Underground Construction - July 2017 - 14

by Eben Wyman

Annual DCA/AGA Joint Workshop

Engages New Subjects,
Expands Existing Efforts

T

The Distribution Contractors
Association (DCA) and American
Gas Association (AGA) held their
third annual Utility Contractor
Workshop at the Four Seasons
Hotel in Chicago on April 18-19.
Since the first joint workshop,
the event has expanded both in
attendance, as well as the scope of
issues addressed by industry representatives of local gas utilities,
contractors, union representatives,
manufacturers and distributors.
While the first workshop, held
in spring of 2014, focused on operator qualification, work change
procedures and damage prevention, discussions have extended
into other areas. Debate over the
need for more "OQ (operator qualification)-compliant" workers has
led to the question of "who will do
the work?" This important topic
resulted in new efforts to recruit
and retain construction workers
in our industry. Discussions about
first- and second-party damage
prevention has led to extensive
presentations about the latest and
greatest in horizontal directional
drilling (HDD) and other trenchless excavation.
Workshop panels have addressed a range of training issues
and featured speakers from both
industry and government, and
this year's venue was no different. However, the 2017 workshop
did invite attendee participation
through breakout sessions, and
addressed a controversial new
industry program that many feel
threatens the cooperative spirit
between utilities and their contractors supported by workshops like
this one.

Workforce capacity challenges
Continuum Capital kicked off the
workshop by providing back-

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Above: OQ Portability Task Force panel; Left: Alan Mayberry, associate administrator of pipeline
safety at the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA), provided a keynote
presentation; Below: A large crowd viewed the various presentations.

ground on workforce shortages in
the gas distribution industry. As
veteran workers retire at increasing rates and recruiting efforts
struggle to keep up, utility crews
are being stretched to capacity,
sometimes further. The motivation should be clear: college grads
are carrying an average $37,000
in debt often for years, hampering home ownership, capital
investments and other fundamentals that make up the American
Dream. Meanwhile, the energy construction industry offers
strong benefits both in attractive
compensation early and a longterm career path for those willing
to work hard.
Over the past year, DCA established the Underground Construction Workforce Alliance (UCWA),
an industry collaboration of utility
staff, contractors and vendors who
are attacking workforce develop-

ment challenges, starting with a pilot project in central Ohio. The first
panel included a team of UCWA
members who provided a deeper understanding of how these
stakeholders can build a common
program to collaboratively address
workforce challenges in their home
markets. The goal is for this workforce "playbook" to be used in other parts of the country.
Participants said the joint team
was formed because they all had
similar concerns regarding workforce challenges in one way or another. The team effort keeps members in check and allows for close
coordination and information
sharing. A contractor on the panel
maintained that a collaborative
effort "will form a solid foundation
that will be needed to ensure a successful program, not only to get it
started but to maintain it for longterm future success."

The group has split into a range
of subcommittees that cover:
* Supply/demand/wage forecasting: To evaluate labor pools to
see "who is where," identify
what types of workers are needed in certain parts of the country, evaluate wage rates and
other factors.
* Playbook ownership: The DCA
Workforce Development Committee supports UCWA and will
oversee the development of the
playbook, and document changes and progress as it is used in
several industry markets.
* Union engagement: To keep labor unions in the loop about the
Ohio pilot and provide opportunities to get involved in future
collaborative efforts.
* Grant funding: Stakeholders in
Ohio are pursuing grant funding through the governor's office and other sources. Moving
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