Once again, the ASOFIA QLD Division delivered a fantastic Golf Day on Friday, 22 March at the beautiful North Lakes Golf Course.

Partnering with Dynamic Closures, the QLD Division kicked off their annual Golf Day at 6:30am with the Hi Reach sponsored breakfast, followed by tee off at 7:45am.  There were some impressive shots on the day (and some fairly ordinary shots too!).  All our sponsored holes helped keep the players’ sugar loaded and the Asset Flooring drinks carts kept everyone hydrated.  Thanks also to Nexvia for the very popular Chevy Bar – which kept the 9th Hole cool on a very hot day!

Winners are Grinners and with thanks to Laminex, our winner on the day was the team from QPT Electrical, who took out the day, followed by Baker Packaging in 2nd place with Aligned Management taking home 3rd place.  Lucky last taking the Bradman in 2019 was Barrett Shopfitting.    Congratulations to all competition hole winners on the day as well.

Ronald McDonald House was the other big winner, as our chosen Charity of the day, our very generous members raised over $7,000 for this wonderful charity through raffles and lucky draw prizes.  Our partnering sponsor, Dynamic Closures, provided two amazing prizes on the day.  The first was through a fun competition on their hole.  Their “Guess the number of lollies in the jar” competition saw Bob Ellis from Masta Plasta Southside take home a fantastic Intercontinental Holiday package worth over $1,000.  The second was through Dynamic Closures’ Lucky Draw.  The awesome prize of a corporate box for 8 at the upcoming Broncos v Roosters game at Suncorp was won by Johnathan Bryant from Platinum Joinery Interiors.  As Johnathan was unable to attend the game, he generously donated the prize to Ronald McDonald House to be auctioned on the day.  The team from Rob Ryan Shopfitting made the final bid and will now enjoy the corporate box!  Lastly, Paul Rojas from Rostron Carlyle Rojas, went home a happy man, winning the auction for both the Lolly Jar and the 4.5l of Absolute Vodka.

Our events would not be possible, nor would they be so successful, without the support of our sponsors.  A special thanks goes to our Golf Day sponsors; Dynamic Closures, Laminex, Nexvia, Hi Reach, Asset Flooring, Benga Designs, HVG Decorative Building Products, Mirage Doors, Nobul, Professional Certification Group, QPT Electrical, Trade Glass, Your Resourcing, Surteco Aust. Armstrong Ceilings, Rostron Carlyle Rojas, Construction People, Baker Packaging and Lakes Hyundai – who got to keep their car as no one scored that elusive hole in one.

As always, we need to thank our National Partners for their continued support; AMP Capital, Dynamic Closures, Lincoln Sentry, Polytec, Austaron Surfaces, Pytha Partners, USG Boral, Cabinet Makers Insurance, KRGS and Tradies Accountant.

Be sure to come along to our other events throughout 2019; the ASOFIA Expo in May, Annual Breakfast event in July, Trade Night in August plus more on the QLD calendar!

Thank you to Nexvia for supplying this fun video!

Our young WA President, Gennaro Rapinese – who has successfully fought off Leukaemia once before in 2015 – has relapsed and is now in for the fight of his life yet again.

If you are interested in donating blood, Gennaro’s wife Joanne has set up a RED25 collective group named “Gs Army”(no apostrophe) … so we can all work together and tally our group donations.

Please first:

1. Ensure you review ALL eligibility criteria. Complete the eligibility quiz here: https://www.donateblood.com.au/eligibility#can-i-give-blood

2. Review travel exclusions based on each country here: https://www.donateblood.com.au/eligibility/donating-after-travelling

3. Contact the Australian Red Cross at www.donateblood.com.au or by phone at 13 14 95 to complete your enrolment (for new donors) and schedule an appointment. If booking online you’ll need to set up an online login first. Please be sure to click Join RED25 then search for “Gs Army”. The clinics’ opening times are available in the comments for your reference.

Joanne also encourages you to consider enrolling on the International Bone Marrow Donor Registry. Enrolling is really easy – if you nominate to do so BEFORE your blood donation, an additional 20-30ml is taken for the registry. More info here: https://www.abmdr.org.au/how-to-join-2/

Even if you do not meet the criteria for blood donation you still may be eligible to go on the IBMDR. Please review the eligibility criteria here: https://www.abmdr.org.au/eligibility-criteria/

Once your sample is collected it takes approximately 3-4 weeks to have your details available for searching on the registry. Most importantly, this is an International registry so you must be willing to donate to anyone who is a match.

The collection process for bone marrow retrieval is a lot simpler these days. Here’s a quick
reference regarding the collection process https://www.abmdr.org.au/collection/

You may know that crystalline silica is very commonly used in manufacturing building products and in construction materials. You may not know it’s killing workers at an alarming rate, and you don’t have to have worked around it for long to feel its effects.

Crystalline silica is a naturally occurring mineral found in most rocks, sand, clay; and importantly, in products such as bricks, concrete, tile and composite stone.

For the shopfitting industry, workers may be exposed to crystalline silica when cutting, grinding, sanding and polishing, or during the installation of stone benchtops and other stone products.

The crystalline silica content in stone benchtops can vary widely depending on the type of stone used. Engineered stone products can contain up to 95 per cent crystalline silica. A natural stone like granite may contain from 20 to 60 per cent.

Silica particles can be so small that they are not visible, and they are small enough to penetrate deep into the lungs, potentially leading to silicosis. Silicosis is a scarring of the lungs, resulting in loss of lung function that causes permanent disability and early death. It is incurable and continues to develop after exposure has stopped.

Fabricating and installing natural and artificial stone bench tops can release high levels of RCS through cutting, grinding and polishing processes, particularly when dry cutting methods are used.

If you or your workers operate powered hand tools to cut or grindstone, i.e. circular saws or grinders, you risk having some of the highest RCS exposures of all fabricators. This can occur in a workshop or on a job site during installation. Workers performing other tasks in areas where powered hand tools are used may also be exposed to high levels of dust.

In all states and territories of Australia, there is a duty on employers (or PCBUs – persons conducting a business or undertaking) to ensure the health and safety of workers and others. You must manage the risk from work tasks that involve crystalline silica.

From conducting a thorough review of all work tasks involving crystalline before you start, to considering where and how your workers are coming in contact with silica dust, the tools they are using, even where they eat meals and what they wear to go home… managing the high risk of working with crystalline silica cannot be ignored. Contact your state regulator for more information. SafeWork Australia also has a Technical Guide for Managing Silica Exposure in the Workplace.