned to new methods and technologies to help their teams stay safe while working both indoors and outdoors. A balance of methods and technology is necessary to keep everyone safe while they work. As summer approaches, is important to remember that the time to review and update current heat-stress safety plans is in the spring—or better yet, year-round—in order to prioritize employee safety and determine both proactive and reactive measures needed to withstand the hottest months of the year.

Reality Stars Team Up During Teen Docuseries Production as Carpentry Meets Cakes

SKILLS JAM: CHAMPIONS LEAGUE, the second season follow-up to the docuseries pilot season that debuted in 2023 and received more than 13 million views across social media, wrapped production in Atlanta last week, leaving 15,000 students and their parents in anticipation of the show’s September premiere.

Presented by Skilled Careers Coalition with reality home makeover star and master carpenter Ty Pennington in the role of host and mentor, SKILLS JAM: CHAMPIONS LEAGUE shares the thrills, chills and skills of 12 teens from across the country pursuing excellence and their dreams of skilled career success as they compete in the SkillsUSA National Leadership & Skills Conference, an annual event that attracts thousands of the nation’s best students across 115 skilled careers and trades.