The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics recorded 5,250 fatal work injuries in 2018, a 2 percent increase from the prior year’s 5,147 figure, but agency officials note that the fatal work injury rate last year remained unchanged at 3.5 per 100,000 full-time equivalent (FTE) workers. Data are from the Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries (CFOI) for 2018, released late last month, and indicate mostly year-over-year figures:
Read MoreBy Pierre Villere
I can’t help but follow up on my column from a couple of months ago when I opined that a strong stock market was a harbinger of the economy, and what lies ahead. Now that 2019 and the decade it capped have come to an end, it’s worth reviewing the markets and what they foreshadow. In addition, the many geopolitical pressures from various directions don’t even seem to be moving the needle on the economy in particular, and sentiment as a driver of the underlying economy in general. Let’s take a look at both.
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The past decade brought advances in fleet management technology, plant equipment and materials, along with merger and acquisition activity and new market demands certain to shape ready mixed and manufactured concrete in the 2020s. In ready mixed, producers incurred higher costs of EPA 2010-compliant diesel trucks, but realized new quality control, customer relationship and cost management opportunities from GPS, telematics, Internet of Things tools and data analytics.
Read MoreSources: New Buildings Institute, Portland, Ore.; CP staff
Approved 2021 International Energy Conservation Code ballot items will bring an estimated 10 percent or greater efficiency improvement for residential and commercial building envelopes in jurisdictions abiding the code. IECC changes will lower building energy use for decades, reduce costs, and help mitigate carbon emissions from the built environment, proponents note.
Read MoreSource: CP staff
Ernst Enterprises, Gage Brothers Concrete Products and Lauren Concrete representatives will present their new Georgia, South Dakota and Texas facilities in “Advanced Concrete Plants – Raising the Bar,” a February 3 education session at the Las Vegas Convention Center. Scheduled the day prior to the opening of World of Concrete exhibits, the program will offer perspective on design and permitting challenges behind Ernst Concrete’s wet/dry alley College Park Plant, Gage Brothers’ new Sioux Falls precast/prestressed flagship and Lauren Concrete’s Dripping Springs transit mixed satellite.
Read MoreSources: Connecticut Concrete Promotion Council, Wethersfield; CP staff
A National Ready Mixed Concrete Association- and Connecticut Concrete Promotion Council-sponsored summit will offer one of the deepest line-ups to date of authorities on recycling or sequestering carbon dioxide in concrete production and practice. Presenters and their target topics for the Net Zero Schools Summit, January 31 in New Haven, Conn., include:
Read MoreSource: GCC of America, Denver
Bob Cartmel has joined GCC of America as vice president of U.S. Ready Mix. He arrives with 25-plus years’ experience as Lafarge Canada president and chief executive officer, regional president of Aggregate and Concrete, and vice president of Strategy and Business Development.
Read MoreSources: McInnis Cement, Montreal
McInnis Cement directors have appointed Baudouin Nizet as president and chief executive officer, succeeding Jean Moreau, who has held the posts in an interim capacity since 2018. Nizet’s industry tenure includes tours of duty in Montreal as Holcim (Canada) senior vice president, Quebec and Atlantic Region, 2006-2013; and Toronto as president and chief executive officer, 2013-2017, spanning the transition to CRH Canada Group. He has also served as Cement Association of Canada and Canada Green Building Council director.
Read MoreCharles Smith, chief executive officer of Johnson City, Tenn.-based General Shale, has been elected Brick Industry Association chairman, succeeding Davis Henry, president of Henry Brick Co., Selma, Ala. Prior to his 2014 appointment as CEO, Smith served as president and chief operating officer, and was credited with steering General Shale—one of the top North American operators in clay brick— through the economic downturn and revitalizing product development.
Read MoreSources: CP staff; U.S. Supreme Court; Dorsey & Whitney LLP, Denver
A unanimous Supreme Court decision affirms the U.S. Court of Appeals for Sixth Circuit’s finding in Ritzen Group Inc. v. Jackson Masonry LLC, a case demonstrating U.S. Bankruptcy Court complexities. In a January 14 opinion, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg details a tight framework for creditors seeking relief in bankruptcy court decisions, including a 14-day window for individual party appeals.
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