President Clive Thurston encourages all members to submit a project for the Ontario Builders Awards in 2016. If you submitted a project to your local construction association, the requirements for the OGCA awards are not that much different. 

The promo and application form can be found on the OGCA’s website at www.ogca.ca. The deadline is fast approaching for the 2016 Ontario Builders Awards. December 15 is the deadline for submissions for entries in all categories.

We have heard from several members with questions about the awards, including the three letters required. The promo says you need three letters, one from each of the Owner, Architect and Client, while the judging criteria itself asks for three letters from the Owner, Prime Consultant and Major Subtrade.OGCA has decided that it will accept letters from any three of the following: Owner, Architect, Prime Consultant, Client and Major Subtrade. In the past, the judging committee has been fairly subjective in reviewing the letters.

We look forward to receiving your entries!                

The OGCA offices will be closed between December 23 at noon and January 3 at 8:30 a.m.  Most emails can be answered by staff over the holidays, but please be patient as we may be celebrating at the time of your email!

Wishing you and yours a very happy holiday season! 

The League of Champions is proud to announce that it continues to grow in members and events. Together with Rob Ellis, we are making it our mission to continue educating and promoting safety to create a new "culture of safety" in Ontario.

Rob Ellis spoke to over 800 students at Mohawk College on November 23, and spoke to over 80 students at Parkdale Collegiate on November 21. Twenty to forty Champion leaders attended both schools, providing opportunities for students to challenge industry leaders on how they are improving Health & Safety in the workplace.

Recently, a panel discussion was conducted on what it takes to be a "Construction Safety Champion" and the importance of improving and changing the safety culture in the construction industry. Toronto Construction Association (TCA) President John Mollenhauer introduced the panelists, including Steve Benson, President & CEO of Benson Steel, Maren Gamble, Health & Safety Manager at Percon Construction, Craig Lesurf, Vice-President & Business Group Leader at Walsh Construction and Rob Ellis from MySafeWork to approximately 30 guests on Thursday, December 1 at the 2016 Construct Canada Show in Toronto.

With a focus on speaking to the next generation of workers through many schools and training centres about the positive impact industry leaders can have, Leo You, an engineering student from the University of Waterloo, engaged the panel leaders on his expectations when it comes to safety and innovation. Technology is evolving at such a rapid pace. Leo and his team have developed a safety vest with advanced wearable technology that can detect incorrect posture and provide active warnings through vibrations sensors. It is this safety-wearable technology that will assist companies to reduce back injury claims and make the workplace safer for all workers. Champions welcome new ideas and methods since they agree that it is the future of the construction industry. We look forward to following Leo and his team in their ongoing project. Leo and his associates will be part of the Construction Symposium in 2017.

Clive Thurston, President of OGCA, gave thanks to all those who attended the session and closed with a reminder that "safety is not proprietary" and that leaders need to lead.

Leadership Day - which has been a great success in the past - will be holding its next event on March 3, 2017. Be sure to save the day and plan to attend as there will be a lot of information disseminated during the event.

On Thursday, December 8, the Legislature will vote third reading on Bill 70, hopefully providing the government with the authority to act on two of OGCA’s priority issues.

Accreditation of Employers will give the Chief Prevention Officer (CPO) the authority to accredit or recognize employers who implement an effective OH&S management plan. This is one of the final proposals to be acted on from Tony Dean’s 2010 Report on modernizing our health and safety system, and it will provide a vehicle to recognize high performing employers. With this authority, the Ministry of Labour will be able to develop policy via a standard to recognize employers. With the standard, more owners will elect to use it for prequalification and the WSIB can use it to give an incentive or elevated rating.

We expect that COR^TM certified companies will meet or exceed the standards when they are established, providing greater benefits to members and increasing the number of certified companies.

We will keep you informed as the program is developed and implemented.

Reforms to the Ontario College of Trades were initiated in the 2013 election when the Liberal Party promised a series of reforms to the struggling Ontario College of Trades (OCOT). Tony Dean was appointed to conduct a review and make recommendations, and in November 2015, they were tabled. They included provisions to refer jurisdictional disputes to the OLRB, broader representation on the appointments council and a new process for certification reviews.

Bill 70 includes the required legislative changes and sets in motion reform inside OCOT.

The opposition has put up considerable resistance to the proposals which confirms that the College continues to be controversial. Moving forward, we will eventually have to deal with applications to certify many of the trades that our members work with. The new structure will be tested.

2-Minute News

IHSA Safety Talk: Driving—MSDs IHSA looking for ways to better service the needs of the transportation industry Product spotlight: Concrete Finishers Health and Safety Manual (M073) Latest IHSA.ca Magazine now available IHSA addresses changes to suspended access equipment regulations with new training programs IHSA's Safety Groups now recruiting

Pomerleau announces a new website and Gateman-Milloy announces the opening of a new state-of-the-art trucking terminal in Ayr, Ontario that they designed and built for client Hyndman Transport. If your company has an announcement or event coming up that you want to spread the news about, this is your opportunity to do so. Simply send an email to mary@ogca.ca and we will see what we can do about putting it into an upcoming issue of this newsletter.

Be sure to check out the OGCA website for information on government activities, including the latest bi-weekly Ontario Construction Law Changes reports from Frank Zechner. 

 

OGCA’s 10^th Construction Symposium (April 6 - 8, 2017) is joining the technological world by putting the information about the symposium, including sessions, speakers bios, sponsors and room locations on Attendify! We will continue to update the site with the sessions and speakers, and sponsors, so log on weekly to get the latest news about the symposium. You will be able to select the sessions you want to attend and the app will automatically send you a reminder just before the session starts! You will also be able to download any powerpoint presentations or handouts if they are available. OGCA is looking forward to seeing how this application works! We hope to have the link available to you in the next week or so.

Leadership Day will be held on March 3 at the Centre for Health, Safety and Innovation (CHSI) on Creekbank Drive in Mississauga, beginning at 8:00 a.m. (times to be confirmed).

OGCA Golf Tournament will be held on Monday, July 10 at the Glencairn Golf Course in Milton. Watch for more news in the spring!

The OGCA's AGM and Conference will be held in Toronto from October 19 - 22, 2017 at the Omni King Edward Hotel. Plan to attend and be among the first to see the newly renovated Crystal Ballroom, which has not been used since the late 1970s!