Bob Laramore, a highway construction and safety executive with more than 35 years of experience, has been named American Road and Transportation Builders Association (ARTBA) director of risk reduction services and managing director of the association’s Materials & Services (M&S) Division.
Laramore will manage several federal safety and health contracts and work closely with the officials at those agencies. He also will conduct environmental and safety auditing services for industry firms, and help them develop policies, programs and “best practices” to boost safety and reduce risks on job worksites. As managing director, he will serve as staff liaison to the M&S Division and will focus on recruiting new industry firms for division membership.
Prior to joining ARTBA, Laramore spent approximately 25 years as the director of environmental, health and safety services (EHS) for APAC Inc., one of the nation’s largest asphalt and concrete paving companies. He was responsible for monitoring more than 75 EHS personnel and program oversight of the APAC divisions in 13 states. APAC was acquired by Oldcastle Materials in the fall of 2006. Earlier in his career, he spent 13 years working for the family-owned Laramore Construction Company, headquartered in Danville, Va.
Laramore is an accredited OSHA construction training instructor, and a certified professional in human resources (PHR), earned from the Human Resources Certifications Institute. He also has earned Board of Environmental Auditor Certifications (BEAC) in environmental compliance, and safety and health.
He is a member of the Society for Human Resource Management and the American Society of Safety Engineers. Laramore has been actively involved on the National Stone, Sand and Gravel Association (NSSGA) Safety and Health Committee and the National Asphalt Pavement Association (NAPA) Environmental Safety and Plant Operations Committee.
With the addition of Laramore, ARTBA’s staff has nearly 75 years of combined safety-related experience. The ARTBA team includes:
• Brad Sant, vice president of safety and education, who has been a safety leader for approximately 20 years and has been with ARTBA since 1998. He is responsible for ARTBA safety and health policies, association education and training programs, grant administration and the National Work Zone Safety Information Clearinghouse project.
Sant also manages ARTBA’s Traffic Safety Industry Division (TSID). Sant is an accredited OSHA training instructor. Previously, he was director of safety and health of the Building and Construction Trades Department at the AFL-CIO and worked as director of hazardous materials training for the International Association of Fire Fighters.
• Jerry Teeler, director of safety and health, who has been with ARTBA since February 2004. He has two decades of experience managing government and private-sector safety and health programs, with an extensive background in the construction field. His ARTBA responsibilities include conducting training seminars, developing new training programs and aides, administering grant programs and working with relevant government safety and health agencies.
Since its founding in 1902, safety has always been a key part of ARTBA’s mission. The association’s efforts to improve roadway safety — with the input and expertise of the association’s TSID members — begin with education programs and activities such as:
• The National Work Zone Safety Information Clearinghouse: Managed by the ARTBA Transportation Development Foundation and housed at the Texas Transportation Institute, the Clearinghouse is the world’s largest “cyber-library” (www.workzonesafety.org) of information on roadway construction safety “best practices.” The facility handles 100,000 information requests annually.
• “OSHA 10-Hour Safety Program:” A first-of-its-kind program focused directly on educating industry professionals about the hazards and situations roadway construction workers face.
• CNA Insurance Program for Highway Contractors: A partnership now more than a decade old, ARTBA and CNA Insurance created the first-ever comprehensive business insurance product tailored to highway construction firms’ needs. ARTBA and CNA continue to develop worker safety programs and services.
Roadway Work Zone Safety Industry and Government Alliance: The Occupational Safety and Health Administration, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, and the Roadway Work Zone Safety and Health Partners — which include ARTBA, the Laborers’ International Union of North America, the National Asphalt Pavement Association, the International Union of Operating Engineers, and the Associated General Contractors of America — develop hazard awareness training and education programs aimed at training workers, educating the roadway construction industry, and reaching out to non-English speaking construction workers about safe practices in roadway work zones.
Other ARTBA safety programs include:
• Intertraffic North America — a comprehensive conference and exposition for the transportation construction, traffic safety and management industries.
• Developing national and international work zone safety conferences for nearly 20 years.
• Compiling one of the transportation construction industry’s most comprehensive collection of safety information products such as manuals, training programs and videos.
• National awards program recognizing outstanding efforts to improve work zone safety.
• Offering college scholarships to the children of highway workers killed on the job.
• Creating work zone safety training materials for teenage drivers.
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