Recon Pillar

In the spirit of Thanksgiving, this effort by Gilbane New York-New Jersey is a wonderful way to share the gift of a career in construction. We look forward to following this NYC Exploring initiative and encourage other GC's to do the same.

These are precisely the kind of renovation projects where the monitoring of dust, temperature, humidity, standing water and CO is critical for both the workspace and the active spaces adjacent to the work zone. Wireless Pillar pods and pucks make this sort of task effortless just as it has on a number of other Ivy League campuses.

FAST FRIDAY - This one is way out there for Fast Friday but maybe not? It's about an old-fashion company (Volvo) trying something new. It's about a company ignoring the "way things are done around here" and finding out that it's working way better than they expected. It's a purpose built message for everyone. At first it feels like it's for young couples, until you see the part about being an annoying teen. That could be any of us, I'm guessing (and projecting) Or the part with the first heart break. Or the part in the hospital. That could be any hospital. Or the near miss part. That could be any near miss. They happen every day on jobsites and beyond. That said, chalk this tear-jerker up to Thanksgiving, and enjoy a little break next week.

Congratulations to Shawmut Design and Construction for expanding their already robust renovations capabilities with the acquisition of First Finish a full-service general contractor specializing in the successful delivery of fast-track hospitality renovations nationwide and in the Caribbean. https://lnkd.in/gMCkh-Ge

FAST FRIDAY - Sometimes we say too much, we sell too hard, and we forget to reflect on how simple our message could be if we just share how it makes people feel. Here's to keeping it simple this week. We are looking for a jobsite willing to dance to an extended version of this track to launch our new ReconPillar Instagram account. Send us a message if you are interested. (Thank you @Connnor Price for your music and inspiration) Enjoy.

FAST FRIDAY - Thank you Kyle Nitchen for your post today. It gave me that feeling of automating part of my job! It set me free and got me home on time. This week has been hectic for many reasons; An overwhelming number of new clients and new projects (literally overwhelmed us) ; New politics; Strange weather; Thoughts of the many veterans in our lives and industry etc. etc. So when I sat down to write this week's Fast Friday my head was spinning. I felt that long ago dreaded feeling as if someone had just asked me to do a manual inventory count of the warehouse, or walk the whole site with a clipboard writing down temperature and humidity readings from wall-mounted devices in each zone. Fruitless tasks that never feel legit. I felt like I was setting out to do an impossible task that feigned accountability but that no one was ever going to read or trust. I felt trapped in the past with nothing helpful to share. The weight of the week had beat me down. When I saw Kyle's post I felt relieved. It was as if Fast Friday was already written for me! It was like an automatic report of my inventory at the end of the week. It was like having a minute-by-minute data set of the temperature, humidity, dust and CO on my site during millwork above ground, and parking spaces below ground at a time of year when I was racing against the seasonal changes. It was all neatly delivered in reports with trend graphs and editable data files. It was right there, and done for me. All the stress and pressure of my final Friday task went away this task that I tackle every week was gone in an instant. Hm. I thought, wow, what a gift, what a feeling. Automation is priceless. https://lnkd.in/edWDRPKt

FAST FRIDAY - Customizing carbon monoxide alerts to be sent to the right person at each threat level is a no brainer for many of the most advanced contractors. Just ask Hoar Construction, Turner Construction Company, DPR Construction, Clark Construction Group to start. Often in conjunction with insurance providers like AXA XL, contractors not only have a chance of lowering their own risk to workers and OSHA fines, but they may also earn a lower risk profile and possibly lower rates. Every provider is different. Here's how most PILLAR users set up their sites. Custom alerts are set up to go to the right people at each threat level so that the big big boss is not getting TXTs about CO levels that are not a major threat. Those lower threats are for the crew chief and then the site supervisor, and then the big big boss if necessary. Check it out: 1. Set a CO alert to be sent via TXT at just 25ppm for the crew chief 2. If you want to lower your risk profile then offer this bit of TRANSPARENCY to your insurance provider: Set an alert for 50ppm for 6 hours, and then again for 50ppm for 7 hours to demonstrate that you addressed the first alert within that hour. Have these go to the supervisor in the event that the source is not localized. 3. Set an alert at 50ppm for 8 hours which is the first level OSHA warning. 4. Set two more at 125ppm and 150ppm for the OSHA notification level and OSHA max limit respectively. Unfortunately, the big boss might need to know about these ones.

I was reminded of the obvious role that PILLAR plays in insurance while recounting an Amazon HQ2 story in response to Tom Bysshe. Rose Hall, PE of AXA XL nails it, as she does, in minute 13:45 of this podcast. https://lnkd.in/dTGZUvyS "Insurance and risk management are not synonymous. Insurance is a way to manage risk. When you are a risk manager you don't think about 'what insurance do I buy today?' You think, 'how do I manage all these risks that are coming down the pike'. How can building insurers think more like risk managers? How can insurers better help managers to do their jobs? How can clients like Amazon and the other big tech companies help to support risk reduction by making certain non-invasive mitigation technologies a basic requirement for all of their vendors? https://lnkd.in/dV9euUUp

Start small. Set up a measurable test. Learn from the data. Iterate to make things better. Never let anyone stop you from doing what you know is right because you "don't have the budget" for it. This scrappy kickstarter test not only proved the durability of this tent, but it attracted nearly 150,000 impressions on LinkedIN for a brand that is lucky to get a few dozen impressions on their instagram page! What would a little brand recognition do for you or your company? Easier to attract better workers? A sense of pride and momentary fame to help keep your existing workers? Attention from a new client? You never know! https://lnkd.in/ez7hmvm3