Masonry Magazine January 2008 Page. 72
News
The agency estimates the rule will result in 21,000 fewer on-the-job injuries every year.
OSHA Administrator Edwin Foulke Jr. says workers are less likely to purchase the right equipment or buy it at all if they have to pay for it. Employers now pay about 95 percent of the cost of personal protective equipment, he says. Making them pick up the remaining 5 percent of the tab will cost employers a total of $85 million, OSHA estimates.
The rule applies only to personal protective equipment that is needed to comply with OSHA standards. Employers are not required to pay for ordinary safety-toed footwear, logging boots, ordinary prescription safety eyewear, ordinary clothing or weather-related gear. The rule, which was first proposed in 1999, goes into effect in five months.
LATICRETE Expands in Texas
LATICRETE recently celebrated the completion of an $8 million, 50,000-square-foot expansion to its Grand Prairie, Texas, manufacturing and warehousing facility in Dallas County. The new expansion more than doubles the size of the existing operation, resulting in a 90,000-square-foot, manufacturing and fully automated warehousing facility, necessary to meet increased demand for LATICRETE system materials in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex.
The expansion and modernization of the environmentally friendly Grand Prairie, Texas, facility was realized without any interruption to LATICRETE customers and partners in the Dallas-Forth Worth Metroplex. In addition to Henry B. Rothberg, top LATICRETE officials from world headquarters in Bethany, Conn., were on hand for the opening ceremonies and Texas style barbecue that took place on the grounds of the facility.
Rocky Mountain Masonry Institute Holds Friendly Competition
On Dec. 8, the Rocky Mountain Masonry Institute held a friendly competition to see which company could donate the most toys for the US Marine Corps Reserve Toys for Tots Program. Participants were competing for bragging rights only. MSE Structures, a