
Mark Garrett, MOST Administrator
MOST programs continue to improve and add new components to address industry needs, create efficiencies, provide solutions and ensure Boilermakers are prepared to go to work at any time.
"Since its inception in 1989, MOST has partnered with owners, contractors and partners,” said Mark Garrett, MOST Programs Administrator, in his conference opening remarks. “Everyone here has discovered the difference. We are constantly striving toward our common goals of meeting the construction industry needs now and in the future."
Among the 17 programs MOST features, the substance abuse program has an especially impressive track record of results.
“MOST programs and the International Brotherhood of Boilermakers are the leaders in preparing people to work,” Garrett said. “It starts with a comprehensive substance abuse program.”
As part of the that program, annual mandatory drug screening contributes to a 90% reduction in lost time injuries and compensable rates. The program became mandatory in 1996 and sees an average 98.69% negative test rate. The Boilermakers union is the only building trade with this requirement. Garrett said that in 2024, there was a 1.31% decrease in positive tests from the annual mandatory tests and a 2.02% decrease in positive random tests—a rare decline.
MOST’s mental health program continues to improve and develop new material. Garrett said posters, hard hat stickers and poker chips bearing a QR code linking to online mental health resources are popular and available by calling the MOST programs office. He stressed that making these materials available accessible areas, such as lunchrooms, is important. He noted that a Boilermaker who needs help might wait until everyone leaves the room to scan the QR code on a poster and get the help they need.
He said training is in development. This will not be designed to train Boilermakers as therapists or certified counselors, but rather to provide the tools to recognize when a brother or sister might be having a mental health issue.
“We have got to remove the stigma so we can recognize when there’s a change in someone’s personality and we can feel ok asking them what’s going on,” he said.
Garrett noted that the mental health and substance abuse programs are working. An International Rep told him recently that a member reached out asking for information about the mental health program, which the IR provided. The member later called back and thanked the IR for saving his life.
Reporting on training programs from 2024, Garrett noted that online training offered for OSHA 10 and OSHA 30 was significantly higher than in-person training options. The online options are making it possible for more Boilermakers to take the training. OSHA training numbers for 2024 were:
OSHA 10 | 407 |
OSHA 10, online | 1,364 |
OSHA 30 | 187 |
OSHA 30, online | 380 |
MOST five-hour refresher | 452 |
In other training updates, Garrett reported:
Steel erection | 187 |
Scaffold erection | 224 |
Supplemental rigging modules | 1,871 |
Leadership modules and common arc finished out in 2024 at:
Project Management | 13 |
Field leadership | 151 |
Common Arc Certified | 5,967 |