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SCA Weekly Report | May 22-26, 2023
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Save the Dates: Upcoming SCA Meetings
2023 SCA Fall General Membership Meeting: October 11-12, 2023 | Portland, Maine
2024 SCA Winter General Membership Meeting: February 7-8, 2024 | Coral Gables, Florida
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OSHA Seeking Feedback on Effectiveness of Leading Indicators to Improve, Develop Resource Tool
The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration is asking for stakeholder input on their current use of leading indicators and their impact on managing their safety and health management systems. Leading indicators are proactive and preventive measures that can provide insight on the effectiveness of safety and health activities and reveal potential problems. They are vital in reducing worker fatalities, injuries, illnesses, and financial impacts.
As OSHA considers developing a Leading Indicators Resource, the agency welcomes stakeholders to share their experience and expertise and provide detailed feedback on how/where they are used at their workplace. OSHA is interested in various perspectives on stakeholders’ answers to questions, such as the following:
- What leading indicators do you use?
- What lagging indicators do you use (OSHA incident rates, for example)?
- What leading indicators are, or could be, commonly used in your industry?
- What metrics do you share with top management?
- How do you determine the effectiveness of your leading indicators?
- Do you link your leading indicators to outcome data, such as OSHA incident rates to evaluate results?
- How could employers be encouraged to use leading indicators in addition to lagging indicators to improve safety management systems?
- What barriers and challenges, if any, have you encountered to using leading indicators?
Individuals may submit comments at regulations.gov by July 17, 2023, which is the Federal eRulemaking Portal, identified by docket number OSHA-2023-0006. For more information, see the OSHA Trade Release.
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Proposed EDA transfer to the Philippines
The Navy is proposing the transfer of two Island Class Patrol boats and two Protector Class Coastal Patrol boats to the Philippines under the Excess Defense Articles (EDA) program. If you have any questions or concerns, please respond to Lee Ann Carpenter by May 31, 2023.
Lee Ann Carpenter
Bureau of Industry & Security
US Department of Commerce
202-482-2583
LeeAnn.Carpenter@bis.doc.gov
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House Majority Leader Steve Scalise Receives SCA Maritime Leadership Award
The Shipbuilders Council of America (SCA), the national association representing the U.S. shipbuilding, maintenance, and repair industry, recently presented U.S. House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-LA) with the SCA Maritime Leadership Award. The award is given annually to national leaders who demonstrate exemplary dedication and support for the U.S. shipbuilding and repair industry.
Leader Scalise was presented the Maritime Leadership Award during the SCA annual membership meeting in Washington, D.C.
“Louisiana is a foundational maritime state and Leader Scalise is a tireless champion and advocate for the shipyard industry, industrial base and the dedicated maritime workforce,” said SCA President Matthew Paxton. “It is with great honor that we present this award to recognize the significant contributions that Leader Scalise has made for our industry – a thriving industry that drives nearly $8 billion in economic output in his home district alone and $18.2 billion statewide.”
Throughout his entire career in Congress, notes SCA, Scalise has been influential in advancing policies that support the domestic shipbuilding industry, such as increased funding for the Maritime Security Program and the Jones Act – a foundational national security law. He is also an ardent supporter of the U.S. Navy and Coast Guard and has pushed for added appropriations for naval shipbuilding as a critical component of the U.S. defense industrial base.
SCA adds that Scalise has also strongly advocated for the industry’s workforce and job training programs to ensure the highly skilled workforces needed are prepared to construct the vast number of vessels in the U.S. fleet – everything from tugboats to aircraft carriers.
“Leader Scalise understands firsthand the importance of this industry and has been a true champion for the nearly 30,000 men and women in his district and the over 400,000 individuals nationwide that make up the shipbuilding and maritime industry. In his 15 years in Washington, Leader Scalise has established an unparalleled record as a fierce advocate for American shipyards and our industrial base. There is no one more deserving of this year’s Maritime Leadership Award than Steve Scalise,” said Ben Bordelon, CEO of Louisiana-based Bollinger Shipyards and outgoing Chairman of SCA. “From the Mississippi River down to Port Fourchon, the maritime industry in Southeast Louisiana builds ships to protect our men and women in uniform, moves essential manufactured goods and supports offshore energy exploration and production to meet the needs of our entire nation and allies abroad. Our region leads the nation with a maritime workforce of over 30,000 jobs and generates billions of dollars in economic impact annually.”
“I am honored to receive the Maritime Leadership Award and thank the Shipbuilders Council of America for their commitment to the maritime industry in Louisiana. I will continue to fight for common sense policies that reduce red tape for our maritime industry and keep these high-skilled, high-paying jobs in Louisiana,” said Leader Scalise.
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House Members to Leave as Debt Talks Continue
House members have left Washington as debt-limit talks continue, saying they could vote next week — or even come back over the weekend — if negotiators strike a deal. House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-LA) said members can leave for the Memorial Day weekend, but that they’ll need to be able to return on 24 hours notice if a deal materializes. Even as negotiators say they want to raise the debt limit by June 1, members say the House could wait until next week and bank on the Senate acting quickly to avoid a default. It’s also possible the real deadline for action isn’t quite so soon.
House members could vote sometime in the middle of next week and probably be fine, Rep. Kevin Hern (R-OK), chair of the Republican Study Committee, told reporters. If things go well, it’s possible negotiators will announce a deal Friday and members could vote Tuesday. Republicans are determined to abide by their rule requiring 72 hours for members to read legislation before a vote, he said.
Waiting until next week to vote in the House would either require the Senate to achieve unanimous consent for a time agreement to hold a vote quickly, or it could require a stopgap debt-limit extension, unless the deadline to act turns out to be later than the early June projections from Treasury Department officials.
“Nobody [knows the date], including the secretary of the Treasury — and I don’t say this disrespectfully, but she doesn’t know exactly,” House Rules Chair Tom Cole (R-OK) said in a hallway interview. “I’m sure she was very cautious in her estimate, as she should be. But if we had to extend things to give the Senate time, I’m sure we would do that.”
Hern said he would expect Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) to move quickly if there’s a bipartisan deal. “I think if Speaker McCarthy and the Biden White House come to an agreement, Schumer will move night and day to get it done as soon as we send it to him,” Hern said.
Senate rules allow any one senator to delay a deal for days, threatening to breach the June 1 date when Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has warned the US might no longer be able to pay all of its bills. No senator threatened to do so, and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) predicted any deal would pass on a bipartisan basis and avert a default. If the House votes on a bill Tuesday, the Senate would have less than 48 hours to approve it before midnight on Wednesday, May 31.
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First US-Built Offshore Wind Substation Sets Sail
Offshore wind developers Ørsted and Eversource marked the "sailaway" of the first U.S.-built offshore wind substation, which departed a Texas fabrication facility earlier this week. Built by Kiewit Offshore Services, Ltd., the substation is transiting across the Gulf of Mexico and then up the East Coast for installation at the South Fork Wind project site in a few weeks.
"The substation will play a key role in enabling domestic energy production, strengthening America’s energy independence and adding to the nation’s energy mix," Ørsted said.
According to Ørsted, South Fork Wind is on track to be the first completed utility-scale offshore wind farm in federal waters, with the project expected to be operational by the end of 2023. The project will be New York’s first offshore wind farm and will power approximately 70,000 New York households.
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US Department of Labor Announces More Than $12M in Grant Funding Available for Worker Safety and Health Training Grants
Earlier this week, the U.S. Department of Labor announced the availability of more than $12.7 million in funding to make more good jobs available to the U.S. workforce by supporting training initiatives designed to promote safety and health in the nation's workplaces.
Administered by the department's Occupational Safety and Health Administration, the Susan Harwood Training Grant Program includes funding opportunities for Targeted Topic Training, Training and Educational Materials Development, and new Capacity Building training grants for nonprofit organizations.
Funding will be available in the following categories:
- Targeted Topic Training: Supporting educational programs that identify and prevent workplace hazards. Applicants must conduct training on OSHA-designated workplace safety and health hazards.
- Training and Educational Materials Development: Supporting the development of quality classroom-ready training and educational materials that identify and prevent workplace hazards.
- Capacity Building: Supporting organizations in developing new training programs to assess needs and plan for full-scale safety and health education programs, expanding their capacity to provide workplace safety and health training, education and related assistance to workers and employers.
Applicants must register with grants.gov and SAM.gov to apply for a grant opportunity. Submit applications at www.grants.gov by 11:59 p.m. EDT on July 7, 2023.
Bollinger Launches First of Three Oceanographic Research Vessels
The first of three new oceanographic research vessels dedicated to advancing marine science along U.S. coasts was launched earlier this week. The ships are being built at Bollinger Shipyards, Houma, LA, with construction staggered about six months between each vessel.
The Taani is being built as part of a project led by Oregon State University and funded by the U.S. National Science Foundation to provide scientists with valuable new tools to study critical issues such as rapidly changing ocean conditions and human impacts on the marine environment. The vessel will feature a range of over 5,000 nautical miles, with berths for 16 scientists and 13 crew, a cruising speed of 11.5 knots, and a maximum speed of 13 knots. It will have a 12'6" draft.
The second vessel, the Narragansett Dawn, will be operated by the East Coast Oceanographic Consortium led by the University of Rhode Island. The third vessel, the Gilbert R. Mason, will be based in the Gulf of Mexico. It will be managed by the Gulf-Caribbean Oceanographic Consortium, led by the Louisiana Universities Marine Consortium (LUMCON) and the University of Southern Mississippi.
Eastern Delivers New Weeks Marine Dredge
Eastern Shipbuilding Group, Inc. recently announced the delivery of the R.B. Weeks, an 8,550 cubic yard capacity trailing suction hopper dredge (TSHD) constructed for Weeks Marine, Inc.
“It’s our pleasure to once again deliver a quality vessel on time and on budget to our valued customers at Weeks Marine, Inc.,” said Joey D’Isernia, President of Eastern Shipbuilding Group, Inc. “The R.B. Weeks joins an impressive fleet that works alongside the Army Corps of Engineers to preserve our treasured waterways.”
According to Weeks Marine President and CEO Eric Ellefsen, the delivery of R.B. Weeks is a significant milestone for the company and the largest capital investment in Weeks Marine history, which spans over a century. “We look forward to putting the R.B. Weeks to work deepening and maintaining navigation channels, restoring storm-damaged coastal barrier islands and nourishing beaches lost to erosion, aiding the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and other key clients,” he said.
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If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact the SCA staff.
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