Risk Management

Sealed Placement Plans

Question: 

Is it the responsibility of the truss manufacturer to provide a sealed layout drawing for roof trusses?

Old Fire Retardant Treated Lumber

Question: 

I have recently heard of a problem with fire-retardant-treated wood (FRTW) trusses that were manufactured and installed in 1965-1980. I was searching for more information, since my job involves the protection of property in our member school districts. I had heard that the trusses make of FRTW during that time period can or will become corrosive to the hardware and the trusses will fail.

Post Fire Retardant Treatment

Question: 

Is a Class A fire rating (provided by our liquid spray-on fire retardant) acceptable in certain situations?

Truss Storage Responsibilities

Question: 

We have a customer that bought trusses in June. The trusses were shipped [ and one month later are] being set. The chords have weathered and bowed. What is the industry standard for dealing with this problem? What is our liability in this situation? We were not aware of any delays on the customer’s part and shipped as requested. Note: These trusses are 62 ft. scissor trusses.

Truss Blow Down

Question: 

If trusses blew down from insufficient temporary bracing and the contractor put them back up without the knowledge of the truss manufacturer and gave the truss manufacturer a letter stating that the trusses were okay, is that sufficient? Do you know of any truss manufacturer who would accept this?

Fall Protection

Question: 

Are wood trusses designed to be fall protection anchors that would support a worker should he fall?

Liability Issues With Lvl Beams

Question: 

We have been specifying laminated veneer lumber (LVL) beams for some time now. The plans usually state, “Beam to be engineered and supplied by truss manufacturer.” What kind of liability issues do I need to watch out for?

Jobsite Inspections

Question: 

Consider this statement from a set of construction contract documents: “The Truss Manufacturer is responsible for inspecting the truss installation, bracing, anchorage and bearings and preparing a letter of verification stating that trusses are installed and braced properly.” At first glance, it may seem that the truss manufacturer is the most logical party to perform such an inspection. They are the truss experts, are they not?

Why Track Leading Indicators?

Mike Boswell—production manager of Plum Building Systems—and Chris Lambert—a general manager with Builders FirstSource—both understand how critical it is to cultivate a safety culture that empowers their employees. One way they accomplish this goal is by proactively measuring the success of their safety programs with the often underutilized practice of near-miss reporting.  

Fine & Not So Dandy

Whether increasing fines can force a change in industry safety practices remains to be seen, but one thing is for sure—the cost of failing to comply with OSHA standards is about to rise.