ASA Annual Business Meeting and Virtual Awards Presentation

ASA has TWO exciting events coming up that are incredibly important to all ASA Members.  Don’t miss out on meeting with members from across the country. Even though we can’t be together physically at this time, we look forward to celebrating as an organization, and hope you will join us.

On February 25th, will be the ASA Virtual Awards Presentation. Come celebrate all of the ASA Award winners this year! Every year ASA honors chapters, businesses, and individuals who excel in a wide variety of ways, and we hope you will join us in that. This year’s Awards Presentation will be virtual, but all award winners will be recognized during SUBExcel 2022.  Click here to join us for the Awards Presentation!

On March 10th, will be the ASA Annual Business Meeting.  This event is open to all members, and so here’s another chance to know what’s going on, and how you can make our organization better. Click here to register today!

AssuredPartners signed a cooperative agreement with AtSA to provide its subcontractor members with innovative Insurance & Risk Management education and product solutions.

Our Construction Blueprint process starts with listening and collaboration with our Claims, Safety & Risk Transfer teams to determine your risk tolerance, so together we may find innovative solutions that lower your Total Cost of Risk.  

Our exceptional relationships with Insurance and Surety underwriters gives ASA Subcontractors the benefits of a globally connected Insurance Broker and Risk Management Consultant with local services and responsive attention. It’s what we call Power through Partnership.

Verizon 5G network and 22% Discount for ASA members

Whether your employees are working from home, the office or a job site, they can now access Verizon’s new 5G network. Plus, receive a corporate discount on Verizon. Eligible business members can save 22% off Verizon monthly access fees.*

As an ASA member, you’re automatically a National Purchasing Partner member, and you can offer a similar discount to your employees as well. Members can also save on 5G capable devices. Restrictions may apply.

• Verizon 5G marketing material: https://npp.box.com/s/jugmug7v59gucr4josmm00o5tpou7x0r
• Link to your NPP Landing Page: https://mynpp.com/association/asa

ASA Calls Upon Congress for A Robust Multi-Year Highway and Public Transportation Reauthorization Bill

ASA joined 32 national associations of the Transportation Construction Coalition (TCC) calling upon congressional leadership for a robust, multi-year highway and public transportation reauthorization bill. Our surface transportation system is in dire need of additional investment and the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) identified a near $2.5 trillion funding gap for our surface transportation network, of which $1.7 trillion is needed for our nation’s highways, $181 billion for bridges, and nearly $535 billion for our nation’s transit system, over a 20-year period. Addressing this gap with additional investment would pay dividends by improving safety and mobility.

Meanwhile, the COVID-19 pandemic continues to take its toll on transportation construction revenues and programs, and state and local transportation agencies are plagued by uncertainty surrounding the September 30th expiration of federal highway and public transportation programs. A robust, multi-year reauthorization of the FAST Act would provide a much-needed boost to economic recovery and restore confidence that Congress and the president can work together to achieve shared national objectives that will improve the lives of all Americans.  To that end, we called for three core principles:

• at least a five-year reauthorization to allow for long-term planning and investment;
• significant funding increases over current levels to meet America’s transportation needs and improve the safe and efficient movement of people and goods; and
• build on the project delivery and regulatory approval process enhancements made in the previous two surface transportation laws to ensure the timely delivery of projects and benefits.       

OSHA’s Recent COVID-19 Workplace Guidance

On January 29, 2021, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) released guidance for employers titled, Protecting Workers:  Guidance on Mitigating and Preventing the Spread of COVID-19 in the Workplace.  This guidance contains recommendations as well as descriptions of mandatory safety and health standards.  It does not create new legal obligations for employers. Instead, as stated by OSHA, “the recommendations are advisory in nature, informational in content, and are intended to assist employers in providing a safe and healthful workplace.”  The Construction Industry Safety Coalition (CISC) prepared the following outline of OSHA’s Guidance:

COVID-19 Prevention Programs

The guidance encourages employers to implement COVID-19 Prevention Programs in the workplace. According to the Agency, these programs are an effective way to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 at work and employees and/or their representatives should be involved with the program’s development and implementation. The guidance lists 16 elements—four of which are considered key elements—that should be included in a COVID-19 Prevention Program. The four key elements that should be included are:

1. Identification of where and how workers might be exposed to COVID-19 at work by conducting a hazard assessment.
2. Identification of a combination of measures that will limit the spread of COVID-19 in the workplace.  This includes a combination of eliminating the hazard, engineering controls, workplace administrative policies, personal protective equipment (PPE), and other measures, prioritizing controls from most to least effective, to protect workers from COVID-19 hazards.
3. Instruct workers who are infected or potentially infected to stay home and isolate or quarantine to prevent or reduce the risk of transmission of COVID-19.
4. Implementing protections from retaliation and setting up an anonymous process for workers to voice concerns about COVID-19-related hazards.

Return to Work Criteria

The guidance discusses additional measures for limiting the spread of COVID-19, starting with separating and sending home infected or potentially infected people so they cannot infect other workers.  Employers should follow a symptom-based strategy for identifying, separating, and sending home workers according to OSHA, although there may be limited circumstances where a test-based strategy is appropriate. 

Under a symptom-based strategy, workers who think or know they had COVID-19 and had symptoms should only return to work after:

1. At least 10 days have passed since symptoms first appeared;
2. At least 24 hours have passed with no fever without fever-reducing medication; and
3. Other symptoms of COVID-19 are improving (loss of taste and smell may persist for weeks or months and need not delay the end of isolation).

Some workers may need to isolate longer than 10 days, as recommended by their doctor.  Please keep in mind that while the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) permits employers to ask for a doctor’s note to verify that workers are healthy and able to return to work, OSHA does not encourage such a practice given the potential delays and demands on the healthcare system.

As for workers who have been in close contact with a COVID-19 positive individual, local health departments typically establish the quarantine guidelines for such individuals.  While the CDC continues to recommend that such individuals stay home for 14 days after their last contact and monitor their symptoms, it recently provided the following two options to shorten an individual’s quarantine below 14 days:

1. Quarantine can end after 10 days after an individual’s last contact with COVID-19 without testing and if no symptoms have been reported during daily monitoring.
2. Quarantine can end after seven days after an individual’s last contact with COVID-19 after receiving a negative test.  The test must occur at least five days after the individual’s last exposure.

In either of these scenarios, the individual must continue to monitor their symptoms until 14 days after their last exposure and self-isolate if symptoms reappear within that period, wear a face covering, stay at least six feet from others, wash hands, and avoid crowds, amongst other steps to prevent the spread of COVID-19. 

In limited circumstances, employers may consider permitting critical infrastructure workers to continue to work when it is necessary to preserve the function of critical infrastructure workplaces.

Social Distancing Measures

Maintaining at least six feet of distance between individuals can be one of the best ways to protect individuals from infection.  As such, OSHA recommends that employers implement various measures such as limiting the number of people in one place at any given time (including during toolbox talks and safety meetings), increasing the physical space between workers and/or customers, altering work spaces to add physical cues reminding individuals to physically distance from one another (e.g., signs, tape marks, decals, etc.), offering vulnerable workers duties that minimize their contact with others, and prohibiting handshaking or other forms of physical contact.

Engineering Controls

The guidance discusses two specific types of engineering controls for employers to consider: barriers between workers and ventilation.  At fixed workstations where workers are not able to remain at least six feet away from other people, OSHA recommends that transparent shields or other solid barriers (e.g., plexiglass, flexible strip curtains) be installed.  These barriers do not replace the need for social distancing according to the Agency, and six feet of separation should still be maintained between individuals when possible.

OSHA also recommends that employers improve ventilation to prevent the spread of COVID-19 in buildings.  The guidance lists a number of helpful strategies to achieve this goal, such as:

1. Increase ventilation rates when possible.
2. When weather conditions allow and it does not pose a safety or health risk to others in the building, increase fresh outdoor air by opening windows and doors.  Fans can be used in conjunction with open windows to increase effectiveness.
3. Reduce or eliminate air recirculation.
4. Improve central air filtration to the MERV-13 or the highest compatible with the filter rack, and seal edges of the filter to limit bypass.

Face Coverings and PPE

Face Coverings are simple barriers that help prevent respiratory droplets from reaching others.  According to OSHA, face coverings should be made of at least two layers of a tightly woven breathable fabric and should not have exhalation valves or vents.  They should fit snugly over the nose, mouth, and chin with no large gaps on the outside of the face.  When worn properly, face coverings can suppress the spread of COVID-19.  Wearing a face covering, however, is complementary to and not a replacement for physical distancing.

The guidance recommends that employers provide all workers with face coverings at no cost to the worker.  In addition, employers should require any other individuals at the workplace (e.g., visitors, customers, non-employees) to wear a face covering unless they are under the age of two or are actively consuming food or beverages on site.

OSHA standards may require employers to provide PPE to supplement other controls when the measures discussed above cannot be implemented or do not protect workers fully.  In these scenarios, employers must determine what PPE is necessary and provide all necessary PPE to workers at no cost in accordance with relevant OSHA standards.

Sanitization, Cleaning, and Disinfecting Practices

Per OSHA’s guidance, employers should ensure that workers, customers, and visitors have adequate supplies and time to clean their hands frequently and cover their coughs and sneezes.  Posters encouraging hand hygiene and physical distancing should be posted at the entrance to a workplace and in other areas where they are likely to be seen.  These posters should be in a language workers can understand, including non-English speakers.

Employers should also develop, implement, and maintain a plan to perform regular cleanings to reduce the risk of exposure to COVID-19 in the workplace. This should include routine cleaning and disinfecting of all frequently touched surfaces and portable jobsite toilets, prohibiting the sharing of objects or tools between workers or ensuring appropriate cleaning and disinfection of shared tools, providing disposable disinfecting wipes so that commonly used surfaces can be wiped down before each use, storing and using disinfectants in a responsible manner, and advising workers to always wear gloves or additional PPE appropriate for the chemicals being used.