Brace Yourself!

Thank you to everyone who took time to comment on the new look and feel of the January/February issue of SBC Magazine. While there were many positive comments and a few very helpful suggestions, I’d like to focus on one email that took us to task on two photos published in that issue. Bruce Bunker, a 20-year veteran of the truss industry and owner of Bunkhouse Components in Villa Grove, Colorado, raises a good point and indirectly points out a problem that you can help solve. Bruce wrote to express his dismay over seeing two photos in the magazine where the only bracing used was the Short Member Temporary Lateral Restraint that Building Component Safety Information (BCSI) literature acknowledges is often used for truss installation efficiency.

SBC Magazine devotes considerable space to promoting the proper bracing techniques detailed in BCSI, and while BCSI does allow for the use of this technique, these restraints are not bracing. True diagonal bracing is required for safe installation. This was lacking in the two photos published.

This is where SBC Magazine can use your help. If you find yourself on a jobsite and see material handling, installation or bracing done well, please pull out your phone, take a few pictures and send them to us. Pretty please. Not only will we be eternally grateful, it will also provide us the ability to fill these pages with photos everyone in the industry can benefit from.

Speaking of benefit, this month’s issue is overflowing with great tips and suggestions from CMs across the country.  Bill Kyrola at Manion Truss and Components shares his experiences working with an OSHA safety consultant, while national framers Kenny Shifflett of Ace Carptentry and Scott Stevens of Modu Tech talk about the effect OSHA’s new fine structure may have on the framing industry, and Scott Coffman explores performance issues related to truss deflection.

Ever wonder what the people attending your plant tour are thinking? This month’s cover feature begins to answer that questions while exploring many ways CMs are capitalizing on one of their biggest assets: a physical place of operations. Dave Raasch at Lloyd Truss Systems adds to that conversation by talking about his approach to developing a larger and stronger workforce. Finally, check out Faces of the Industry if you want proof SBCA’s 2016 Officers are no different than you.