Qualified Remodeler Magazine

APR 2016

Qualified Remodeler helps independent remodeling firms to survive, become more professional and more profitable by providing must-have business information, namely best business practices, new product information and timely design ideas.

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he Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has issued a fnal rule on crystalline silica, which comprises two standards: one for Construction and one for General Industry and Maritime. OSHA estimates about 2.3 million workers are exposed to respirable crystalline silica in their workplaces, including 2 million construction workers who cut, drill, crush or grind silica-containing materials such as concrete and stone. Key provisions of the rule include: ¡ ¡ Reduces the permissible exposure limit (PEL) for respirable crys- talline silica to 50 micrograms per cubic meter of air, averaged over an 8-hour shift. ¡ ¡ Requires employers to use engineering controls (such as water or ventilation) to limit worker exposure to the PEL; provide respirators when engineering controls cannot adequately limit exposure; limit worker access to high exposure areas; develop a written exposure control plan; ofer medical exams to highly exposed workers; and train workers on silica risks and how to limit exposures. ¡ ¡ Provides medical exams to monitor highly exposed workers and gives them information about their lung health. ¡ ¡ Provides fexibility to help employers, especially small businesses, protect workers from silica exposure. Both standards contained in the fnal rule take efect on June 23, 2016, after which industries have one to fve years to comply with most requirements. Te Construction industry must be compliant by June 23, 2017, one year after the efective date. Learn more about the fnal crystalline silica rule at osha.gov/silica/. In response to the fnal rule issuance, the Construction Industry Safety Coalition (CISC) released a statement addressing concerns it has. Te CISC says it appears, upon initial review, the 1,772-page fnal rule contains some of the same problematic provisions that the CISC previously identifed and shared with the agency. CISC has been a highly engaged participant in the rulemaking process since OSHA put forth the proposed rule two and a half years ago. "NAHB has long advocated the importance of the rule being both technologically and economically feasible," says Ed Brady, chairman of the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) and home builder and developer from Bloomington, Ill. "While we're still reviewing the fnal rule, we're concerned that it may not adequately address these issues and take into consideration real-world application." "Instead of crafting a new standard the construction industry can comply with, administration ofcials have instead opted to set a new standard that is well beyond the capabilities of current air fltration and dust removal technologies," says Stephen E. Sandherr, the CEO of the Associated General Contractors of America. "Our concern is that this new rule will do little to improve workplace health and safety, which is why we will continue our review of the new measure, consult with our Silica Rule Starts in June INDUSTRY REGULATIONS T continued "Silica Rule" continued pg. 15 Final Rule on Crystalline Silica Will Take Efect in June; CISC and Other Industry Members Respond NEWS Industry's First Known ESOP Complete and Operational Thousands of remodeling company owners can only hope to be standing in the spot where Iris Harrell is today. After 30 years of building a hugely successful gen- eral contracting frm in Northern California, Harrell, 69, and her longtime partner Ann Benson sold their company, Harrell Remodeling, to their employees and have embarked on a retired life of musicianship, golf and charitable endeavors. Theirs was a plan many years in the mak- ing. In fact, they are the frst known remod- eling frm to fully complete an Employee Stock Ownership Plan, or ESOP. As shown last month in research published in Qualifed Remodeler [pg. 52], many remodelers do not expect to mone- tize equity in their companies before they retire: 19.3 percent plan to simply "close up shop." Another 18.6 percent plan to "work until they die." The bulk of the remainder said they would seek to sell their business to a family member or an outsider. A much smaller group, 2.1 percent, expressed an interest in an ESOP. An ESOP is the route Harrell set out for herself and her team beginning in 2000 and completed on Dec. 4, 2014. She chose the ESOP plan because it ofered a structured way to put her valued employ- ees in the owner's chair over time — bit by bit — using profts and payroll deductions to make annual purchases of stock. It also Iris Harrell, chairman of Harrell Remodeling, Mountain View, Calif., with her partner Ann Benson in a photo they posted on Facebook as a message the day after employees purchased all of the remaining stock from Harrell. 10 April 2016 QR QualifiedRemodeler.com IN BRIEF

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