The role of people rather than process in boosting both project and corporate results in the construction industry is gathering momentum as an emerging area of study called “social network analysis.” Researchers are now studying projects and companies to determine how poor communication and too much focus on an “engineering approach” undermine more stellar performances. Some say development of the SNA concept could transform the industry. Photo: CH2M Hill / IHC Strong project-team collaboration brought high profile runway repave job in early. Photo: CH2M Hill / IHC Team had to build alternate runway and then rebuild the original. One researcher,
President-Elect Obama’s selection for the top post at the Labor Dept., Rep. Hilda Solis, a U.S. congresswoman from California, is a cause for celebration by unions. In making the announcement Dec. 19, Obama said the California Democrat, a renewable energy advocate who was critical in the passage of a green jobs training bill in Congress, would play a key role in developing policies to fulfill his stated goal of creating some 2.5 million jobs. Labor advocates describe Solis as a strong union supporter with a decidedly pro-labor voting record. “We’re ecstatic,” says Terry O’Sullivan, general president of the Laborers International
Trying hard to hang onto its valuable construction workforce, at least one contractor has launched a new jobsite-wide health and safety measure: deployment of automated external defibrillators (AEDs) to revive sudden heart attack victims at all of its U.S. and Caribbean project sites. Photo: Moss & Associates Moss safety manager Gerard (center) demonstrates defibrillator device operation to other contractor employees. The firm has deployed the devices at U.S. and Caribbean jobsites. While AEDs have found their way into more workplaces and other public spaces, executives of Moss & Associates LLC and other heart-attack prevention professionals believe the Fort Lauderdale-based building