14 minute read
A CONEXPO to Remember
A CONEXPO to Remember
Not only because the show closed a day early, CONEXPO-CON/AGG 2020 was a show to remember thanks to the spirit of community and the innovation everywhere you turned. As if we all knew it was the last event we’d attend before lockdowns, quarantines and travel restrictions would physically isolate us from swaths of society, we crammed technological news and up dates into our brains as fast as we could get from booth to booth.
When I approached the BOMAG stand in the central hall, a squat roller without an operator cab blinked its lights. It lacked an operator cab because BOMAG is one of multiple OEMs of fering remote-control machines. Check out the video of Bert Erdmann explaining a few of the Robomag’s features on AsphaltPro’s YouTube channel at https://youtu.be/OQlcsbrJKAM.
When I approached the Wirtgen Group stand in the silver lot, black milling machines greet ed me. Why? Because the mills can be ordered with a carbon fiber wrap kit that protects the machine and increases resell value.
Technology and safety tidbits that we’ll share in the magazine this summer speckled the show floor. Of course, safety is taking on a new look this paving season. Thanks to the phrase “social distancing,” your tailgate talks and lunch breaks require more forethought to keep workers six feet from one another.
In a recent note to the American General Contractors of America (AGC), CEO Stephen E. Sandherr shared that the obligation to safeguard workers has grown in recent weeks. The out break of COVID-19 in North America brings new challenges for providing a safe work environment. He wrote:
“Federal, state, and local officials have relied on our assurances that the steps your firms are taking, including social distancing, the use of PPE and monitoring who enters your jobsites, cre ates a safer environment than exists in other industries. These officials have taken us at our word and allowed many types of construction projects to continue because they know this industry has a long history of complying with complex and ever-changing safety rules and regulations.”
AsphaltPro’s blog post “The Construction Industry Takes Precautions to Prevent Spread of Coronavirus” offers best practices for our industry and lists resources to keep you up to date with guidelines as the paving season progresses and the COVID-19 outbreak begins its down ward curve. It’s vital that we all follow CDC guidance to get our day-to-day back to some semblance of normal, but, more importantly, to ensure everyone returns to normal. Those who balk at the rules will not only find themselves fined and shut down; they could end up hospitalized.
“I urge all of you to make sure that every member of your team is following the guidance and safety requirements public health and safety officials have provided to make sure your work ers are protected from the coronavirus,” Sandherr wrote. “There is no margin for error when it comes to protecting your workforce. Any lapse in safety protocols can, and likely will, prompt government officials to reverse the industry’s ability to continue to operate...”
Lapses can put company owners at odds with new laws as well. The Families First Coronavi rus Response Act: Employer Paid Leave went into effect April 1, requiring employers with fewer than 500 employees to make provisions related to COVID-19. It’s not an easy Act to decipher and even its expiration date of Dec. 31, 2020, is already debated as extendable. After attending Transportation Research Board and National Asphalt Pavement Association webinars discuss ing the law’s paid leave requirements, I feel confident stating the spirit of the Act is to protect both workers and employers in a time of uncertainty.
The best quote I’ve heard from any presenter so far is that we should learn to be agile. In a time when employees have different family situations and underlying health conditions offer ing them various stressors, members of the construction trades can go about our essential functions with a calm yet cautious agility.
Like those of us who crammed as much knowledge into our brains as we could during a short ened CONEXPO, we’ll now adapt to working as safely as we can in light of new circumstances in our world. This will likely turn into a paving season to remember, but I challenge you to make it memorable due to your combined spirit of innovation and “safely distanced” community.
Stay Safe,
May 2020 • Vol. 13 No. 7
asphaltPRO
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AsphaltPro is published 11 times per year. Writers expressing views in AsphaltPro Magazine or on the AsphaltPro website are professionals with sound, professional advice. Views expressed herein are not necessarily the same as the views of AsphaltPro, thus producers/contractors are still encouraged to use best practices when implementing new advice. SUBSCRIPTION POLICY: Individual subscriptions are available without charge in the United Sates, Canada and Mexico to qualified individuals. One year subscription to non-qualifying Individuals: United States $90, Canada and Mexico $125.00. For the international digital edition, visit theasphaltpro.com/subscribe/.
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Cornejo & Sons Flags Work Zone Entrances, Exits
Cornejo & Sons Inc., uses color-coded flags to identify work zone entrances and exits. The idea was recognized as a finalist in NAPA’s annual Safety Awards program.
Editor’s Note: In the 2019 Operational Excellence category, Cornejo & Sons Inc., Wichita, Kansas, was a finalist for the National Asphalt Pavement Association’s (NAPA) Asphalt Operations Safety Innovations Award. AsphaltPro magazine is proud to sponsor the industry’s safety award and to share this article, which describes the company’s innovative approach to work zone entrances and exits.
Cornejo & Sons Inc., Wichita, Kansas, estimates that each of its 775 vehicles makes an average of six trips to and from job sites every work day. This amounts to more than 1 million vehicles entering and exiting work zones each year.
“Most construction sites have cones all over the place and it can be confusing for drivers delivering materials to know where to go,” said Safety Director Omar Franco. Cornejo & Sons determined that this ex posed the company, its fleet and its workers to unnecessary risks.
A lack of consistent and well-marked work zone entrances and exits not only risked driv ers damaging recently paved asphalt, hitting
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traffic control equipment or running over ex isting utilities, but also contributed to unauthorized and/or unsafe entrances and exits. For example, trucks could enter or exit a work zone by driving under power lines, across in tersections, or on uneven or unstable ground. Even more seriously, there was the risk of em ployees in the work zone being struck by construction vehicles or by the traveling public as employees attempted to flag confused drivers into or out of the work zone.
Cornejo & Sons decided to do something to reduce these risks. They began using col or-coded flags to identify work zone entrances and exits—an idea for which the company was recognized as a finalist in the National As phalt Pavement Association’s annual Safety Awards program.
“We want to take the guesswork out of it, and make it easy for drivers to follow our di rections,” Franco said. “Now, everyone knows where the entrances and exits are .”
SAFETY LEADERSHIP, SAFER JOB SITS
Since 2014, Cornejo & Sons has organized a handful of safety leadership teams from across its operations to identify issues facing the company and brainstorm potential solutions each year.
“The first couple of weeks out in the field, everyone on those teams is paying a lot of attention to hazards and asking their fellow employees for ideas,” Franco said. “It boosts morale to know that the company is invested in keeping employees safe.”
It was one of the company’s very first safety leadership teams who identified the risks related to entering and exiting work zones. The team decided to create color-coded flags to denote construction vehicle entrances and exits for each work site. This enabled drivers to enter and exit work zones without verbal communication, thus reducing driver confusion, improving the safety of entry and exit points with less impact on the traveling public, and posing less risk to equipment and employees in the work zone. It also made it easier to specify entrances for different materials being delivered to the same job site.
“We may have miles’ worth of road we’re working on,” said Community Outreach Director Randy Roths. “The flags give drivers
direction so they know where to pull into and out of a work zone, and crew members on the job know they need to stay out of those areas.” The flags also illustrate to subcontractors, inspectors and other third-party vehicles where equipment and vehicles can (and can’t) be parked on the job.
FLAGS IN ACTION
All Cornejo & Sons job sites where trucks will be entering and exiting the work zone are required to set up specific color-cod ed flags for each type of material the site is expecting that day. In fact, crews are not allowed to order trucks unless the flags are set up.
The brightly colored flags are reflective so they are visible during both day and night jobs. They also spray painted text on each flag with its corresponding material, such as asphalt or removals. The total cost of each flag is less than $10, including the fabric flag and paint, the fiberglass pole, and bungee cords/clamps to attach the flag and pole to safety cones or barricades.
To encourage participation in the program, Cornejo & Sons conducted a safety meeting with each crew before implemen tation and prepared a toolbox talk printout and a best practices checklist in English and Spanish.
The foreman on any given job places two colored flags at the entrance and two check ered flags at the exit, attaching them with bungee cords to safety cones, concrete bar riers, or whatever else may be available at those areas.
NAPA’s next Safety Awards program opens Aug. 1, 2020, with a submission deadline of Oct. 15, 2020. Visit www.AsphaltPavement.org/Awards to apply.
The best practice checklist reminds foremen to make sure the cones are spaced wide enough to allow trucks to enter, and that the entrances and exits have a safe slope, are stable, do not have power lines overhead and offer safe re-entry into traffic.
Because paving jobs are always moving, the foreman on those jobs places just one entrance flag on the paver itself.
In addition to making it easy for crews to comply, Cornejo & Sons also wanted the system to be easy for truck drivers. The company equipped all of its trucks, as well as hired-party trucks the company employs, with windshield stickers reminding drivers of the color-coding system. The flag color is also included on the driver’s delivery ticket. (See the image on this page).
ENTER: RESULTS EXIT: RISK
According to Cornejo & Sons, the risks associated with unclear entrances and exits has been reduced by more than 70 percent since the company implemented its color-coded flag system.
Within the first year of the program, some of the contractors Cornejo & Sons works with noticed the flags and thought they were a good idea. “They would request that we bring the flags out to jobs we’d do together,” Franco said. “It’s neat to be able to share that with them.”
Since they began the flag program, Cornejo & Sons has continued to make improvements. For example, the flag for asphalt used to be black and was difficult to see on night projects. Now, the asphalt flags are white.
“At first, the foremen weren’t thrilled to have one more thing to set up,” Roths said, “but they’ve grown to appreciate not having to chase down trucks who’ve missed turns.”
Not only do the flags save crews time and reduce driver confusion, but they also make the work zone safer for everyone.
– BY SARAH REDOHL
Cornejo & Sons employs more than 575 workers across its various subsidiaries. The company, which serves the construction industry in Kansas and throughout the Midwest, offers aggregate production and delivery, asphalt production and paving, pavement maintenance, heavy highway construction, stone quarry and sand mines, and site development and construction, among other operations.
“Safety is number one around here,” said Safety Director Omar Franco. “It’s the first thing we talk about with new hires, we are committed to Toolbox Talks, we do safety lunches and safety training throughout the year.” At the start of every construction season, Cornejo & Sons has a safety kickoff pancake breakfast for 400+ employees so everyone starts the year off with a safety mindset.
Since 2014, Cornejo & Sons organizes a handful of safety leadership teams from across its operations each year to identify issues facing the company and brainstorm potential solutions. The safety leadership teams are voluntary, “though we voluntold people to do it the first couple years,” Franco joked. The teams meet once every two weeks to determine the problem they want to solve and brainstorm and implement solutions, which are ultimately presented to upper management at Cornejo & Sons and at its parent company, Summit Materials, Franco said.
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