Masonry Magazine December 2005 Page. 43
in the N.C. VICA/SkillsUSA high school masonry contest. Heath is a junior at Lenoir-Rhyne College in Hickory, N.C., studying pre-engineering. He plans to transfer to the University of North Carolina at Charlotte or North Carolina State University to complete a degree in construction engineering and ultimately plans to have his own general contracting firm. This year is the 52nd consecutive year for the state fair contest. The masonry industry donated more than $7,000 in cash, tools and materials for this year's event. Also, Calvin Brodie of Brodie Contractors in Raleigh served as contest chairman and Doug Burton of Whitman Masonry in Benson served as the contest head judge. The Manning Masonry team garnered a first place finish at the 13th Annual North Carolina Masonry Contractors Association (NCMCA) State Golf Tournament at Graham, N.C, on Sept. 22. Other winners from the event included the Charlotte Wire-Bond team for
sa has informed me that the two-day review session went extremely well, resulting in several good ideas and revisions for a second edition of our manuals. We hope to have this updated second edition out by Fall 2006.
Region VII OSHA Training Seminar
As a part of our MCAA-OSHA Alliance, the MCAA and Mason Contractors Association of St. Louis will be hosting a pilot program to train over 50 OSHA compliance officers and officials in Region VII on the best practices of the masonry industry. This pilot program will be held on Nov. 17 in St. Louis. What we hope to achieve from this program is an opportunity for selected representatives of our industry to train OSHA field inspectors and officials on how we conduct our business, how we provide safety programs for our personnel, and why our industry has certain exemptions (such as overhand bricklaying, not using harnesses on scaffolding, why we can't clear materials off scaffolding at the end of every shift, and why we don't need to erect scaffolding on both sides of a block wall when grouting). In turn, OSHA will have an opportunity to discuss with us what they look for in our industry with regards to safety. If the pilot works effectively, we will expand the program to all regions.
Certification
Education Chairman David Hill headed up an MCAA Certification Taskforce to look at the possibility and practicality of a national contractor certification program. A recent meeting for gathering information was held at the MCAA Midyear Meeting in Asheville, N.C. Twenty-five members and staff participated in a two-hour discussion on the possible benefits of developing a national contractor certification program. The group reviewed current and developing local association certification programs, strengths and weaknesses of a national program and the ability of the national association to implement such a program. The group unanimously approved the establishment of a small, focused taskforce to research and make recommendations to the MCAA Board of Directors on the feasibility of moving forward on developing a national contractor certification program.
For more information on MCAA, its Initiatives or to become a member, please visit www.masoncontractors.org.
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December 2005
Masonry 41