November 15, 2005 · Volume 4, Issue 22
A bi-weekly e-news memo with information, updates, and results from OSHA about safety and health in America's workplaces.

In This Issue OSHA Seeks Comments on Safety Product Certification Proposal White House Announces Pandemic Flu Web Site OSHA Education Center Expands Into Three New Cities Upcoming Speech by OSHA's Acting Assistant Secretary Registration Open for Spanish-language Versions of Worker Safety and Health Training OSHA Shines At 2005 FFA Career Show OSHA Renews National Alliance with Society of the Plastics Industry New York Times Project Added to OSHA/AMEC Partnership New York, Montana Worksites Earn Top "VPP" Recognition Regional Alliances Formed with OSHA Voluntary Protection Programs Activity OSHA Certifies Newest "SHARP" Companies OSHA Seeks Comments on Safety Product Certification Proposal     OSHA is requesting comments on a proposal to permit certain manufacturers to self-approve their own products. As proposed, Supplier's Declaration of Conformity would be available only to information technology manufacturers and for their products. OSHA currently does not permit this self-approval, but instead has long required approval of this equipment by Nationally Recognized Testing Laboratories, which are third-party testing and certification organizations. The request for information (RFI) provides 90 days for public comments, and the information gathered will provide a basis to determine whether to accept, reject or modify the proposal. Details on the RFI and procedures for submitting comments are in today's Federal Register. White House Announces Pandemic Flu Web Site     The White House recently announced a Web site on pandemic and avian influenza. It is a central repository of flu-related information from various organizations, including OSHA. OSHA's Guidance For Protecting Workers Against Avian Flu and Avian Influenza: Protecting Poultry Workers at Risk Safety and Health Information Bulletin are among the many resources featured on the site sponsored by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. OSHA Education Center Expands Into Three New Cities    Addressing a need for improved workplace safety across the United States, the OSHA Training Institute Education Center at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) Extension expanded its reach into Lake Tahoe, Calif., Reno, Nev., and Yuma, Ariz. The offerings represent key trainer courses in occupational safety and health standards for general industry (OSHA 501) and construction (OSHA 500). New partnerships with UC Los Angeles and UC Davis will help increase the concentration of safety courses in Northern and Southern California. The education center offers high quality, standards-based OSHA training for the private sector, state and federal agencies. Almost two hundred OSHA safety courses are offered through UCSD Extension annually. To learn more, contact (800) 358-9206. Information on all courses offered through OSHA's education centers is available on the OSHA Training Institute Education Centers Web site. Upcoming Speech by OSHA's Acting Assistant Secretary    Acting Assistant Secretary of Labor for OSHA Jonathan L. Snare will address attendees and sign an alliance on Dec. 9 at the Center for Business and Public Policy Workplace Safety and Health Seminar sponsored by Georgetown University's McDonough School of Business in Washington, D.C. Registration Open for Spanish-language Versions of Worker Safety and Health Training     Spaces are still available for the Spanish-language version of the 10-hour general industry and 10-hour construction safety and health training courses being offered by OSHA and the Illinois On-Site Consultation Program, Northern Illinois University's National Safety Education Center and the University of Illinois at Chicago School of Public Health. The general industry course is scheduled for Dec. 3 and Dec. 10, and the construction course is set for March 18, 2006, and March 25. Each class will be taught at Chicago's West Side Technical Institute, 2800 S. Western Avenue. Information on the training is available through Harry S. Truman College at (773) 907-3994 or (773) 907-4367 (bilingual). OSHA Shines At 2005 FFA Career Show    OSHA was one of many exhibitors at the Oct. 26-29 National FFA Organization (formerly Future Farmers of America) Convention in Louisville, Ky. This event, attracting more than 50,000 students, teachers, counselors and parents, shows meaningful connections between classroom instruction and real-life scenarios. Classroom instruction comes alive as students demonstrate their skills in a competitive setting. Officials from OSHA's Nashville, Tenn., and Frankfort, Ky., Area Offices greeted visitors at the booth featuring several OSHA publications, including fall protection in construction, electrical safety, struck by hazards, and Youth-2-Work. FFA is a national, career technical student organization of more than 490,000 members preparing for leadership careers in the science, business and technology of agriculture. The 2006 convention will take place Oct. 25-28 in Indianapolis, Ind. OSHA Renews National Alliance with Society of the Plastics Industry     This month, OSHA and the Society of the Plastics Industry renewed its alliance to continue furthering workplace safety and health in the plastics industry. Key to the agreement is providing employers and workers with information, guidance and access to training resources to promote machine safety and help identify and eliminate machinery hazards that can cause amputations, burns and lacerations. The renewal will also focus on raising awareness of hazard communication issues in the workplace. New York Times Project Added to OSHA/AMEC Partnership     OSHA and AMEC Americas recently included the New York Times skyscraper construction project in Manhattan under a renewed safety partnership. The two organizations formed a national partnership in 2003 and renewed it in April. It encourages construction employers to improve safety and health and eliminate the most common workplace hazards in the industry. OSHA's Strategic Partnership Program (OSPP) moves away from traditional enforcement methods and embraces collaborative agreements. Through OSPP, OSHA and its partners agree to work cooperatively to address critical safety and health issues. New York, Montana Worksites Earn Top "VPP" Recognition     OSHA's New York Regional Office recognized Wheelabrator Westchester L.P.'s Peekskill, N.Y., waste to energy facility as a Voluntary Protection Programs (VPP) "Star" site at a recent ceremony. Patricia K. Clark, regional administrator, presented the award and praised Wheelabrator Westchester for its outstanding safety and health management programs. The organization specifically excelled in industrial hygiene, preventive maintenance, safety signage and training. OSHA's Billings, Mont., Area Office Director David DiTommaso recently recognized the U.S. Postal Service facility in Kalispell, Mont., for excellence in its employee safety and health program. The most noteworthy aspect of the site's program is the active involvement of employees. Regional Alliances Formed with OSHA     Region I: Safe and healthful working conditions for electricians and other workers modernizing Central Maine Medical Center's electrical system is the goal of a new alliance signed between OSHA's Maine Area Offices and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local No. 567, Maine Department of Labor's "Safety Works!" program and E.S. Boulos Company. Alliance participants will develop and deliver training on construction safety and health issues such as electrical, fall, caught in or between and struck by hazards. Learning ways to identify and prevent injuries from those same hazards is the focus of an alliance between the Maine Area Offices, International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Locals No. 567 and No. 1253 and the National Electrical Contractors Association. Region II: The Board of Cooperative Educational Services and the New York State Department of Labor's On-Site Consultation Program joined forces with OSHA's New York Region to educate young workers in the Hudson Valley and Catskills on methods for reducing and preventing exposure to falls, electrical, struck by and caught between hazards, amputations, lead and silica exposures and workplace violence. Mexican and Guatemalan workers in New York and New Jersey will benefit from alliances formed between the New York Region and the Mexican and Guatemalan consulates. OSHA and the two consulates will provide Spanish-based training on reducing workers' exposure to fall, electrical, amputation and other hazards. Region III: Extending OSHA's national alliance with the American Red Cross, the agency's Philadelphia and Allentown, Pa., Area Offices have joined with the organization's Southeastern Pennsylvania Chapter in an effort to arm businesses with the tools to protect workers from workplace hazards, especially in the face of disasters. Region V: OSHA's Des Plaines, Ill., Area Office signed an agreement with the Illinois Council on Long Term Care to provide workers with resources on reducing and preventing exposure to nursing home hazards such as ergonomic, bloodborne pathogens, and electrical and lockout/tagout issues, and addressing the implementation of effective safety and health programs. Voluntary Protection Programs Activity     The following companies were approved this month for new or continued participation in OSHA's Voluntary Protection Programs (VPP): Region IV: WestPoint Stevens, Abbeville Plant, Abbeville, Ala. (Conditional Star); Sherwin-Williams Company, Olive Branch, Miss. (Cont. Star); Georgia-Pacific Corporation, Taylorsville Particleboard Plant, Taylorsville, Miss. (Cont. Star) Region V: O&D Inc., Lima, Ohio (Cont. Star); Honeywell International Inc., Ohio Service Center, Strongsville, Ohio (New Star); Honeywell Sensing and Control, Freeport Plant 1, Freeport, Ill. (New Merit) Region VI: Valero Energy, East Plant, Corpus Christi, Texas (New Star); Saint-Gobain Vetrotex America Inc., Wichita Falls, Texas (Cont. Star); ConAgra Foods, Refrigerated Foods Group, Turkey Business Unit, Ozark, Ark. (New Star); Texwood Industries, Cedar Hill Plant, Cedar Hill, Texas (New Merit); Texwood Industries, Duncanville Plant, Duncanville, Texas (New Merit), and Region VII: International Paper, Kansas City, Mo. (New Star). OSHA Certifies Newest "SHARP" Companies     OSHA recently certified the following companies as Safety and Health Achievement Recognition Program (SHARP) sites: Region I: CAS Medical Systems Inc., Branford, Conn.; Sanford & Hawley Inc., Unionville, Conn.; Franciscan Home, Eagle Lake, Maine; Mercy Home, Eagle Lake, Maine; Region IV: Aerospace Integration Corp., Crestview, Fla.; A & B Sheetmetals Inc., Forest Park, Ga.; JCB Inc., Pooler, Ga.; Megadoor Inc., Peachtree City, Ga.; Lutheran Home Albemarle, Albemarle, N.C.; Lutheran Home Trinity Oaks, Salisbury, N.C.; Lutheran Nursing Home, Hickory, N.C.; MI Metals Inc., Smyrna, Tenn.; Region VII: Ellington Industrial Supply, Ellington, Mo.; Lutheran Nursing Home, Concordia, Mo.; MOCAP Inc., Park Hills, Mo.; Henningsen Foods Inc. , Ravenna, Neb.; Nebraska Turkey Growers, Gibbon, Neb.; Scoular Company, Lamar, Neb.; Scoular Company, Venango, Neb.; Region VIII: Topar Inc., Trinidad, Colo.; St. Luke's Home, Dickinson, N.D.; The Scoular Company, Alpena, S.D.; Teton Orthopedics, Riverton, Wyo.; Industrial Hoist & Crane, Rock Springs, Wyo.; and Region IX: Alliance Beverage Dist. Co., Phoenix, Ariz.; Sandvick Equipment & Supply Co., Phoenix, Ariz.; and Waste Management of Arizona Inc., Phoenix, Ariz. Editor: Elaine Fraser, OSHA Office of Communications, 202-693-1999