Safety Expo 2005

Pacific Builders Safety Expo – “Where Safety Training Comes First”  — April 19-20, 2005 – Cal Expo, California

“Inaugural Expo Introduces Safety Training and Awareness Conference”

There’s a New Event in Town – the vision—the meetings—the implementation – After months of meetings to discuss, strategize and assemble the two-day program agenda; course offerings; agreements from presenters; commitments from sponsors; equipment staging; securing trade show exhibitors, promotional and marketing print pieces and graphics were developed, logistical challenges were met, it was finally time to implement Northern California’s newest event geared specifically towards safety in the construction and building industry – the Pacific Builders Safety Expo – “Where Safety Training Comes First.”   At the on-set it was introduced as “California’s premier safety and construction equipment event for professionals engaged in the construction industry.” The program was designed as a safety education–focused conference to provide the industry with certified safety workshops; hands-on equipment demonstrations designed to enhance productivity and encourage safe and healthy work practices.  The agenda for the two-day event included safety workshops, certification sessions; and presentations of the latest and newest construction equipment that would encourage productivity and add economic value to contractors.  The Expo incorporated a two-day trade show with vendors showcasing their products, equipment, vehicles,  and services to the industry – the all-inclusive registration fee for training, education, and trade show in 2005 was only $10.

$10 Registration Fee – Is It Too Good to be True? The 1^st Expo registered over 1,000 attendees predominately from the Greater Sacramento region, but had representation from Southern California as well as out of state.  Organizers were pleased with the marketing and promotional efforts to secure registrants at this inaugural event, considering that there was no gauge to measure the possibility of success – and there were no other comparable events to evaluate – the Expo planners together with the Safety Advisory Council utilized a variety of innovative methods to encourage attendance.  It was previously thought that the $10 cost to attend would help stimulate and encourage registration – in effect to make it affordable for everyone, but the industry didn’t exactly embrace the low cost in fees – in fact, there was a high degree of skepticism on behalf of the contractor community that there couldn’t possibly be any perceived value at such a minimal fee, and that the concern was quality vs. value.  Initially it was originally proposed that registration would be complimentary.  No matter how the event was previously marketed and promoted; whether through word of mouth, networking, direct and email efforts, people did take advantage of the $10 registration fees, attended, participated, and ultimately were impressed – they were trained and certified in Aerial Scissor & Boom, Forklift and Flagging.  They were exposed to a variety of sessions that included Confined Space, Scaffold Awareness, Ladder Safety, Tailgate Training, Fall Protection, and Heavy Equipment Awareness –all attendees received certificates of completion.  After two days of training and education, certification, and the trade show, it was proven that quality didn’t have to be compromised to satisfy value. The minimal cost for registration would not have been possible if it weren’t for the support, contributions, endorsements and collaboration from the industry’s contractor, vendor and supplier communities.

Sponsoring Organizations that Contributed, Endorsed and Collaborated in 2005:

AGC of California  ¦ Ahern Rentals  ¦ Ascent Builders  Builders  ¦ Exchange of Alameda County ¦ Cal/OSHA Consultation  ¦ California Employers Association  ¦ Capitol Barricade  ¦ Contra Costa Builders Exchange  ¦ Engineering & Utility Contractors Association  ¦ McCarthy Building Companies ¦ Quality Plastering Corp.  ¦ Rex Moore Electrical Contractors ¦ Safety Center, Inc.  ¦ San Francisco Builders Exchange  ¦ Sunbelt Rentals Scaffold Services  ¦ Total HR Solutions  United Rentals

Exhibiting Organizations that Participated in 2005:

ABC Ready Mix  ¦ ABD Insurance & Financial Services, Inc  ¦ ACME Rigging & Supply Co., Inc.  ¦ Ahern Rentals/Xtreme Manufacturing  ¦ Airgas  ¦ Auto West Buick-GMC  ¦ Bare Bones Work Wear  ¦ Brand Scaffold Rental & Erection Inc. ¦ Builders Exchange of Alameda County  ¦ Cable Moore, Inc.  ¦ Cal/OSHA Consultation  ¦ California Highway Patrol  ¦ California Service Tool/DeWalt  ¦ California Service Tool/MSA  ¦ Capitol Barricade Safety & Sign  ¦ Certex USA, Inc.  ¦ CH Bull Co.  ¦ Cintas First Aid & Safety  ¦ Click Safety ¦ Contra Costa Builders Exchange  ¦ Contractors State Licensing Board  ¦ Coordinated Wire Rope  ¦ CRC Insurance Services, Inc. ¦ Dynamic Coating, Inc. ¦ Empire Safety & Supply  ¦ Future Ford of Sacramento  ¦ Gorilla Recovery Systems  ¦ Holt of California  ¦ John L. Sullivan Chevrolet  ¦ Labor Ready, Inc.  ¦ National Commission for the Certification of Crane Operators (NCCCO)  ¦ Nextel Communications  ¦ Nor Cal Safety Facilitators  ¦ Northern California Laborers Training Fund  ¦ Occupational Health Branch, California Department of Health Services Occupational Safety Training System  ¦ Pac West Trailers  ¦ Pro Trades Connection  ¦ Sacramento Builders’ Exchange  ¦ Safe-T-Systems, Inc.  ¦ San Francisco Builders Exchange  ¦ SI Equipment Services Signs in 1 Day  ¦ State Compensation Insurance Fund  ¦ The Crosby Group  ¦ Total HR Solutions  ¦ U.S. Health Works  ¦ United Rentals

Presenters in 2005:

Aaron Smith – Total HR Solutions  ¦ Alex Avila – Total HR Solutions ¦ Alex G. Gorshen – Golden State Equipment Transport ¦ Andy Bull – CH Bull Company ¦ Barbara Materna, PhD, CIH – Occupational Health Branch California Department Health Services ¦ Bryon Hills – Ascent Builders ¦ Charles Perry – 3M Company ¦ David Harrington, MPH – Occupational Health Branch California Department Health Services  ¦ David Strickler, Cal/OSHA Consultation ¦ Dr. Brad Tourtlotte – US Health Works ¦ Ed Yarbrough – Cal/Trans ¦ Esther Santiago – Cal/OSHA Consultation ¦ Gene Snyder – Ahern Equipment ¦ Jared Dorn – United Rentals ¦ Jerry Bach – Safety Center ¦ Jim Hughes – ABD Insurance & Financial Services ¦ Joel Foss – Cal/OSHA Consultation ¦ John Brewer – Ewing Foley ¦ John Ford – Cal/OSHA Consultation ¦ John McCoy – Quality Plastering ¦ Juanita Kirkpatrick – Rex Moore Electrical Contractors & Engineers ¦ Ken Howarth – Sunbelt Rentals ¦ Kent Freeman – California Health & Rescue Training ¦ Lee Braden – United Rentals Michael Alvarez – Cal/OSHA Consultation ¦ Mike Donlon -Cal/OSHA Consultation ¦ Mryon Brown – Safety Center ¦ Randy Voss – Rex Moore Electrical Contractors & Engineers ¦ Ron Groff – United Rentals ¦ Ron Kutzman – Coordinated Wire Rope of Northern California  ¦ Wendy Kreller DRT – US Health Works

The 2005 Expo Facts and Findings:

• More than 1,000 people registered and attended the inaugural Expo representing 116 companies made up of commercial developers; general and specialty contractors; heavy construction; builders; engineers; architects; purchasing professionals; industry suppliers; government officials and students studying the construction trades.
• 36 speakers committed their time and expertise, and in several instances offered their equipment for training purposes.  Several of these speakers have continued to commit their time to the industry on behalf of the Expo program and return annually to facilitate and train at subsequent events.
• There were five designated training areas inside the Cal Expo Center Building and five training areas outside for crane, aerial boom and scissor, forklift and excavation hands-on sessions.
• Over 20 safety training workshops, five certification workshops offering certification – aerial scissor and boom, forklift, traffic flaggers, Cal/OSHA 8 CORE residential, equipment demonstrations and forklift rodeo and competition – everyone who attended sessions received certificates of completion.
• The indoor and outdoor trade show exhibit areas featured construction industry manufacturers, suppliers, car and utility vehicle dealerships, and service providers
• Two days of combined safety education, certified training, live demonstrations, and industry trade show rounded-out the inaugural Expo.