Don’t Fry Day Is Friday, May 22
To help raise awareness of sun overexposure, the National Council on Skin Cancer Prevention created National Don’t Fry Day, an annual event the Friday before Memorial Day to encourage sun safety awareness, which also gives companies an opportunity to take another look at their safety program and best practices for working in warm weather conditions.
DOL Begins Enforcement of Paid Leave Requirements
The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) initially gave employers time to comply with coronavirus-related paid-sick-leave and paid-family-leave mandates and correct mistakes without facing scrutiny, but the department has now officially ramped up its enforcement efforts.
NFC Forms Alliance with GCs for Infectious Disease Preparedness
On Friday, May 1, members of the National Framers Council (NFC) Steering Committee met with a group of general contractors (GCs) to discuss forming an industry alliance to establish a standard approach to infectious disease response and preparedness in the wake of the current COVID-19 pandemic.
Breaking News! Unforeseen Changes to BCMC Venue, Now Columbus, 2020!
The COVID-19 pandemic has caused BCMC to reschedule their 2020 event to Columbus, Ohio, and move forward a week to September 29-October 2.
Experimental COVID-19 Drug Offers New Hope
Modest results from a federal trial of an experimental drug helped send the stock market soaring on Wednesday, another sign of the desperation for a viable treatment against the coronavirus.
Charts: LBMs’ Response to COVID-19 Worries
Pro Sales recently surveyed 130 LBM Dealers (April 3-9) throughout the country to ask how they have been disrupted due to COVID-19 and actions they’ve taken as a response.
PA Framer Shares His Journey During COVID-19 Shutdown
On March 15th, our Governor in Pennsylvania, Tom Wolf, closed non-life sustaining businesses, which included the manufacture of wall panels and construction.
Oxford Lab: COVID-19 Vaccine Possible by September
In the worldwide race for a vaccine to stop the coronavirus, the laboratory sprinting fastest is at Oxford University.
CDC Makes Several Additions to COVID-19 Symptoms List
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has expanded its list of possible symptoms of the coronavirus, a step that reflects the broad variation and unpredictability in the way the illness can affect individual patients.
CM Guidance for Construction Resuming May 1 in PA
On April 20, 2020, Pennsylvania’s governor issued an amended “stay home” executive order that paves the way for construction projects to start again in the state.
Public Health Labs Ramp Up COVID-19 Testing
The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) has created a webpage tracking the number of public health labs (PHLs) that have been verified and are conducting COVID-19 diagnostic tests.
A Lighter Look at the Top 10 Potential Home-Based Injuries
Due to COVID-19, various state and local stay at home orders and social distancing guidelines have prompted many employers to allow some of their employees to work from home.
Why COVID-19 Contact Tracing Is Important to Containment
Contact tracing may sound like taking your contacts out of your eyes and then drawing circles around them. But that’s not what the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and different public health officials are talking about about when they are referring to contact tracing.
Map: Researchers Team with Facebook to Track Symptoms
Researchers at Carnegie Mellon University teamed up with Facebook to aggregate self-reported data to try to visually capture an estimated percentage of people with COVID-19 symptoms in individual U.S. counties.
DOL Clarifies CARES Act Unemployment Benefits
As jobless claims reach record highs, states now have more guidance on how to roll out the emergency unemployment benefits provisions of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act.
OSHA Eases Enforcement Measures During COVID-19 Pandemic
On April 16, OSHA issued a memo to its regional administrators regarding “Discretion in Enforcement when Considering an Employer’s Good Faith Efforts During the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) Pandemic,” which will take effect immediately and remain in effect until further notice.
NFC Adds COVID-19 Toolbox Talk to FrameSAFE Training Resources
The National Framers Council’s COVID-19 Safety Training Resources page now includes a new FrameSAFE Toolbox Talk that is available for everyone to download and use with framing crews: COVID-19 Best Practices for Safer Jobsites.
Doctors Recommending Fast-Track Approval of Promising Drug
Our primary strategic objective must be to prevent ICU overwhelm, which is imminent in many US cities on our current course.
OSHA Compliance Warnings for Employers
While some federal, state and local governments are changing enforcement priorities to lessen the enforcement burden on employers during the Coronavirus pandemic, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s (OSHA) regulations remain in full force.
FEMA Seeks Surplus N95 Masks and Other PPE from Readers
SBCA and NFC are assisting assisting the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) in mapping personal protective equipment (PPE) supply across the country to respond to COVID-19-related shortages.