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PETROLEUM DIRECTORY: R&R Scaffold builds for the industries building Alaska A driving force in construction safety and recipient of many safety awards, company has had no OSHA fines or fall-related accidents in its 27 year history Mara Severin PNA Contributing Writer
The layman sees it without really seeing it — scaffolding — the intricate web of metal that literally and figuratively supports the construction industry. The layman hardly sees it, but to those in the business of building, those steel “threads” are far from invisible — in fact, they represent an essential lifeline to the industry and its workers.
The people constructing more of these complex exoskeletons at job sites across Alaska are the people at R&R Scaffold Erectors. The largest company in the state to sell, rent, erect and dismantle scaffolding in Alaska, R&R Scaffold is also a driving force in construction safety. “Our mission is to provide a safe and efficient working environment for all of our clients,” says David Bond, president and CEO of R&R.
Keeping it in the family Bond knows more than just about anyone in Alaska about scaffolding. His father, Raymond, founded the company in 1975, and David grew up in the world of the scaffold industry. “There are pictures of me at 4 years old climbing on the scaffold,” he says. “I was definitely raised in the industry.” After working for the company for more than 20 years, David became president in 1999 when his father retired.
Experience and exposure have made Bond one of the most knowledgeable people in the industry and he is often called upon to share his knowledge. “I have the most advanced scaffold training that’s available now,” he explains, “including a 40-hour course taught at Purdue University.” He, in turn, teaches scaffold safety and has collaborated in the development of scaffold safety programs for the Scaffold Training Institute, The Scaffold Industry Association, the Governor’s Safety Conference and the University of Alaska Anchorage. “My goal is to increase people’s knowledge about current safety regulations,” says Bond, “and to give them the tools that they need to abide by them.”
R&R employees also have extensive training. Employees not only complete a 40-hour course from the Carpenter’s training center, but they also get something even more valuable — a course taught by Bond personally. Scaffold safety training is, according to Bond, not only a business responsibility, but a family responsibility as well. “Our foreman is my brother-in-law,” he says. “He has been working for us for 10 years, and I trained him personally.”
Exceptional safety record is no accident While formal training is important to everyone at R&R, Bond emphasizes that experience is just as essential. “In my opinion,” he says, “if a person has no on-the-job experience, even the best of these classes aren’t enough to keep people from being dangerous.”
The corporate culture of safety has had tangible results for the company. R&R Scaffold has received numerous safety awards, including the Scaffold Industries National Safety Award. More importantly, says Bond, “We’ve never had an OSHA fine, and we’ve never had a fall-related accident in our history.” Considering that some of the most common accidents on industrial and construction sites are falls from elevations, this is no minor boast.
Mud soup — building on Alaska’s unpredictable terrain Alaska industries can reap clear-cut benefits from using Alaska scaffold experts, says Bond. Besides being an expert in industrial safety, Bond is also an expert on the changeable nature of the state’s terrain. Serving the oil industry and other industries that function year-round in sometimes harsh and extreme weather conditions presents unique challenges. These challenges mean being constantly vigilant to changing climates. “If you build a scaffold on frozen ground,” he explains, “you’ve got to know what will happen in the summer when it thaws. Hard dirt can turn to soupy mud in just one day, and you have to know how to build the scaffold to withstand these changes.”
In addition to dealing with cold temperatures, R&R specializes in temporary cover jobs. “This is where we erect a scaffold so workers at a site can put plastic around it to heat buildings or vessels,” explains Bond. He emphasizes the importance of this in Alaska — “Whereas temporary cover work makes up around 70 percent of our work,” he says, “it’s probably around 10 percent of the work done in the Lower 48.”
The backdrop of the Alaska oil industry has provided other opportunities for R&R to show off its expertise. “One of my favorite jobs was one we did at the Tesoro refinery in Nikiski,” says Bond. R&R scaffolded the interior of two spheres that hold propane and butane, he explains. “This was a fairly impressive job,” he says. “Inside these spherical tanks there’s something in the neighborhood of two or three 40-foot flats worth of scaffolding.” To perform the work safely R&R workers wore full Tyvek suits to protect them against any potentially hazardous effects from the contents of the tanks.
Location, location, location R&R Scaffolds’ proximity and extensive inventory provides another benefit to Alaska customers. Proximity equals speed. “We can deal with any problems right away,” says Bond. “If our customers need material, we can get it there the next day. They don’t have to wait two or three weeks. Speed is a big factor”
In terms of inventory, says Bond, “we’re competitive with anyone out of state.” In fact, R&R’s stock may prove to be more comprehensive than that of larger scaffold companies, he says. Larger companies, he explains, have hundreds of locations, but they tend to carry less inventory in each. “For a single location, we’re quite advanced, quite large,” he says. “It’s rare that anyone has to wait for anything.”
From the North Slope to your living room — no job too big or too small Being a more “centralized” company, says Bond, means that R&R is able to offer not just a wide range of stock, but also more personalized assistance and greater flexibility. “We’re just the right size to be able to offer all the different types and styles of scaffold and yet still offer customized service,” says Bond.
Bond sums it up simply, “we’ve provided scaffold expertise for everything from a gas-to-liquids facility for BP to a homeowner putting up wallpaper.”
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