NDa’s Strong Path Forward
Published: 22/3, 2022
With a highly successful Demolition San Diego in the books, I’d like to take a moment to recognize the progress we’ve made on the two-year strategic plan NDA’s Board of Directors laid out in January 2021—in the middle of the pandemic—and celebrate all we have been able to accomplish together over the past year.
The rest of this year is an exciting for NDA for many reasons, but I am especially looking forward to our continued progress on the education front. We have recently begun work on a demolition professional certification that will serve as portable proof of ability. Last spring, members met and finalized their charter and formed the Certification Board of the NDA (CBN). As you may know, implementation of certification can reduce fatalities by 50%. For years, our members have been requesting a way to validate potential new hires and existing crew. This certification will complement our Foundations of Demolition Management training series. Completion of the course material will essentially be a study guide for the test. Our first certification testing is slated for 2023.
We have sent 35 letters to the administration, Congress, and federal agencies to advocate on behalf of the industry to ensure demolition industry companies can continue to operate and secure the funding necessary to weather the pandemic. Our letters have included opposition to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) emergency temporary standard, opposition to tax increases, and support for streamlined permitting for infrastructure.
In July of last year, we signed a formal alliance with OSHA, which was another step in our effort to collaborate with other safety professionals. We are now in the enviable position of helping OSHA understand our business, and members have access to safety compliance officers to act as third-party validation in setting up safety and training programs. The second part of our alliance, as part of the agreement, is that NDA will develop best practices documents to provide to OSHA and make available to members. We have already provided a Best Practices in Demolition Communications Guidance document to OSHA for review.
Our Foundation of Demolition Management Training Series continues to be in demand. We now have 54 certificate holders who have completed the training series and another 200 who have taken two or more of the four courses. Last year, we averaged between 25-30 participants for our virtual courses. In April, we successfully held the Foundations of Demolition Job Cost Tracking Course and Foundations of Demolition Project Management Course. We’ll be offering Foundations of Demolition Estimating virtually in June and Foundations of Demolition Risk Management in the fall.
Additionally, we offered the Superintendent Boot Camp and Equipment Maintenance Courses prior to Demolition San Diego. We had over 40 attendees for this year. Also, the Education Committee finalized the “Hiring a Qualified Demolition Contractor” document, which is available for all members at the NDA website.
As part of our strategic plan, we also developed and launched a dynamic membership directory this year that is now available for download. The directory allows members to download primary contacts for member organizations and is an excellent resource for members seeking products and services from trusted partners. The directory is updated nightly, and users must be logged in to access it. Companies should make the most of their listing by adding the company logo, updating services provided, and ensuring company contacts are current.
We ask all members to show their support for the industry and download our proud member logo to display on your website to show your NDA pride! If you are not a member, you should be! Contact me at jlambert@demolitionassociation.com to learn more, and join!
Jeff Lambert
Executive Director