OSHA is seeking industry input on its respirable crystalline silica standard for construction, and is taking comments until Oct. 15. Specifically, OSHA would like information on the effectiveness of work practice and engineering controls that limit worker exposure to respirable silica, as well as tasks and equipment related to silica exposure that are not currently included in Table…
As part of the Opportunity Builds Harris County initiative, Commissioners Court voted on Tuesday to approve several worker protection provisions that include Harris County becoming the first county in Texas to set a prevailing wage floor of $15/hour for county building projects, prioritizing safer work sites and creating a job portal that will also connect…
As I write this article, Hurricane Dorian has decimated the Bahamas, blew passed Florida and is on its path along the southeast coast of the Carolinas leaving a swath of destruction behind. Local, regional and out-of-the area contractors are positioned in the starting blocks to rush in on opportunities to rebuild, rehab and repair residential,…
Autonomous vehicles are being used to transfer bags and create a more seamless transfer experience Dallas Fort Worth International (DFW) Airport is using innovative technology to help its customers with more seamless transfers, by introducing Vanderlande’s autonomous vehicle solution FLEET, in the recheck area in Terminal D. The first of its kind robotic system can handle…
Beaumont, Texas, is home to one of the country’s most sophisticated industrial operations, supporting thousands of jobs and creating new products every day. And with ExxonMobil’s latest expansion of a new high-performance polyethylene line, the Beaumont story continues to grow. ExxonMobil’s polyethylene plant in Beaumont will increase production capacity by 65 percent, or 650,000 tons, per…
The number of world-changing ideas out there is staggering. Corralling the ones that can spark new forms of energy is equally challenging. That’s why ExxonMobil created a new technology-scouting initiative to scour the world for energy startups and innovators. The Technology Scouting and Venturing Group is connecting the company’s researchers with new technologies that could…
Each year, state and local governments spend more than $250 billion on the construction of roads, schools and other public infrastructure. Construction companies sometimes see government contracting as prohibitively competitive and believe the pay is low and the bid requirements are too time- and effort-consuming. But this is not the case, and should not hold construction…
Effective Aug. 19, the Small Business Administration (SBA) is raising its monetary-based small business size standards for inflation by an average of 8.4%, an adjustment that the administration expects will allow 90,000 additional companies to participate in its loan and contracting programs. The SBA said that this increase could result in $750 million more total contracts awarded…
In my world, I’m often asked for a list of “best practices” when estimating or managing a construction project. Here are some thoughts, based on personal experience and discussions I’ve had with other folks in the industry. The short answer is that there is no treasure trove of definitive answers to this question. Best practices are…
Ed Mazria, FAIA, is an architect who has been called “game changer” since the early 2000s. That’s when he saw, in energy data, just how much buildings were contributing to emissions. He recognized then the leadership opportunity for the architectural profession. Mazria is still crunching numbers and pushing the industry toward greater, faster impact. Today,…
American Airlines is building a $250 million hotel and conference center at its new $1 billion, 300-acre Fort Worth, Texas, headquarters, according to The Dallas Morning News. The 620,000-square-foot, nine-story building will include a 600-room hotel, a 131,000-square-foot conference center, office and retail space, dining areas and a tavern, all sitting atop three levels of underground…
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ study of potential improvements to the Houston Ship Channel is nearing completion. The study, that began in 2015, has been conducted in partnership with Port Houston and has examined the feasibility and national benefits of various widening, deepening and other improvements for the channel. This will be the eleventh…
Ask anyone familiar with construction hazards, and you’ll likely hear about those on OSHA’s Top 10 Safety Violations annual list or the agency’s Fatal Four — falls, struck-by incidents, electrocutions and caught-in-between accidents. The danger of falls, in particular, has garnered the industry’s attention as the most common cause of accidental construction injuries and deaths. And the agency has…
Construction is risky business. According to OSHA, one in every five private sector worker deaths in 2017 (the latest year recorded) was in construction. That’s 971 fatalities. Jobsite safety precautions can address the top culprits: falls, struck by object, electrocution and caught-in/between. However, there is another danger on jobsites that gets less attention but has a much…
Contractors, do you understand that you are throwing away hundreds of thousands of dollars and risking your business when you skirt around regulations by starting and completing a construction project without obtaining a building permit? Sure, they take time out of your busy day, are challenging to obtain and involve lots of documents, but the…
Admit it! You have checked the box next to the Terms and Conditions when making a purchase or signing a contract and never actually look at the terms and conditions a million times. We have all signed contracts without reviewing each paragraph, often just focusing on what it’s going to cost us and how long…
If a worker fell on the jobsite, how fast would the operations and safety managers learn about the incident and be able to locate the worker to render assistance? When a construction company hires a subcontractor for a big job, does it always know if the sub has the promised number of crew members working…
Peer-to-peer marketplace apps are all about getting rid of the often expensive and usually time-consuming intermediary process and connecting users directly to the services they need. This way of doing business has become popular with everything from vacation rentals a la Airbnb to ride sharing via Uber and Lyft. That desire for convenience — and…
IRVING, Texas – ExxonMobil and Global Thermostat said recently that they have signed a joint development agreement to advance breakthrough technology that can capture and concentrate carbon dioxide emissions from industrial sources, including power plants, and the atmosphere. ExxonMobil and Global Thermostat to advance breakthrough atmospheric carbon capture technology Technology removes carbon dioxide from industrial sources…
Modular construction is known for shaving time from construction schedules and reducing project budgets. But in the case of the $10 billion ExxonMobil-SABIC ethane steam cracker and plastics plant in Corpus Christi, Texas, it looks like it is also going to do away with some jobs as well. After the two energy giants announced the project a…
