Legislative Reform A Hot Topic At Conference

By Jennifer Rice, Staff Writer of Fox Valley Labor News

Next year will bring new laws as well as changes to existing laws that effect mercury thermostats, vehicle lettering and fire sprinkler installation.

Executive Director of the Illinois Plumbing-Heating-Cooling Contractors (PHCC) Beverly Potts was on hand at the Plumbing and Mechanical Contractors Authority of Northern Illinois (PAMCANI) two-day conference last weekend in Downers Grove to explain the new laws and how they will affect contractors.

Effective Jan. 1, 2011, any mercury thermostat taken out of service must be disposed in proper containers so they are not left for our landfills. Potts explained that the manufacturer is responsible for providing the containers for its contractors, distributors and municipalities.

"Make sure you find out where these collection sites are. If you're a contractor that uses a lot of mercury thermostats, make sure the manufacturer provides you with a container so you can do a proper disposal," Potts said. "It can be pretty costly if you replace a lot of them in a day and someone finds them in the Dumpster," she added.

Manufacturers face a $2,500 a day fine, per violation. Contractors face a minimum of a $500 a day fine, per violation. She added that this new law would not apply to other mercury switches, only for mercury thermostats.

This year, the Fire Sprinkler Contractor License Act was amended to protect fire sprinkler contractors who have their license pulled. "If your license is pulled and that individual has no intention of using you, it is considered identity theft," Potts said. Identity theft is considered a Class 4 felony.

"If you're a fire sprinkler contractor and you see someone else has used your number to pull a permit, make sure you report that," Potts said to a roomful of contractors. "Apparently there are many incidents of this going on — enough to warrant the government to amend the law," she explained.

A law passed several years ago, which mandated fire sprinklers be installed in dormitories to protect occupants and their personal belongings, failed to address Greek housing on college campuses, which includes fraternities and sororities. Starting next year, Greek housing will have to be in compliance.

"If a job was started prior to Jan. 1, 2010, you have until 2019 to be in compliance. If started after, it's immediate compliance," Potts explained.

A new law expected to help enforcement and inspectors applies to vehicle lettering. As of Jan 1, 2011, all contractor and sub-contractor vehicles must be lettered, including trucks, vans and trailers. Potts was excited about the new law because if a vehicle is advertising their plumbing business, the plumber's license number has to be included in the advertisement.

Several contractors were not happy with the law, explaining that they live in an area that had rules restricting advertisement and lettering on vehicles. Others were concerned about theft. By requiring vehicle lettering, some contractors felt like they were announcing they had valuable items inside their trucks.

"To combat this," Potts said, "the lettering can be a magnetic or vinyl sign that is easily removed."

The Illinois Preference Act, designed to help Illinois workers when unemployment is high, might actually hinder some contractors. Potts said that when Illinois' unemployment rate hits a certain percentage, any state project funded by federal or state funds, has to employ a workforce that consists of 90 percent Illinois residents.

"It sounds like great news, but it's not great news for contractors whose businesses are located on the border of the state and a majority of their employees live in Indiana," Potts said. The Department of Labor is responsible for clarifying the act and addressing contractor concerns, but has yet to do so. Potts said contractors in this situation are instructed to continue what they are doing until the DOL creates new updates and rules.

2011 also will bring stiffer penalties and fines from OSHA as it steps up its inspections. Jerry Yankus with Yankus Safety Consultants explained that starting in October, penalty fines increased to a minimum three to four times their regular rate.

OSHA will be targeting fall protection, ladder use and excavation, as well as looking at who's in control on the site, what kind of documentation there is and what kind of training both employees and contractors have

. "OSHA will ask for documentation, including your discipline program. Even with verbal warnings, document them. It will help you in the long run," Yankus said.

He recounted a story where a carpenter was standing on scaffolding, about 12 to 13 feet in the air. "It was above the violation line, just barely, but he got a $7,000 penalty," he explained.

OSHA also will be targeting owners of companies. Yankus said this summer a Pennsylvania owner not only was penalized; he also was criminally charged, resulting in a 6-month house arrest and probation.

"I don't want to scare you, I want to prepare you," Yankus told the roomful of contractors and employees.

He explained that OSHA will be looking into a company's record keeping habits to check that disciplinary actions are documented as well as that of training. "OSHA is doing more and more investigation and they will be asking for that," he said.

A good place to start with documentation and a baseline for safety is the PAMCANI safety manual. Yankus stressed it's a guideline for safety, not a Bible. "The problem with all these safety manuals is they don't always apply to your operation. Make your own safety manual, but applicable to your operation and make it site specific," he said.

Photo by Ryan Hosler photo
Starting in 2011, mercury thermostats, such as the one pictured here, must be properly disposed of after taken out of service so as to not poison landfills.

This article originally appeared in the Fox Valley Labor News