Safety Culture in Connecticut’s Construction Industry
Health & Safety Director Kyle Zimmer
Fact: Between 2002 and 2012, 19.5% of all workplace deaths were in the construction industry.
Fact: Construction accidents account for over 15% of ALL private industry accidents.
Fact: One in ten construction workers are injured every year, and over the course of a 45 year career, a construction worker has a 1 in 200 chance of dying.
There is an old saying that "death doesn’t impact the dead." At first read, one might not think much about this quote; however, its meaning is really much deeper when you put it in the context of those people who have survived a near death experience or those who have lost a loved one to an untimely death. Construction accidents, whether or not they involve a fatality or an injury, are devastating to our trade, our industry and ultimately our members. Construction accidents cost more than lost wages for the workers who are pushed off the site during the investigation. They cost more than the fines or lost productivity for which the employer may have to pay. They cost more then what the insurance companies or worker’s comp may have to dole out. Construction accidents can potentially cost all of us our faith in our chosen profession or even worse our life or the life of one of our fellow workers.
The first step in re-enforcing Connecticut’s construction industry safety culture is changing our view about the role that we each play in keeping the work site safe. We must each accept that we have a certain amount of control on the work site as well as the ability to make calls to the hall, to the agents or to OSHA when we feel the job site is not safe. Our Local is committed to ensuring that every 478 operating engineer works in an environment that is as free of dangers as possible. We know that construction is a dangerous industry, but if a member reports that there are issues with the equipment (mechanical or personnel), the site (chemical, hazmat or open trenching, etc.) or with other workers, we will investigate immediately and follow up promptly.
But, you must do your part too. After 9-11, the words "if you see something, say something" became the phrase that reminded each of us that we have a collective responsibility to watch out for all of us. Sometimes, you might be on a job site and something that seems "insignificant" might catch your attention and make you hesitate or look back a few times. Don’t just brush it off because things that seem so slight are often the cause of accidents.
Every day, whether or not you have an employer led toolbox talk, you should take the extra steps to perform your own safety inventory. Take your time; become fully aware of your surroundings; and, speak up when you don’t feel safe because your life and the lives of your brothers and sisters in the trades could depend on it. Bob Kunz from Dimeo Construction Company always emphasizes the need for his employees to "be responsible for your personal space" which includes the immediate area where you are working as well as the outer area. This also touches on personal space away from your immediate jobsite since your family, friends, coworkers and employer will also be affected if you are involved in a construction accident.
Accidents are unfortunately a part of the construction industry and, sadly, it seems as though the only time laws get changed or regulations and rules are followed is after an accident. But laws after the fact don’t do much to assist people who were hurt or injured in a construction accident. In addition to being strong advocates for workplace safety on the site, operating engineers must also become advocates for stronger safety laws especially when a new part of the industry is emerging like the expansion of tunneling that goes with pipeline work. In the beginning, as we see in Bob Fitch’s testimonial, most of us realize that new safety laws are a burden, but eventually, the employer, the union and the workers recognize that laws and regulations are created to protect the worker and the general population that travels in or around the construction site or quarry or shop or plant. Promoting safety is everyone’s responsibility and duty.
In his article, Business Manager Craig Metz writes about the L’Ambiance tragedy and the devastating impact that it had on the trades. As a result of that tragedy, lift slab construction was banned in Connecticut, an OSHA satellite office was established in downtown Bridgeport, and, additional safety rules for workers were put in place. One would think legislative and regulatory changes would lower the number of construction accidents; but, they haven’t. Perhaps one of the greatest reasons for the staggering number of construction accidents is the move from a time when the bulk of heavy equipment would be on the only trade on the site to now "fast track" construction where multiple trades are working on the site even before the foundation is finished. Local 478 member Bob Fitch also spoke about "hypertrack" construction where the goal of getting the project finished at warp speed causes workers to move almost robotically through the construction process without stopping to constantly access their surroundings. We all understand that time is money
and that in order to make a profit and sustain their businesses, contractors (often driven by project owners and consumers like drivers stuck in road construction traffic) have to complete projects in a timely manner. But the few minutes or hours that you save not correcting a dangerous situation will be wasted if you have an accident and the site gets shut down for days and weeks.
Eversource agrees to coat Ansonia’s Wakelee Avenue
ANSONIA-Wakelee Avenue drivers will be getting some relief.
Eversource Energy, which dug up portions of the road last summer to install new plastic gas lines, will be resurfacing their patches and applying a top coat perhaps as soon as next week.
But city officials are concerned that Eversource and its contractor Burns Construction might not go as far as needed.
Mitch Gross, an Eversource spokesman confirmed that his company will pay Burns to conduct the work “very quickly.” But he also said it will involve a two block area from Church to Mary Street.
“That’s not enough,” said Joan Radin, a fifth ward alderwoman and owner of the century-old Lear Pharmacy which is located on the street. “The whole area needs to be done. They need to go all the way to Division Street.”
Mayor David Cassetti also believes more than two blocks need to be resurfaced. He is sending Public Works Director Mike D’Alessio to meet with Burns and survey the entire road.
I’m going to try to get them to go all the way,” D’Alessio said.
Last week Cassetti invited Robert Pantalone, Eversource’s manager of gas construction in the central and eastern regions to meet with residents. Pantalone got an earful of complaints.
Laura Lane claimed she and her husband incurred $613.86 in axle repairs and alignments on their two cars in recent weeks. Joe Jaumann, a Bridgeport lawyer, told him about the heave in his driveway created by the installation of new pipes. And others said they avoid that road leaving business like Radin’s Pharmacy, convenience stores and pizza parlors hurting.
Since then Cassetti has met twice with Eversource. The mayor even provided Eversource with a $26,000 quote from an Ansonia contractor to level the surface and quote it with 180 tons of bituminous concrete shim. And that work would have covered the entire section from Jackson to Division Street.
“I made it clear they need to repair the road,” Cassetti said. “Wakelee Avenue is the gateway to Ansonia. It takes people from Seymour to Derby.”
Cassetti blamed Eversource’s pipeline contractor for the uneven patchwork.
“They one-shot it,” said the mayor, who previously owned Birm-1 Construction which did a lot of roadwork. “When they dug, backfilled and compacted, they just filled the asphalt up to the top of the road and rolled it so it made it rippled...You’re supposed to put the first course in, compact it and then put a top course in.” He said the city has received numerous complaints. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
Court rejects MGM lawsuit as company competes with Connecticut tribes
NEW YORK >> MGM Resorts International lost another round Wednesday in a court fight aimed at giving it leverage against Native American tribes in Connecticut as they compete for casino customers.
The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan agreed that a Connecticut judge was right to dismiss MGM’s lawsuit against the state.MGM Resorts claimed it was placed at a competitive disadvantage after Connecticut created a special registration pathway for the state’s two federally recognized tribes to build casinos on non-tribal land.The appeals court called MGM’s fears speculative, noting that the developer of casinos and other commercial gambling enterprises has no specific plans to develop a casino in Connecticut. It also said it agreed with the lower court, which concluded that legislation that helps construction plans by tribes does not prevent other bidders from entering Connecticut’s casino market. In a statement, MGM Resorts legal counsel Uri Clinton said company officials remained “undeterred in our goal of having the opportunity to compete in Connecticut.”
The 2nd Circuit said the dispute might be ripe for court review once the company can show that the harm it alleged was “sufficiently imminent.” Until then, it said, any disadvantage MGM might suffer in future contract negotiations was “purely speculative.”Clinton said that moment may be near after the tribes that run Connecticut’s two casinos won approval from state legislators this month to open a third casino. Democratic Gov. Dannel P. Malloy has said he plans to sign the bill, clearing the way for the state’s first casino on non-tribal land. MGM’s lawsuit had sought to block that legislation, claiming it was unconstitutional.The Mashantucket Pequot and Mohegan tribes, which own the Foxwoods and Mohegan Sun casinos in southeastern Connecticut, are planning to convert a former movie theater complex in East Windsor, Connecticut, into a $300 million casino. The casino would be near a $950 million MGM Resorts casino that’s slated to open late next year in Springfield, Massachusetts.MGM also has expressed interest in building another casino in southwestern Connecticut.In a statement, officials for both tribes said they were pleased with the ruling and looked forward to developing an exciting new casino and contributing to the state’s economy through jobs and tax revenues.
Connecticut wins early round in casino court fight with MGM
A federal appeals court Wednesday ruled against MGM Resorts International, the owner of a casino under construction in Springfield, in the first round of what is expected to be a protracted legal fight to stop Connecticut from allowing a competing casino in East Windsor.
The decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit upholds a judge’s dismissal of a lawsuit MGM filed in 2015 after the General Assembly passed a special act formalizing a process for the Mashantucket Pequot and Mohegan tribal nations to seek a town willing to host a casino.
The court accepted Connecticut’s argument that the special act did not bar MGM or anyone else interested in developing a casino from negotiating with municipalities over a potential site, since the 2015 law did not grant the tribes the right to actually build anything. That required passage of a second law.
MGM, the court concluded, had no standing to sue over the 2015 law. In fact, the court noted, MGM’s exclusivity agreement in Massachusetts bars it from developing a casino within 50 miles of Springfield, placing most of Connecticut off limits.
“Because MGM has failed to allege any specific plans to develop a casino in Connecticut, we conclude that any competitive harms imposed by the Act are too speculative to support Article III standing,” the court said.
The bigger question now is whether MGM has legal standing to sue since the Connecticut General Assembly took the second and more decisive step on June 7 of passing a bill granting the tribes the right to jointly develop a casino in East Windsor. The bill awaits Gov. Dannel P. Malloy’s signature.
East Windsor, a community of about 12,000 people between Hartford and Springfield, already has granted local approval for MMCT, a partnership of the state’s two federally recognized tribes, to build a casino just off I-91 on the site of a long-vacant movie multiplex.
In issuing its decision, a three-judge panel of the appellate court chose to ignore the legislative fight waged over what would be Connecticut’s first casino off tribal lands since it heard arguments in the appeal on Nov. 28, 2016.
“Our conclusion does not rule out the possibility that MGM’s alleged harm may at some future point become sufficiently imminent. That possibility, though, is at this time only hypothetical and we therefore need not address it,” the court said.
Uri Clinton, a senior vice president and legal counsel at MGM, minimized the court decision in an emailed statement: “We view today’s ruling as nothing more than a matter of timing and remain undeterred in our goal of having the opportunity to compete in Connecticut.”
“If Gov. Malloy signs into law the recently passed Senate Bill 957 the ‘hypothetical’ immediately becomes reality,” Clinton said. “Senate Bill 957 violates the Equal Protection Clause and the Commerce Clause of the United States Constitution by authorizing two identified tribes — and no one else — to operate Connecticut’s first commercial casino. The Attorney General himself has recognized that MGM’s likelihood of success ‘is not at all insubstantial.’” CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
Extended-stay hotel approved for downtown New Haven
NEW HAVEN >> A plan for an extended-stay hotel in the middle of downtown easily got approval Wednesday, while the beginning of a separate project to remediate a large contaminated site in Newhallville was slowed for more information. The City Plan Commission approved a 108-room hotel at the corner of Crown and High streets, as well as the additional conversion of a home at 15 High St. into four apartments that developer Randy Salvatore of RMS Companies hopes can get started this summer. The hotel is expected to to be pitched to the many people who come to the city to participate in academic and research projects connected to Yale University and Yale New Haven Hospital. Salvatore, one of the major developers in New Haven, plans to purchase the property from Mod Equities, which got approval for a similar plan two years ago.
The estimated $8 million hotel is in an area that has seen an almost complete makeover on Crown and now George streets with new apartments filling this section of downtown Salvatore made some internal changes to the Mod Equities plan, adding a restaurant to the ground floor and consolidating the hotel’s meeting space and other amenities, also on the ground floor. The fully furnished hotel rooms with kitchenettes will be on the second through sixth floors. On a separate project, Salvatore said he hopes to hear in a month on the availability of state funds for affordable housing money for 30 percent of the 140 apartments on Gold and Prince streets he is planning to build as part of a $100 million deal with the city. “If everything goes as planned we will be starting in the next 30 days or so. We are getting good feedback from the state. That is the last piece, so we are excited,” Salvatore said. The 140 apartments are on property in the Hill that has been undeveloped for decades until the Salvatore plan was hashed out over a long period of time. He said his company is also now getting conceptual plans together for commercial/residential properties that are part of the Hill project on Washington Avenue, Church Street South and next to St. Anthony’s Church. Salvatore said his Novella apartments on Chapel and Howe streets are still on the market.“We are talking to some people. Nothing is finalized yet. The good thing for New Haven is there has been a strong demand. That says a lot for New Haven. Strong national demand is what has been coming from all over the place,” Salvatore said.As for the Newhallville project, Double A Development Partners in December bought the contaminated 13 acres in Newhallville that was once the bustling manufacturing site owned by Olin Mathieson Corp. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE