November 15, 2004 · Volume 3, 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 Administrator Addresses Safety and Health Conference in St. Louis Ergonomics Committee Set to Meet in Washington OSHA to Announce FY2004 Enforcement Figures Georgia-Pacific Corporation Approved as First VPP Corporate Participant OSHA's Chicago Region Participates in Video Production on Long-Term Care Safety OSHA Schedules MACOSH Meeting Next Month Regional Alliance in Seattle Unites OSHA, Labor, Contractors New York, Kansas City, Seattle Regions Recognize "Star" Employers Strategic Partnerships Signed in New York, Philadelphia Regions OSHA Offers General Industry Sector Quick Start Guide New Alliances Established in Boston, New York Regions Voluntary Protection Programs Activity OSHA Administrator Addresses Safety and Health Conference in St. Louis      Assistant Secretary of Labor John Henshaw told a St. Louis audience Nov. 3 that OSHA is making good progress to advance worker safety and health, but that "challenges lie ahead." Henshaw spoke to the Greater St. Louis Safety and Health Conference and told the group that the agency's interest lies in one thing "results—reducing what I call the triple bottom line of injuries, illnesses and loss of life." Henshaw's speech touched on the agency's accomplishments over the past year, but focused more on OSHA's strategy to continue searching "for innovative ways to impact the triple bottom line" to ensure that "more workers will go home to their families healthy and sound than ever before." Ergonomics Committee Set to Meet in Washington     The National Advisory Committee on Ergonomics (NACE) will meet for the sixth time this month in Washington. The committee's three workgroups (research, guidelines, and outreach and assistance) will assemble Nov. 16 and report their findings and conclusions to the full committee on Nov. 17. The meetings are open to the public and will be held in the Holiday Inn on the Hill, 415 New Jersey Avenue, NW. NACE's two year charter began Nov. 27, 2002, with the goal of providing advice and recommendations to OSHA on ergonomics guidelines, research, outreach and assistance, and better ways to increase communication among stakeholders on ergonomics. Details on the meeting are in the October 25 Federal Register. OSHA to Announce FY2004 Enforcement Figures    The Occupational Safety and Health Administration exceeded its goal for inspections last year adding to an overall strong, successful and fair enforcement program for 2004. OSHA Administrator John Henshaw will announce the FY2004 enforcement statistics later this month. Stay tuned to OSHA's website for details on the enforcement numbers. Georgia-Pacific Corporation Approved as First VPP Corporate Participant    OSHA announced this month that Georgia-Pacific Corporation was formally approved as the first company in the agency's new VPP Corporate Pilot program. The program was designed to streamline the VPP application and onsite evaluation processes for corporations that have made a commitment to VPP. VPP Corporate, along with "OSHA Challenge" and "VPP for Construction," are new initiatives announced by OSHA Administrator John Henshaw last year to expand the Voluntary Protection Programs. OSHA's Chicago Region Participates in Video Production on Long-Term Care Safety     "Work Smart, Be Safe: An Orientation to Long Term Care Safety," is a new video covering the basics in long-term care workplace safety, featuring lifting, housekeeping issues (e.g., blood spills, laundry, etc.) and more. OSHA's Chicago Region worked in partnership with Life Services Network and the Illinois Onsite Safety and Health Consultation Program to develop the 18-minute video. Filmed at Tabor Hills Healthcare Facility in Naperville, IL, the video and companion printed manuals are free and available online in streaming video in both English and Spanish. OSHA Schedules MACOSH Meeting Next Month    The Waterside Marriott Hotel in Norfolk, VA, is the site for the three-day Maritime Advisory Committee on Occupational Safety and Health (MACOSH) meeting, beginning Dec. 7. MACOSH was established to advise the Assistant Secretary of Labor for Occupational Safety and Health on issues relating to occupational safety and health for workers involved in shipbuilding, ship breaking, ship repair, and longshoring in the maritime industries. MACOSH meetings are open to the public. Specific details on the meeting were published in the Nov. 8 Federal Register. Regional Alliance in Seattle Unites OSHA, Labor, Contractors    The Mechanical Contractors Association of Western Washington joined with OSHA's Seattle Region and two locals of the Plumbers and Pipefitters International Union Nov. 3, to develop and implement training and education programs to improve construction safety and health programs. Dick Terrill, Regional Administrator, said the Alliance was significant because of labor participation and the fact that "sharing of information will help prevent or reduce employee exposure to construction safety and health hazards." New York, Kansas City, Seattle Regions Recognize "Star" Employers     Clayville, NY-based Homogeneous Metals, Inc. was recognized recently by OSHA's New York Region for achieving four years of superb worker safety and health management and was approved again for participation in OSHA's prestigious "Star" Voluntary Protection Programs. The Kansas City Region welcomed two new companies into the "Star" fold: GE Transportation Rail-Global Signaling in Grain Valley, MO and Chief Industries-Custom Products Division in Grand Island, NE. Finally, OSHA's Seattle Region elevated Gustafson LLC of Marsing, ID, to a VPP "Star" site during ceremonies Nov. 9. Gustafson was initially approved as a "Merit" site in May 2003. Strategic Partnerships Signed in New York, Philadelphia Regions     OSHA's New York region signed two strategic partnerships this month to enhance safety for workers in Buffalo and Rochester. Concrete Applied Technologies Corp. (CATCO) signed on with OSHA's Buffalo area office, several labor unions and the New York State Labor Department to focus safety and health efforts for workers on two major roadway construction projects in Buffalo and Cheektowaga, NY. General contractor Edward Kraemer & Sons, Inc. signed on with OSHA's Buffalo area office, the Rochester Building and Construction Trades Council AFL-CIO, the Construction Industry Association of Rochester, and the New York State Department of Labor to improve worker safety and health at Rochester's Troup Howell Bridge replacement project. Advancing the safety and health for workers in the electrical construction and maintenance industry throughout Pennsylvania, Delaware and New Jersey is the goal of a partnership signed Nov. 5 between OSHA and the Penn-Del-Jersey Chapter of the National Electrical Contractors Association (NECA). Several locals of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) also joined in the agreement. OSHA Offers General Industry Sector Quick Start Guide     OSHA has created a step-by-step online guide to introduce employers and workers in general industry to the agency's compliance assistance resources. Quick Start helps you identify many of the major OSHA requirements and guidance materials that may apply to your individual workplace. While not comprehensive, the guide does provide the reader with a basic foundation for information and guidance on workplace safety and health regulations and assistance tools that can be tailored to individual worksites. New Alliances Established in Boston, New York Regions     Fostering safety and health for workers throughout Connecticut's painting, construction and home restoration industries is the goal of an Alliance signed Nov. 10 between OSHA's Bridgeport, CT area office and the New Haven Chapter of the Painting and Decorating Contractors of America (PDCA-NHC). The Alliance will focus on hazards associated with falls, scaffolding, electricity, and lead, silica and asbestos exposures. OSHA's Buffalo, NY area office established two new Alliances this month highlighting Hispanic workers, and renewed another focusing on future construction workers. New Alliances with the Rochester Catholic Family Center and Hispanos Unidos de Buffalo, Inc. will center on western New York's Hispanic worker population. The New York State Department of Labor joined in both Alliances. Lehigh Construction Group, Inc., of Orchard Park renewed its Alliance with OSHA's Buffalo area office for two additional years in order to continue teaching construction safety to students in western New York vocational schools and community colleges. Voluntary Protection Programs Activity     The following companies were approved recently for new or continued participation in OSHA's Voluntary Protection Programs (VPP): Region II: American Ref-Fuel of Niagara, Niagara Falls, NY (Cont. Star); Oldcastle Precast, Inc., Manchester, NY (Merit to Star) ; Lucent Technologies, Bell Lab Innovations, Murray Hill, NJ (Cont. Star); Pliant Corporation, Macedon, NY (Cont. Star); Lucent Technologies, Holmdel, NJ (Cont. Star); USPS, Syracuse Processing & Distribution Center, Syracuse, NY (New Star); ExxonMobil Business & Research Center, Macedon, NY (Cont. Star) Region III: Montenay York Resource Energy Systems, LLC, York, PA (Cont. Star); Gardner Cryogenics, Bethlehem, PA (Cont. Star) Region IV: Georgia Pacific, Warrenton Chip-n-Saw Mill, Warrenton, GA (Cont Star); JE Merit Constructors @ ConocoPhillips, Ponca City, OK (New Star); Region V: Eaton Aeroquip, Van Wert, OH (Merit to Star); Ferguson Construction Co., Dayton, OH (New Mobil Workforce Demo Star Region VI: Entergy Operations, West Bank Svc Center, Gretna, LA (New Star); Entergy Operations, River Lake West Svc. Center, Luling, LA (New Star); Kwikset Corp., Denison, TX (New Star); Maybelline-Garnier, North Little Rock, AR (New Star); Halliburton Energy Services, Jet Research Center, Alvarado, TX (Cont. Star); Austin Commercial, Inc., Dallas, TX (New Star); Performance Pipe, Waxahachie, TX (New Star); Performance Pipe, Brownwood, TX (New Star); Texas Genco LP, Chemical Support Svcs., Houston, TX (New Star); and Texas Genco LP, EDC Central Repair Shop, Houston, TX (New Star). Editor: Bill Wright, OSHA Office of Communications, 202-693-1999