AGC MA Seeks individual to serve as AGC MA Contractor Representative on State Designer Selection Board

As a follow up to an article in the November 2018 BUZZ, AGC MA has statutory appointing authority to appoint - or recommend-  individuals to serve as the Contractor representative on a number of state Designer Selection or OPM Selection panels. There is currently a vacancy on the State Designer Selection Board due the term expiration of Ken Wexler (Elaine Construction). Ken is finishing up his second - two-year term as AGC's representative, where he served with distinction.  

 

Meetings are held on the 1st & 3rd Wednesday of each month - as needed. If you are interested, please contact Bob Petrucelli at AGC at [email protected]. or at 781-235-2680, ext. 14. The following is a detailed description of the position, the duties and the DSB, itself.

 

About the DSB:

The Designer Selection Board acts as the central administrative authority for the selection of firms to provide "design services" for public building construction projects throughout the Commonwealth. All DCAMM and other Executive Level building projects and charter schools are directly jurisdictional to our board while all other state agencies and municipalities (other than MBTA) are required to develop selection bodies that are similar to the DSB/DCAMM relationship. In essence the primary function is picking design teams for DCAMM and charter school projects while also setting policy across the state as issues come up.

The Designer Selection Board is independent from any other agency. The Board consists of eleven appointed members who are primarily architects and engineers, though there are two members of the public and one general contractor. DSB members are appointed for a term of two years and may be re-appointed for no more than one successive two year term. They serve without compensation but are reimbursed for expenses. Members may do other state construction work, even for DCAMM, but cannot be involved with any projects that are heard by the DSB. It is not enough to simply recuse from that project and we do not want candidates that intend to bid on projects whose design teams are selected by the DSB.

 

The DSB schedules its meetings for the 1st & 3rd Wednesday of each month as needed, and they are typically held in the 21st floor conference room at One Ashburton Place, Boston, MA. All meetings begin at 8:30 a.m. and run until the agenda is complete, generally until about noon. Usually we have 1-2 per month.

Draft Regulations Released for New Paid Family and Medical Leave Law

 

On January 23rd, the newly formed Department of Family and Medical Leave released its draft regulations for the new Paid Family and Medical Leave law which was a major piece of last year's "Grand Bargain" in the Massachusetts Legislature.

 

In advance of the formal comment period starting on March 29th, The Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development has been holding a series of public listening sessions on the regulations to gather initial reactions from the business community. AGC MA has attended multiple listening sessions and will be submitting comments on the regulations by the end of the listening session in March.  Below is a link to the draft regulations and please let us know if there are any specific issues you might want AGC MA to submit during the listening period on your behalf.  You can email AGC MA's Director of Industry Advancement & Labor Relations Brendan Carter at [email protected] with your comments.

 

Draft Regulations>>

 

If you want to attend a listening session on your own and voice your concerns, there are three upcoming events on March 1st, 4th and 8th.

 

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The Competent Person Fall Protection course is designed for anyone who is working at heights, decision makers and supervisors who are responsible for answering questions about fall protection. This course is designed to give all students the knowledge base to identify hazards both existing and potential and how to mitigate those hazards.

 

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OSHA 10-Hour Training

March 11 & 12 | 7:00 a.m.-1:00 p.m. | AGC Conference Center

The OSHA 10-Hour training course is intended as an orientation to OSHA safety training standards and covers safety and health hazards workers may face on construction work sites.

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CM-Lean Exam

March 13 | 8:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. | AGC MA Conference Center

CM-Lean Exam for those that have completed all 7 units and would like to get their CM-Lean designation. Register for the exam by contacting Kara Morgan at  [email protected]

NCSH 481 Process Safety Management for Highly Hazardous Chemicals used in General Industry and Construction

March 25 |8:00 a.m.- 4:00 p.m. | AGC MA Conference Center

This course is an overview of the basic requirements found in the OSHA Process Safety Management of Highly Hazardous Chemicals Standards for General Industry - OSHA 29 CFR 1910.119, and Construction - OSHA 29 CFR 1926.64, related OSHA and EPA regulations and best management practices. This course is intended for employees who work in chemical processing, chemical safety, chemical engineering, or are involved in chemical emergency preparedness and response, and those that want to understand how to prevent, or minimize the consequences of catastrophic releases of toxic, reactive, flammable, or explosive chemicals that may result in toxic, fire, or explosion hazards.

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