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For the past several years, my research at Virginia Tech has examined the safety of workers who are constructing metal plate-connected wood truss roofs at height. This work can be very hazardous without proper fall protection systems and procedures in place. Falls from height are the result of...

There is a certain obsessive compulsive behavior that motivates some fabricators when it comes to stacking completed trusses and preparing them for shipment to the customer—but did you ever think of the benefits of tight, stacked, aligned trusses? One of the most difficult parts of a...

How can we measure and improve employee productivity? It’s a common question now, one that I am often asked within the Component and LBM industry, but that wasn’t always the case. We’ve come a long way and learned a lot! Back in 1911, mechanical engineer Frederick W. Taylor,...

Building officials are the gatekeepers to building construction. To approve any construction, including where wood is the principal product, they need to know a lot of information. The American Wood Council aims to make the job of building code official a little easier when it comes to knowing...

Housing Inventory Looking Bullish Seven years later, the Great Recession now a memory, and as many years of construction growth behind us, the US housing situation is “critical.” We have added fewer new single family homes over the last decade than any of the previous five...

Over the period of nine days starting on June 9, 2017, five deck collapses in five states (MT, VA, OH. MI, and WI) were reported in the news media. Using the injury data from the media, the five collapses resulted in a total of 57 injuries. In one case, WAVY.com reported that, after an...

With remote going viral and people jumping into it without knowing all of the trade-offs, it’s time to start a conversation about the good, the bad, and everything in between. Let me know what you would add to the following lists, and send me your opinions about working remotely. Some...

ANSI/TPI 1, Chapter 2 As a truss technician or component manufacturer, have you ever been asked to perform duties that fall outside of ANSI/TPI 1, Chapter 2 guidelines? We know in our previous roles as truss technicians and component manufacturers, we were often requested to perform a task...

What is driving the quest for automation besides the obvious? Surely it is not our preoccupation with the past, because that would recall the recent near-depression, and painful past calamities. Rather it is prospection, looking ahead, that explains much of our behavior, according to...

Here in the 21st century, we like to believe that technology is infallible. Computers and circuits, electrical impulses and networks—if everything is in proper working order, won’t it all work perfectly? It’s reassuring to believe that people make mistakes while computers...