Construction Industry Professionals Attend SIBA Safety Event at SIUE
Southern Illinois University Edwardsville hosted the Southern Illinois Builders Association’s (SIBA) SAFETYCON Day on Monday, Feb. 27. The Association’s event welcomed approximately 110 professionals from the construction industry to campus for safety seminars.
“SAFETYCON Day provides an opportunity for those in attendance to hear presentations on silica, principles of fall protection, rigging, confined space in construction, response to active threats on construction sites, and tools/accessories to help reduce work-related injuries and jobsite incidents,” said Donna Richter, SIBA chief executive officer.
“Safety is incredibly important on job sites today,” added John Mormann, an instructor with the Southern Illinois Carpenters Joint Apprenticeship Program who presented the session on rigging. “We want everybody to go home after work.”
Students from the SIUE School of Engineering’s (SOE) Constructor’s Club volunteered their services to assist in the day’s events, and were invited to participate in the educational seminars and industry presentations.
“This is an extremely convenient opportunity to have industry professionals right here on campus to network with,” said Cody Kruse, a junior majoring in construction management and Constructor’s Club member. “I got to introduce some of the featured speakers before their presentations, and I attended the morning session on rigging where I gained knowledge that will be helpful in my future line of work.”
According to Chris Gordon, PhD, associate dean in the SOE, SIUE was proud to host SIBA as it is an important partner in achieving the School’s mission of preparing students to be high-quality professionals who are industry ready upon graduation.
“SAFETYCON Day is such an impactful educational opportunity for our industry and our construction students,” Gordon said. “We greatly value all of the opportunities that we have to partner with SIBA to advance the construction industry.”
About the Southern Illinois Builders Association (SIBA): The purpose of the Southern Illinois Builders Association is to advance the construction industry through strengthening our members by enabling them to do collectively what they cannot accomplish on their own. We offer a full range of services and programs to provide value to our members as “the voice of the construction industry in Southern Illinois.” A complete list of SAFETYCON sponsors and vendors can be found at siba-agc.org.
Photo: (L-R) John Mormann, instructor with the Southern Illinois Carpenters Joint Apprenticeship Program who provided the session on rigging, showed SIUE construction management student Cody Kruse the effects of side loading a hook.
Approximately 100 construction industry professionals attended the SIBA’s SAFETYCON event at SIUE.
