CONCRETE GROUND ZERO

This past January, one of our favorite events of the year, The World Of Concrete, took place at the Las Vegas convention center.  This annual convention brings in more than 1,800 companies and suppliers as well as tens of thousands of attendees from all over the world. With over 900,000 square feet of exhibitor space, The World of Concrete provides a massive foundation for the entire concrete, masonry, and construction industries.

The World of Concrete is a massive show with something to offer everyone who attends. Whether you’re looking for new safety solutions, state of the art equipment, the cutting edge in machine control or the latest project management software, you’ll find it here.  Take it from us, you may even find things you never knew existed.  As an attendee for over ten years, we’ve discovered multiple things that have helped us cut costs and make our projects more productive. This year alone, we discovered new fall rescue solutions that we plan on implementing as well as a few innovative silica compliance ideas. Not to mention, the show has connected us to companies and contacts we may have otherwise never met. 

TEAM BUILDING

In addition to the unlimited amount of things offered at the show, it is also a great event for team building. We think it’s a great idea to consider bringing not only your upper management but maybe you’re foremen, shop managers, estimators and project managers as well. Spending time together at the show and after on the Las Vegas Strip creates a memorable work vacation that creates bonds and rewards your workers after a hard productive year of work.

Here are all of the benefits of attending the show per the World of Concrete website:

1. See it all in one place.  Find everything you need to win more jobs, make more money and streamline your business.
2. Get connected. Make new contacts and strengthen your industry connections.
3. Work Smarter.  Learn how to work leaner, get the safety training and courses you need in today’s economy.
4. Get hands-on.  See, touch and test the latest products under real-world, job site conditions.
5. Find new opportunities.  Capitalize on the trends that will drive future markets and provide opportunities to profit.
6. Get your questions answered.  Attend expert-led seminars for the new skills, practical solutions and creative strategies to improve your business.

SILICA CHANGES

While walking around the show this year, it was hard not to notice that OSHA has major changes for their Silica Standard in the works. For construction, these changes go into effect on June 23rd, 2017.  While we’re sure, by this point, you know what these changes mean for your company, many contractors are still scrambling to implement these changes into their policies and procedures.  With enforcement looming, nearly every tool manufacturer in the industry has new product lines of dustless tools available to help you comply with the new rules.  At every turn, it seemed like a new company was offering dustless tools, respirators, training, and more. While the new OSHA rules will foremost be a means to keep workers safe, contractors are already bracing themselves for the anticipated cost of implementing these new policies and buying the right equipment to keep their workers safe.  You need to be thinking about these issues now. Don’t wait until June 23rd to get your company in compliance.

FINAL IMPRESSIONS

Overall, we once again had a great time at the World of Concrete show. The show reminded us that not only do we love the construction industry but that we have a mountain of work to do to get ready for the spring! If you attended the show this year we’d love to hear about your experiences. Who knows, maybe we’ll even catch you at the show next year.

Lastly, we want to share a picture we took in the cab on the way to the show this year.  It’s just a reminder to stay vigilant on your projects.  You never know when a worker may not be working safely.  How would you like paying this OSHA fine?