The Associated General Contractors of America recently selected Dallas-based Austin Commercial as the first-place winner in the National AGC Construction Safety Excellence Awards competition.

The award honors general contractors who had logged more than 500,000 manhours during 2002.
After winning the local competition, Austin competed against all other winners from all local AGC chapters throughout the United States. The company then competed as one of only three general contractors selected to make the final competition before taking home first place.

Additionally, Bill Wallace of Austin Commercial was selected for the Superintendent Safety Award in the building division for his contributions to the company's ongoing projects at DFW International Airport.

Texas Execs, ASA Chapter Receive National Honors

The American Subcontractors Association Inc. recently honored Dennis Lewis of Dallas-based Potter Concrete Co. and Brian Chester of Dallas-based United Mechanical along with the North Texas chapter of the ASA with national awards.

Lewis and Chester were honored for outstanding service at the state level for their efforts in discussing and helping to solve contingency payment issues in Texas. Chester is president of the ASA of Texas while Lewis chairs the government relations committee of the North Texas chapter.

Due in part to their efforts, the North Texas chapter earned a government relations award of merit from the ASA for spearheading grassroots campaigns for such subcontractor issues as the contingency payment.

The awards were given during the ASA national Business Forum and Convention held in New Orleans.

San Antonio AGC Backs 'Land For Schools' Bill

The San Antonio chapter of the Associated General Contractors of America is supporting House Bill 1052, known as the "Land for Schools" bill, even though the Texas Association of Builders opposes the legislation.

The bill, filed by state Rep. Mike Villareal, D-San Antonio, would mandate that developers help finance required education infrastructure whenever they build major new subdivisions. Developers would be required to pay an impact fee on the project or set aside a percentage of the project's land for a school in high-growth school districts.

Seventeen other states already have similar legislation on the books.

"The AGC is strongly supportive," said San Antonio AGC executive vice president Doug McMurry.
"It is very innovative in that it provides some relief to property taxpayers as well as helping school districts with faster growing student populations."

The San Antonio Express-News also endorsed the bill in an April 14 editorial.

OSHA Hispanic Initiatives Lauded By IEC Officials

In the year since the U.S. Labor Department announced that Hispanic worker safety was a growing concern for the Bush administration, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration has translated much of its Web site information into Spanish.

John Miles, OSHA regional administrator for Dallas who heads the agency's taskforce on Hispanic worker safety, cited a toll-free OSHA number now available in Spanish and a glossary that is being produced to give compliance officers the most commonly used Spanish words for workplace equipment.

Several national industry officials, including those with the Independent Electrical Contractors Inc have applauded those efforts.
"The crucially important safety information that OSHA is making available needs to be better promoted by all IEC employers in order to make a real difference," said John Masarick, national codes and safety manager for the IEC. "Please communicate these resources to your employees verbally, in safety meetings, in hands-on training sessions and in writing on bulletin boards and in safety newsletters. We have to work together to make a difference."

According to Labor Department statistics, the fatality rate for Hispanic workers in 2000 had climbed by more than 11 percent while death rates for all other groups had declined. In 2001, Hispanic worker deaths increased another 9 percent, from 815 workers killed in 2000 to 891 in 2001.

National ASA Elects New Officers For 2003-04

Richard Wanner, executive vice president of Delaware, Ohio-based Wanner Metal Works Inc., has been elected president of the American Subcontractors Association Inc. for 2003-04.

"I pledge to you that I will work to fulfill ASA's vision of a better business environment in the construction industry," Wanner said.

Wanner succeeds 2002-03 ASA president Anne Bigane Wilson, president of Chicago-based Bigane Paving Co.

Also elected were vice president Mat Glover of Glover Masonry Associates Inc. of Arvada, Colo.; treasurer Vincent Terraferma of New York City-based KSW Mechanical Services; and secretary Stephen Rohrbach of Allentown, Pa.-based F.A. Rohrbach.

Delegates also elected Michael W. Smith of St. Louis-based Guarantee Electrical Co. to a three-year term on the national board of directors. All will begin serving their new terms on July 1.