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U.S. Department of Labor | |
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| Occupational Safety & Health Administration | ||||||
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| Regional and Area Office Alliances > Region V > Alliance Annual Report |
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ILLINOIS HEALTH CARE ASSOCIATION An Illinois Alliance ALLIANCE ANNUAL REPORT January 11, 2007 |
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I. Alliance Background Date Signed. October 14, 2004 December 11, 2006 Alliance Renewed for 3 years Alliance Overview. Alliance to provide IHCA members and others with information, guidance, and access to training resources that will help them protect employees’ health and safety, particularly in reducing and preventing exposure to blood, ergonomic, chemical, electrical and physical hazards and for the implementation of effective safety and health programs. Implementation Team Members. Peggy Zweber, CAS, Peoria (2004) and Debbie Belt, Director of Training, IHCA II. Implementation Team Meetings Peggy Zweber, CAS, OSHA, and Debbie Belt, Director of Training, IHCA, met several times during the year and email contact was maintained throughout the year. An article on the Alliance was published in the weekly newsletter early in 2006. Plans were made to have OSHA included in some of the meetings held throughout the State. Ms. Belt indicated that the association was having problems getting members to meet, either because of work demands or travel resources, and several meetings were cancelled due to lack of response. However, in the Chicago Area, the Calumet City Office was able to combine several nursing home sessions with members of both the Illinois Council on Long Term Care and the Illinois Health Care Association. In addition, the CAS and an IH from the Peoria Area Office had two sessions at the IHCA fall conference in Springfield. When the renewal of the IHCA Alliance discussions were held in November and December, 2006, both Ms. Zweber and Ms. Belt discussed different ways to reach the membership because of the challenges the association was having in scheduling meetings. The newsletter is a definite resource. In addition, the association is working on developing web-based training sessions for their membership, including adding OSHA sessions. The Peoria CAS discussed outreach with the Calumet City Area Office Nursing Home outreach contact who suggested using the State of Illinois Nursing Home lists to develop some outreach sessions in Southern Illinois. The Alliance was renewed for 3 years in December, 2006 and signed by Michael Connors, Regional Administrator. A copy of the press release was provided to the IHCA for the membership newsletter. III. Activities and Products Evaluation Period. This report covers October 19, 2005 to January 10, 2007. Alliance Activity. As a part of the Alliance, CAS Peggy Zweber and IH Sue Ellen DeManche of the Peoria Area Office spoke at the IHCA Annual Conference, September 12 - 14, 2006, in Springfield, IL, with 2 sessions, an OSHA Update covering the Strategic Plan, National and Local Emphasis Programs, inspection activity and top 10 violations in the nursing home industry and a second session with emphasis on nursing home health hazards and controls. In addition, IH Robert Leonard from the Calumet City Area Office held 3 training sessions in the Chicago Area for nursing homes in the IHCA and Illinois Council on Long Term Care. The sessions covered: recordkeeping, general nursing home hazards, ergonomics and limited lifting programs. Alliance Products. Handouts were provided at all OSHA presentations on material covered. An OSHA article on the Alliance was provided for the monthly newsletter, in addition to the press release when the Alliance was renewed. IV. Results The IHCA Annual Conference is a major contact as their membership of over 400 long-term care facilities, is throughout the state of Illinois, so to be invited to speak at this conference is a significant contribution to this alliance. Two presentation sessions were provided in 2006. The Chicagoland activity reached 30 to 45 nursing home representatives at each of the 3 sessions provided. As the information would be shared by the nursing home communities, through their internal training sessions, the potential for reaching at least 250 managers and nurses is present.
V. Upcoming Milestones For the IHCA weekly newsletter, the renewal of the Alliance article with the press release has already been submitted. Information on the Peoria customer service program, the Z Project, has already been provided. A past recipient of the Z Project Area Director’s Choice Award was a healthcare facility, so this association is already familiar with the program. The Association also receives the Peoria Area Office newsletter, which is dispersed to their membership. An article on Site Specific Targeting is being written for the IHCA newsletter, as some of their membership sites on those lists. The Director of Training will be asking the membership for safety and health questions, with responses from OSHA published in the weekly newsletter. In addition, OSHA has already been invited to speak at the next IHCA Annual Conference. Discussions are in progress on OSHA being part of the development of web-based training issues for the training website in the process of being created. Peoria AO CAS continues plans to meet with IHCA Director of Training quarterly. Report Prepared by: Peggy Zweber, Compliance Assistance Specialist, OSHA Peoria Area Office |
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