Section 3: IT Initiatives
This section describes the major IT initiatives within the IT Program's
IT Portfolio that will lead the Department to achieve its five IT strategic
goals and ultimately fulfill its IT Program mission and vision. In addition to
the pursuit of Department-level goals, each DOL Agency, Bureau and Office has
specific IT initiatives that are directed at achieving its unit's mission. This
section discusses these initiatives in some detail. It is also important to
refer to Appendix E in which IT initiatives are aligned very specifically with
IT strategic and Departmental strategic goals.
3.1 Alignment of Strategic Initiatives to Departmental, Business and
IT Strategic Goals
Each of the following IT initiatives is designed to contribute to the
achievement of the Department's strategic goals. Initiatives are grouped into
four categories: Federal-Level Initiatives, Department-Level Initiatives,
Common-Shared Initiatives and Agency-Level Initiatives. Additionally, DOL is
leading or partnering with other Federal Agencies collaboratively on a number
of IT initiatives that cut across the Federal government (Line-of-Business
Initiatives and Cross-cutting Initiatives). It is valuable to be able to
see how these many initiatives link not just with Departmental strategic goals
but also with Presidential Priority Initiatives, legislative requirements, and
other Federal imperatives. This integration and linkage of IT initiatives to
Program-level and Department-level goals is one of the keys to success.
The Department recognized that the IT strategy and IT initiatives link directly
with the Congressional Budgetary Review process. DOL seeks to present the IT
initiatives consistently and in sufficient detail for future measurement and
evaluations (e.g. internal E-Governance Program evaluations and OMB's Program
Assessment Rating Tool).
3.2 Federal-Level Initiatives
Federal-level initiatives refer to those IT initiatives that originate
in legislation or Presidential directive. They are intended for all Departments
of the U.S. Government and include:
- Presidential Priority Initiatives that are directly a result of
Presidential directive and stem from work being performed by the President's
Management Council
- Line of Business Initiatives that originate within the Federal-wide
Enterprise Architecture (EA) planning and development efforts (within OMB)
which seek to set standards for provision of common services across various
Departments of the U.S. Federal Government.
- Cross-cutting Initiatives are IT initiatives that span several
Departments but not all Departments of the U.S. Federal Government.
3.2.1 Presidential Priority Initiatives
The e-Government Task Force of the President's Management Council has
identified a portfolio of e-Government initiatives known as Presidential
Priority Initiatives (PPIs). PPIs are designed to drive transformation across
Federal Agencies. DOL is the managing partner for some of these initiatives, a
partner in others, and a potential partner in the remainder. Appendix B, Tables
1-3 provide a complete listing of these initiatives and the extent of DOL
involvement in them. DOL is playing an important role in many of these wider
e-Government initiatives, particularly GovBenefits.gov and DisabilityInfo.gov,
as described in the following sections.
In addition, DOL is currently undertaking many IT initiatives that align
with the Federal PPI initiatives and is working closely with the Agency heading
the PPI initiatives to stay in compliance with its direction and requirements.
Appendix B, Table 4 summarizes how DOL's IT initiatives map and align with the
wider PPI initiatives.
GovBenefits.gov
GovBenefits.gov is an e-Government Office of Management and Budget (OMB)
initiative that is part of the Administration's plan to better connect citizens
with their government. The initiative is a partnership of sixteen Federal
Agencies (Commerce, DHS, DOE, DOI, DOJ, DOT, ED, HHS, HUD, SBA, SSA, State,
Treasury, USDA and VA) and other stakeholders, (GSA OCSC, USA Services) with a
shared vision - to provide improved, personalized access to government benefits
programs. The GovBenefits.gov website is a single centralized portal that
provides benefit program information to citizens and determines potential
eligibility. The specific GovBenefits.gov objectives are:
- Continue to improve citizen access to benefits eligibility
information through a one-stop web portal. Provide a single entry point on the
Internet that citizens can access to determine their eligibility for the
universe of government benefits. Prioritize benefits of interest to the
particular citizen, provide information on the benefits, and link to the
government benefit providers.
- Continue to improve the efficiency of the benefits determination and
dissemination process. Increase the availability and accuracy of benefits
eligibility determination to the neediest segments of the beneficiary
population and their support/advocacy organizations and enable feedback from
all stakeholders on program performance.
- Establish the enabling technological foundation to transform the
citizen/government benefits determination and delivery relationship. Government
strives to make the benefits process citizen-centric through pro-active,
personalized services that minimize hierarchical, bureaucratic, or geographic
boundary limitations. GovBenefits.gov is one means of enabling this
comprehensive restructuring of benefits and benefits delivery.
DisabilityInfo.gov
DisabilityInfo.gov is a citizen-centric web resource for information on
employment, training, housing, transportation, income support, health care,
technology and other disability-related information. DisabilityInfo.gov
presents the citizen with a consolidated view of Federal, state and local
information, programs, and services relevant to critical stakeholders,
including public and private sector employers, service providers, and people
with disabilities. In addition, through this concept, businesses are educated
on policies and effective practices regarding the employment of people with
disabilities.
DisabilityInfo.gov is the result of an Executive Memorandum issued by
President George W. Bush on August 28, 2002 as part of his New Freedom
Initiative which directed Federal Agencies to work together to build a one-stop
interagency Web portal for people with disabilities, their families, employers,
service providers and community members.
3.2.2 Line-of-Business Initiatives (LoB)
Building upon the efforts of the Federal Enterprise Architecture Program
to support the President's Management Agenda for e-Government, the Office of
Management and Budget and designated Agency task forces have launched the LoB
initiative. This initiative seeks to develop business-driven, common solutions
for six lines of business that span the Federal government including financial
management, human resources management, grants management, Federal health
architecture, case management, and IT security. DOL is fully engaged in
collaborating with other agencies on these initiatives to build solutions that
work across the government, particularly in the areas of financial management
and human resources management, as described below.
Financial Management Line of Business
The Financial Management function is being implemented via three
separate systems, as described below. DOL is one of the Managing Partners along
with the Department of Energy of the Financial Management Line of Business that
includes:
New Core Financial Management System
This initiative is a Department-wide project to enhance the operation of
DOL's current core financial management system. The new core financial
management system will utilize advance portal technology and an integrated
system approach to transform the organization from one that concentrates on
processing transactions to one that concentrates on decision support and
information management. It will provide a technology platform that accommodates
integration with future e-government initiatives.
E-Travel
The Federal e-Travel initiative will create a common Internet Website
for Federal travel services. This initiative will automate travel services
across Federal Agencies and allow them to reduce processing time and costs for
voucher claims.
Human Resources Line of Business
The Human Resources initiatives vary greatly throughout the U.S. Federal
Government and look to align different Departments to a common set of practices
regarding payroll, training, and HR management.
PeoplePower
PeoplePower is a Department-wide integrated human resources, personnel,
payroll, and time and attendance system. PeoplePower enables business alignment
and integration along Federal lines with DOL payroll operations migration to
the National Finance Center (NFC). NFC will also become a feeder system to
DOL's New Financial System.
PeoplePower represents an integrated HR IT portfolio by aligning to
these PPIs: Integrated Human Resources and e-Clearance, e-Payroll, e-Training
and e-Travel, a business system that is important to supporting Federal
personnel.
PeoplePower and NFC systems will interface with the DOL's core financial
system and the Department's travel management system.
E-Recruit
The DOL Online Opportunities Recruitment System (DOORS), launched in
October 2004 and the first Federal hiring system to fully integrate with OPM's
USAJOBS, fully supports the Federal e-Recruit initiative. DOORS is an
electronic recruitment process that is competency-based and standardizes the
hiring process Department-wide while creating a seamless Federal application
process for job applicants. DOL, as a result of its unique USAJOBS integration,
will continue to partner with USAJOBS to pilot new innovations to improve the
interoperability and integration of the hiring process across Federal
lines.
E-Recruit enables business alignment for the hiring process within DOL
by: streamlining business processes, converting from a paper-based to an
electronic system, reducing the use of ranking panels, utilizing electronic
Certificate of Eligibles, integrating Business Intelligence tools, and reducing
application processing costs. E-Recruit also allows DOL to achieve a business
alignment with Federal hiring processes through collaborative efforts with
other Federal agencies to maximize the streamlining of processes that cross-cut
Departmental lines.
3.2.3 Cross-Cutting Initiatives
These initiatives, new to the Federal Government, involve collaboration
across two or more different Departments to solve shared IT issues or needs.
Safety & Health Information Management System (SHIMS)
DOL is improving service to Federal employees with a faster transmission
of workers' compensation claims to the Employment Standards Administration's
Office of Workers' Compensation for processing and the ability to process the
claim in an expedited manner. Previously the claim forms were manually written
and mailed which took several days and a response took two weeks. Now the claim
is submitted electronically within 24 hours and a response receipt of the claim
from the Office of the Worker's Compensation is within 48 hours. This allows
the claimant to begin referencing their claim within two days of filing.
Eight Federal Agencies have agreed to implement SHIMS, with three
agencies working towards a 2005 implementation target. DOL's continuing good
performance in attaining Federal goals for timeliness is a major factor in
Agencies seeking to partner with the Department for SHIMS use. DOL is in
communication with 25 external Agencies on SHIMS development and implementation
through one-on-one presentations and quarterly meetings.
Cost savings can be attributed to the implementation of the SHIMS in
DOL. The system was fully implemented in FY 2003 and since then DOL has
demonstrated a reduction in workers' compensation costs through quicker
processing of claims and the ability to use the systems to identify persons
able to return to work and develop light-duty positions for them. As a result
of this effort DOL saved $3.23 million in FY 2004, representing a 13% decline
in worker compensation costs.
3.1 Department-Level Initiatives
Department-level initiatives refer to those IT initiatives that the
Department of Labor on the whole aims to address. For the most part, IT
initiatives within DOL divide into:
- Universal Initiatives - those IT initiatives that impact all of DOL's
Agencies, Bureaus and Offices.
- Common Initiatives - those IT initiatives that impact two or more
Agencies, Bureaus or Offices.
Universal Initiatives
These are the IT initiatives in which every part of the Department of
Labor participates. The Universal Initiatives focus on achieving universal
standards and practices in planning, execution, performance monitoring and
reporting.
Unified DOL Technology Infrastructure (UDTI)
In order to fulfill the IT requirements of DOL's program areas, it is
imperative that the Department maintain an agile, reliable, and secure
technology infrastructure. IT modernization efforts are driven by business area
requirements and the overall goal of cost-effective infrastructure management.
Generally, a more modern IT infrastructure will save money in ongoing
maintenance costs, increase processing speed, increase the reliability of the
networks, enhance network and information security because of improved patch
management capabilities, reduce the risk of technological failure, increase
disaster recovery capability, support projected capacity needs due to the
deployment of new systems and applications, and increase productivity.
DOL has undertaken a Department-wide IT infrastructure consolidation
initiative. The Unified DOL Technology Infrastructure (UDTI) initiative is
consistent with OMB guidance. The plan includes determining consolidation
opportunities in a federated approach within and across agencies. This
federated approach ensures that consolidation will occur at a level that
provides the most value to the organization. The consolidation effort will
bring together separate parts of DOL's nine independent networks into a single,
unified whole to reduce costs and improve effectiveness. DOL's UDTI initiative
will adopt a balanced management approach for the delivery and operational
support of the common infrastructure service components. Key to infrastructure
consolidation is who and how the infrastructure will be managed. As such, a
unified and coordinated approach will be undertaken for both:
- Security Management Framework for the protection, privacy, and
national security requirements of resources, information, and equipment.
- Service Management Framework for the delivery and support of
information and people (for both privacy and national security); and of
consolidated services.
This consists of the processes for service level management,
availability management, IT service continuity planning, capacity management,
financial management, change management, incident management, configuration
management, problem management, and release management. The UDTI network
will provide the ability to transform relations with citizens, businesses, and
other arms of governments. These technologies can serve a variety of different
ends including better delivery of government services to citizens, improved
interactions with business and industry, citizen empowerment through access to
information, and more efficient government management. The resulting benefits
will include increased transparency, greater convenience, re-investment of
savings, and/or cost-avoidance.
Investing in the IT Workforce
DOL is working to sustain and strengthen its IT workforce through a
program of carefully selected human capital investments. Key activities include
the following: Skills Assessment
In FY 2004, DOL conducted a Department-wide skills assessment of
mission-critical occupations, including IT. All major DOL Agencies have
completed skills assessments for 27 mission-critical occupations using the
Competency Exxceed Plus skills assessment tool. In addition, DOL continues to
participate in the annual Clinger-Cohen IT Skills assessment survey.
Learning and Development
In July 2004, the Department submitted its Departmental IT Training
Guide to OMB. In that report, DOL identified the resources for training defined
in the OPM Training Report as one resource to close gaps in IT skills within
the Department. The Department identified additional resources that will be
used to close IT skills gaps. The Department is utilizing the resources
identified in the OPM Training Report as well as the resources identified in
the Departmental IT training guide to help close the skills gaps identified
through the skills assessment activities described above.
DOL has implemented an IT Project Management Program that provides the
senior level IT professional with assistance in acquiring the Project
Management Institute's (PMI) Project Management Professional (PMP)
Certification. The program includes required PMP training and funding for the
PMP Certification Exam. DOL has updated the e-learning catalog to include
IT-related courses for entry and intermediate level IT professionals.
Skill Gap Remediation
In accordance with guidance from OMB, OPM, and the CIO Council, DOL is
closely examining several IT job activities which are critical to fulfilling
the President's Management Agenda. These include IT Project Management, IT
Architecture (Enterprise and Solutions), and IT Security. DOL is also using
skills assessment data to identify skill gaps in other important IT job
activities.
Employment Laws Assistance for Workers and Small Businesses
(elaws)
Elaws is the Department's centralized web service for providing
interactive compliance assistance information on labor laws administered by
DOL. Elaws is specifically designed to meet the needs of citizens, including
employees and employers (especially small businesses).
Elaws advisors are based on intelligent or expert systems, which are
legally vetted, computer-based compliance assistance programs that capture a
labor law expert's knowledge and decision making reasoning so that these can be
disseminated to the public. Workers and employers interact with these expert
systems much the same as if they were interacting with a human expert to obtain
answers to their employment law questions. Elaws has successfully combined
these intelligent capabilities with web and database technologies to provide
cost and time efficient solutions over the Internet and DOL enterprise systems
- elaws Advisors were used an estimated 23 million times in FY 2004, and more
than 45 million times since FY 2001.
Elaws is a Government to Business (G2B) and Government to Citizen (G2C)
service that illustrates how electronic government can be used to empower
businesses and citizens. Elaws directly supports the PPI Business Gateway,
which uses elaws as a primary portal and source for Federal employment laws and
compliance assistance information, and is a key resource of the Secretary's
Compliance Assistance Initiative.
Mobile Workforce Automation
The Department of Labor Mobile/Remote Workforce is a collaborative
crosscut initiative agreed upon by most of the large and small Agencies of the
Department. This initiative provides the DOL workforce - inspectors, compliance
assistance specialists, frequent travelers, episodic and long-term flexi-place,
workers at home or other remote locations, with tools and a standardized mobile
infrastructure. The mobile/remote workforce infrastructure allows the DOL
workforce to conduct their work activities off-site more effectively and
efficiently, and respond more timely to emergencies so that the American
workforce is protected from fraud, abuse and can go home from their jobs
safely. These initiatives provide the capability for DOL staff to collect and
distribute data and information, and perform staff and management
responsibilities using portable devices and a standardized telecommunications
infrastructure.
Emergency Management
Continuity of Operations Information Management System (COOP IMS) has
been replaced with a new file based system called the DOL Support Portal
(DSP-Share Drive). The DSP supports the Continuity of Operations (COOP) plan
that is maintained and implemented by the DOL Emergency Management Center
(DOL-EMC). As part of the DOL-EMC, the DOL Emergency Management Center (EMC)
oversees command, control, and coordination activities during an activation of
the DOL COOP plan.
Activation of this plan enables and facilitates the continuing operation
of essential DOL processes by providing crucial decision making information in
a quick and efficient manner. DSP share drive is a key component of this
process.
DSP is a secure file system which resides on Emergency Management
Network (EM Net) that provides secure access to mission critical disaster
recovery DOL COOP Department and Agency level information. The DSP-Share allows
users, based on their system privilege level, to enter and manage this crucial
information via a username/password protected access scheme that provides
necessary system security.
Having the system reside behind the DOL firewall, which further
restricts access to the data, provides additional security. DSP utilizes
Virtual Private Networking (VPN) Technology and File System Technology to
provide secure access to the data. All critical data that is compiled on the
DSP-Share system is replicated to the alternative Emergency Relocation Site
ensuring that the data is available in redundant locations.
Enterprise Communication Initiative (ECI)
ECI is a Department-wide initiative that will achieve a number of
efficiencies and improvements in support of the communication function. Among
other things, ECI will ensure all e-correspondence inquiries will be handled in
the same manner, with a consistent look for the citizen. Components of the ECI
include the following:
- Consolidation to a single Internet development infrastructure.
- Reduction of multiple software licenses for development tools.
- Reduction to one content management system.
- One Internet and Intranet development network.
- Reduction of duplicate contract resources.
- Reduction from several language translation contracts to one
performance based contract.
- Consolidation of Tier 1 call centers.
- One standard business process and workflow for e-correspondence.
- Using performance metrics.
- Centralized management, as applicable, of web application and
development, to create a consistent look and feel to the public and DOL
employees.
- Integration where possible of regional and district offices Internet
development.
- Streamlining procurement and contract management.
- Standardized development suite and technologies related to the
Internet and intranet.
- Creates a citizen focused approach to dissemination of information to
the public.
Departmental E-Budgeting System
The Departmental E-Budgeting System (DEBS) investment will automate the
semi-manual formulation and publication of annual budget submissions. This
investment was critically evaluated and strategically recommended based on the
Department's mature Capital Planning and Investment Control (CPIC) process
which uses a weighted scoring analysis model for investment selection. The
investment was well positioned for selection based on its defined scope,
organizational value and demonstrated commitment to performance goals across
the agency. DEBS will standardize the assignment of budget costs to performance
goals and combine analysis of how the requested funds will lead to targeted
levels of performance driving greater corporate governance and improving
decision making clarity. By automating and integrating budgetary resources with
performance, and providing access to information online, decision makers can
effectively evaluate the performance results against proposed levels of
funding; alleviate redundant, rote business processes; and allocate/optimize
scarce Federal resources to programs and initiatives that deliver results.
Ultimately, the automated budget solution will support Agencies' efforts to
quantify and qualify results of their performance-to-budget-spend ratio.
3.2 Common-Shared Initiatives
Common initiatives are IT initiatives in which many entities within DOL
participate. The common initiatives involve two or more Agencies that aim to
benefit from a cost, efficiency, and effectiveness perspective by sharing in
the planning, execution and reporting for a combined or shared initiative.
E-Grants
E-Grants is an online grants management application designed to provide
all grant making agencies with a modern, web-based system that allows them to
be more efficient and customer centric in pursuing their missions. E-Grants
will combine faster processing and consistent data with the capability to
streamline and simplify the interactions between the administrative functions
and their customers. It will reduce operating costs and increase the quality of
service.
Agencies affected by this initiative include the Employment and Training
Administration (ETA); Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA);
Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS); Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA);
and Office of the Assistant Secretary for Administration and Management
(OASAM), which has overall grant making authority for Veterans' Employment and
Training Service (VETS); Bureau of International Labor Affairs (ILAB); Women's
Bureau (WB); and the Office of Disability Employment Policy (ODEP).
E-Grants will interface with NCFMS, the DOL financial system, and other
financial feeder systems over secure network connections, as well as the
Federal-wide grant payment systems, including HHS's Payment Management System,
and the Treasury's ASAP system. E-Grants will integrate with the Federal
E-Grants Storefront initiative managed by HHS.
E-Judication
The e-Judication project is an IT initiative that seeks to modernize
current DOL legal and adjudicatory systems and business processes to integrate
the existing processes into a fully electronic, citizen-centric, end-to-end
procedure designed for the 21st Century. The results of this effort will be to
simplify the delivery of services to the public, accelerate case processing,
reduce costs by consolidating and eliminating/upgrading redundant systems, and
streamline all aspects of communication (Government to Citizen, Citizen to
Government and Government to Business).
This initiative closely aligned with the PMA, the DOL Target EA, and
Secretary Chao's Departmental strategic goals, focuses on system
interoperability across the Office of the Solicitor (SOL) and the four
adjudicatory Agencies: Office of Administrative Law Judges (OALJ), the
Administrative Review Board (ARB), the Benefits Review Board (BRB), and the
Employees' Compensation Appeals Board (ECAB).
E-Judication will deliver direct services for citizens by developing a
one-stop Web Portal for citizens and stakeholders who are involved in the
appeals and adjudication process. The e-Judication Web Portal is, in essence,
the centerpiece of this initiative since it is the portion of the project that
is visible to all stakeholders and that will facilitate the successful
execution of the DOL legal/adjudicatory mission by providing citizens in
distress a vehicle to obtain pertinent information and to file claims quickly
and easily. One of the primary goals of the e-Judication initiative is to open
up the adjudicatory process to the American public and to streamline the
process with the introduction of an informational web portal, electronic
filing, and electronic service of appropriate documents. The e-Judication
System, by employing commercial best practices in terms of citizen-centric case
management, knowledge management, case tracking, electronic workflow (including
electronic triggers and reminders of tasks) will improve the efficiency with
which citizen claims are handled.
3.3 Agency-Level Initiatives
There are different Agency-level Initiatives within the Department.
These are the IT initiatives that are either mandatory to the specific Agency,
or specific to the business mission of a particular Agency.
Foreign Labor Certification Systems
Foreign labor certification programs permit U.S. employers to hire
foreign workers on a temporary or permanent basis to fill jobs essential to the
U.S. economy. Certification may be obtained in cases where it can be
demonstrated that there are insufficient qualified U.S. workers available and
willing to perform the work at wages that meet or exceed the prevailing wage
paid for that occupation in the area of intended employment. DOL has developed
a suite of web-based systems to facilitate this process. They include the
following three online systems:
PERM Online The Permanent Online System allows U.S. employers
who intend to hire foreign workers to work permanently in the United States the
ability to file and submit applications for Permanent Employment Certification
- Form ETA 9089 with DOL via the Web.
LCA Online
The LCA Online System allows employers or their agents, who intend to
employ alien worker(s) for a temporary period in professional occupations or as
fashion models the ability to file labor condition applications (LCAs)-Form ETA
9035E with DOL via the Web. This system will automatically determine, within
minutes, if the submitted LCA is certified or denied based on information that
was entered. Once DOL grants certification, the employer must then print and
sign the Form ETA 9035E. The employer may file a copy of the signed certificate
Form ETA 9035E in support of a visa petition or change in status request with
the Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services (BCIS).
H-2A Online
The H-2A Online System allows employers or their agents who intend to
employ nonimmigrant alien worker(s) to perform temporary or seasonal
agricultural work to complete and pre-submit their applications (i.e., Forms
ETA 750/790 and/or G-28) with DOL via the Web.
Executive Information/Corporate Performance Management
System
The goal of the Executive Information/Corporate Performance Management
System (EI/CPMS) is to allow MSHA senior executives, program area managers, and
staff to proactively monitor the performance of the organization by providing
mission-critical information and performance measures via a graphical user
interface.
Through visual aids such as maps, alerts, charts, tables, and
spreadsheets, the EI\CPMS will provide information and analytics on MSHA
activities relative to strategic goals, key performance indicators (KPI's),
customer metrics, and operational benchmarks. The system will ensure that all
data is consistent and accurate, provide drill-down capabilities for additional
business analysis, and enable users to investigate cause-and-effect scenarios
and their related impacts.
Monitoring performance metrics through an EI/CPMS is an industry best
practice that will empower MSHA employees with information on enterprise
activities, enable bottom-line impact analysis, and establish MSHA as a model
workplace within DOL. The EI/CPMS investment will help MSHA reduce fatalities
and injuries in the nation's mines by providing access to mine performance and
accident information. The EI/CPMS investment helps to achieve MSHA's workplace
performance goals by allowing executives to continuously monitor MSHA's leading
metrics and status.
Occupational Safety and Health Information System
(OIS)
The system will replace OSHA's current Integrated Management Information
System (IMIS). This system replaces the 1991 legacy OSHA Enforcement and
Consultation applications, while adding functionality for new regulatory and
program areas that have been established since the original application was
implemented. A new application is necessary because OSHA has been assigned
new statutes, and has adopted new program areas since the original application
was developed. A significant gap exists between the agency's strategic plan and
the capacity of the current application. OIS provides OSHA with the tools to
identify industries and workplaces with the most serious hazards, based upon
superior analytical tools, and develop more effective methods to target
worksites needing interventions. The agency will have an enhanced ability
to track existing safety and health trends and to identify emerging safety and
health issues. OSHA will be positioned to develop intervention strategies much
earlier than before, thus increasing our prevention ability. Laboratory results
from Salt Lake and Wisconsin laboratories will be electronically incorporated
into the application, thus eliminating double data entry by OSHA staff. Other
formerly independent data silos will be eliminated.
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