The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has cited Roofs by Antonio LLC of Dayton, Ohio, for exposing employees to fall hazards while they installed shingles on a sloped roof in Cincinnati. The company faces penalties of $159,118 for repeatedly violating OSHA’s fall protection standards.

OSHA inspectors noted one willful violation and two serious safety violations during a July 13 inspection for failing to provide and install a fall protection system and failing to have a competent person inspect the worksite daily. OSHA has cited Roofs by Antonio for fall protection violations five times since 2014.

“Disregard for required OSHA safety procedures places workers at risk for serious and fatal injuries,” says OSHA Cincinnati Area Director Ken Montgomery. “Falls are preventable when safety systems are installed and properly used.”

The company has 15 business days from receipt of the citations and penalties to comply, request an informal conference with OSHA’s area director, or contest the findings before the independent Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission.

OSHA offers compliance assistance resources on how to prevent falls from ladders, scaffolds, and roofs on the OSHA Fall Protection webpage.

Genesis Attachments, Superior, Wisconsin, has hired Matt Hughes as a key account manager for demolition and as the South Central regional manager.

Hughes joined Genesis in May 2009 and served as South Central regional manager from 2013-17. During that time, he helped establish relationships with customers and dealers in the region. According to the company, his experience, product and application knowledge and understanding of the industries Genesis serves will allow for a seamless transition back into the territory that now covers Louisiana, New Mexico and Texas.

In his key account manager for demolition role, Hughes will be responsible for product and sales growth in the North American demolition segment. 

Hitachi Construction Machinery Loaders America, Newnan, Georgia, has announced the addition of its updated ZW180 to its Dash-6 lineup of mid-sized wheel loaders. The company reports that it developed the Dash-6 series to compete with the industry’s most productive and durable equipment brands. Designed to serve as a workhorse in loader applications, the ZW180-6 loader can handle hard-working days while adapting to a full range of varied loader tasks.

Weighing in at 32,100 pounds, the ZW180-6 delivers 26,530 pounds of breakout force, powered by a Cummins 200-horsepower Tier 4 Final QSB6.7 engine. Customers are offered a choice of a 3.4-yard general purpose bucket or a 4.2-yard material handling bucket. Able to lift as much as 3,000 pounds of material, the ZW180 can reach loading heights up to 12.9 feet.

Versatility features

According to Hitachi, a key element in the ZW180-6’s design for versatility is the company’s new Power Mode switch, which is mounted on the steering joystick. A touch of the Power Mode switch gives the operator immediate access to additional rim-pull and breakout force for digging into heavy piles or for climbing grades while carrying a full load. Available in any auto and manual ranges, the switch to Power Mode instantly produces a 10 percent burst in engine rpm. The Power Mode allows faster acceleration without limiting the loader’s top speed on flat runs. The extra power also boosts hydraulic flow to allow quicker bucket lifts for faster cycle times. 

The ZW180-6 also features an automatic power-up function which responsively increases engine rpm anytime the loader slows down due to travel on an uphill grade, Hitachi reports in a news release on the ZW180-6. 

Operator performance features

The ZW180-6 targets the needs of operators with popular smart technology including ride control, telematics, auto power-up and an operator-friendly LCD color monitor. The cab is fully fitted out for the operator’s creature comforts and convenience, including automatic A/C, excellent ventilation and a new sound system with roof-mounted speakers. The compartment is sealed airtight and pressurized to keep out dust and dirt.

An extensive range of intuitive controls come easily to hand for responsive power, steering and loading functions, Hitachi reports. The tilt/telescoping steering pedestal is linked to a pop-up pedal that quickly returns the steering pedestal to its start position. The transmission offers two auto modes and one manual mode to adapt to the day’s applications. A shift-to-hold switch overrides automatic settings to hold the transmission in its current gear until the operator presses it again or changes direction, giving it the extra traction or torque required at that time.

Hitachi’s parallel/tandem hydraulic circuit makes load lifting and dumping even more efficient. The parallel tilt and lift movement smooths out digging operations while the tandem function prioritizes the bucket while dumping, as an automatic return-to-dig function resets the bucket for the next load.

Additionally, the ZW180-6 features a high level of visibility for operators. The company reports that a seamless front window, rounded engine cowling and a redesigned ROPS frame allows for clean 360-degree lines of sight. Its exhaust and intake stacks are relocated to the far rear end of the engine cover, minimizing their profile in the operator’s view. The rear pillars of the ROPS frame struts are mounted forward and away from the rounded corners of the cab. A rear-mounted safety camera is standard equipment, along with a proximity detection system providing audible and visual alerts for stationary and moving objects up to 20 feet away from the loader.

Engine features

By eliminating diesel particulate filter (DPF) and the required regen cycles from its Dash-6 machines, Hitachi now takes the industry lead in Tier 4 Final solutions for wheel loaders, the company reports in a news release on the ZW180-6 loader. The ZW180-6 is equipped with a clean selective catalytic reduction (SCR) system using just a simple diesel exhaust fluid (DEF) system that lets the machine run efficiently without high engine temperatures and eliminates concerns about idle times. Fleet managers can expect less downtime for engine maintenance and extended engine life to overhaul, Hitachi reports. 

In addition, an auto shutdown feature provides further savings on fuel and emissions, adding up to about a 7 percent reduction in fuel cost during load-and-carry operations.

Telematics with Hitachi’s Global e-Service allows ZW180‑6 owners to monitor their loaders remotely for machine performance, daily operational reports, remote diagnosis, as well as being able to schedule maintenance dates. The results are also provided automatically in a monthly email summary with Hitachi’s ConSite program.

A recently released study has found that construction reports the greatest foreign language skills gap of all industries surveyed.

The findings were published in “Making Languages Our Business: Addressing Foreign Language Demand Among U.S. Employers,” a report put together by the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL) after surveying 1,200 U.S. employers.

The report, which examines eight different industry sectors, finds that the demand for foreign language skills is increasing and becoming more critical to have for both internal and external operations.

Foreign language skills gaps means employees are unable to meet the employer’s foreign language needs, which ACTFL says results in “lost opportunity and loss business.” The report found that 40 percent of construction employers report a foreign language skills gap, making it the highest out of all surveyed industries.

“There is no denying the dominant position STEM subjects have enjoyed in today’s curriculum. Foreign language, unfortunately, is often treated as a competing discipline. Our survey findings highlight the need for world language skills to be recognized as a complementary and interdependent capability. We already know that language learning deepens our connections to other cultures, boosts confidence, strengthens decision-making, and contributes greatly to national security; we also know language skills are necessary to produce the globally-competent employees U.S. businesses are seeking,” says Howie Berman, ACTFL’s executive director. “This reality requires an education system that prepares graduates to be proficient in the languages they need to successfully compete in a 21st century global economy.”

Among other findings, the report also shows that nine out of 10 U.S. employers report a reliance on U.S.-based employees with language skills other than English, with one-third reporting a high dependency. Spanish is the most in-demand foreign language reported by U.S. employers, followed by Chinese, French, Japanes and German.

Other key findings specific to the construction sector include:

• With a five-year outlook, 54 percent of employers in the construction sector expect an increase in demand for foreign language skills. 

• 42 percent of construction employers and 41 percent of healthcare and social assistance employers say they rely “a lot” on employees with foreign language skills. Employers that depend “a lot” on multilingual staff are much more likely to report a foreign language skills gap compared to those with “some” reliance.

• Employers in the construction sector are most likely to be unable to pursue or have lost business in the past three years due to a lack of foreign language skills.

• The healthcare and social assistance sector is the most likely to contract with language service providers (LSPs). This is followed by manufacturing, professional and technical services, education services, and construction, with each of these reporting similar levels of usage. Overall, employers use LSPs primarily to translate HR and employee materials (52 percent), followed by marketing materials (42 percent) and compliance documents (38 percent), while about three in 10 employers contract with LSPs for routine documents (30 percent) and website localization (28 percent).

• The construction sector has the strongest need for foreign language skills in production (38 percent). Additionally, compared to every other sector, construction has the greatest demand for foreign languages in administrative work (28 percent), followed by the education services sector (26 percent). 

Following the report’s release, ACTFL released recommendations on tackling the foreign language skills gap. Recommendations are as follows:

• Conduct a language needs analysis. Identify linguistic strengths and weaknesses in your organization, and define current and future language needs. This helps create clear goals and measurable outcomes for attaining the necessary language capacity. 

• Conduct outside language testing and assessment. Professionally test employees as a first step to identifying your workforce’s linguistic strengths and weaknesses. 

• Maintain an inventory of the linguistic and cultural competencies of your workforce. 

• Make foreign languages a strategic focus throughout the recruitment process. Set hiring targets for employees with foreign language skills based on your organizational goals. Prominently communicate interest in employees with multilingual and cross-cultural competencies in all recruiting resources and corporate communications. 

• Train talented candidates and employees who lack the required level of language proficiency. Immersive training, private coaching, online programs and blended learning methods are viable options. Consider personalized, sector-specific training. Not all roles require full proficiency. Many require a working knowledge of a language within a specialized domain. Fulfill these needs with functional, immersive language training relevant to a specific field. 

• Identify and cultivate a pipeline of multilingual talent. Partner with colleges and universities with international studies, foreign language and study abroad programs. Articulate industry language needs to help them design relevant programs. Also, offer internships and job opportunities for qualified students and recent graduates with the linguistic and global competencies your organization requires. 

• Advocate regional, state and national policies that are responsive to industries’ foreign language and workforce needs, including the funding of early language-learning programs

For a more in-depth look at hiring employees who speak another language and more resources to do so, check out our discussion with Pat Hudson of Leadpoint Business Services on our sister publication Waste Today.