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ALLIANCE ANNUAL REPORT
Occupational Safety and Health Administration and
The Dow Chemical Company
April 15, 2004
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- Alliance Background
Date Signed
January 13, 2003
Overview
The OSHA and Dow Alliance focuses on using OSHA's and Dow's collective expertise
to further enhance a culture of prevention while sharing proven practices and
technical knowledge in the areas of, but not limited to, process safety
management (PSM) and ergonomics. This is an essential component of OSHA's desire
to partner with stakeholders, and Dow's commitment to Responsible Care™ and the
company's new 12 Point Operating Plan for Sustainable Development. The goals of
the Alliance include:
Outreach and communication:
- Develop and disseminate information on effective safety and health programs at
conferences, events, or through print and electronic media.
- Provide OSHA with opportunities to participate in hands-on information sharing
in Dow's facilities to "test run" ideas and understand real world impacts and
applications.
Promoting the national dialogue on workplace safety and health:
- Encourage Dow worksites and personnel to act as industry liaisons and
resources for OSHA's cooperative programs and Compliance Assistance Specialists.
- Participate in stakeholder groups and other formats for providing input into
the development of safety and health standards and guidance for the chemical
industry.
- Work together to develop new approaches and practices to address health and
safety risks.
- Share information on proven practices of Dow worksites with others in industry
through outreach directly by Dow and also through OSHA.
Implementation Team Members
Dow:
Stan Dombrowski
Bart Gliatta
Tim Overton
Mark Spence
Tim Taylor |
Industrial Hygiene Expertise Center
Personal Safety Expertise Center
Process Safety Technology Center
North American Health & Safety Regulatory Affairs
EH & S Public Affairs |
OSHA:
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Kevin Cummins
Brently Donaldson
Lee Anne Jillings
Mike Marshall
Lisa Ramber
Beth Sherfy
Joanne Slattery |
Salt Lake Technical Center
Office of Training and Education
Office of Outreach Services and Alliances
Directorate of Enforcement Programs
Office of Outreach Services and Alliances
Office of Outreach Services and Alliances
Directorate of Standards and Guidance |
Evaluation Period
January 13, 2003 - January 12, 2004
- Implementation Team Meetings
January 13, 2003
April 9, 2003
May 1, 2003
May 2, 2003
October 23, 2003 |
Kick-off meeting
Team meeting
PSM seminar planning
Team meeting
Team meeting |
- Events and Products
Training and Education
Events:
OSHA/ Dow Workshop, "OSHA's Process Safety Management (PSM) Standard: The Dow
Approach," OSHA Training Institute, Arlington Heights, Illinois, September 16,
2003
A workshop was held for OSHA's Region V staff that covered how Dow addresses and
implements the PSM standard in its workplaces and discussed various aspects of
the standard, including process safety information, process hazard analysis
procedures and management of change. Presenting for Dow were Kevin Shaughnessy,
a Global Process Safety Technology Leader and Don Jones, a Registered
Professional Engineer and Certified Safety Professional with Dow Regulatory
Affairs. The workshop was attended by more than 25 OSHA staff from Region V's
Regional and Area Offices, Consultation Projects and State Plan States,
including Michigan OSHA and Wisconsin Consultation.
Outreach and Communication
Events:
2nd Annual OSHA Compliance Assistance Conference, Tysons Corner Marriott,
Vienna, Virginia, June, 12, 2003
Samuel L. Smolik, Vice President, Environment, Health and Safety at Dow,
presented "A Vision and Culture of Zero," and spoke to the Compliance Assistance
Conference attendees about Dow's tips and techniques that have helped the
company reduce injuries and illnesses of Dow employees and contractors by 73
percent globally since 1994.
Environmental, Health and Safety Conference of the Texas Chemistry Council, June
2003
Mark Spence, Manager, Health and Safety Regulatory Affairs at Dow, made a
presentation to approximately 40 attendees during a session at the annual EH&S
conference of the Texas Chemistry Council, of which Dow is a member, describing
the OSHA Alliance Program and why Dow decided to enter into an Alliance.
Workshop on Reactive Chemicals, June 2003
Tim Overton of Dow's Process Safety Technology Center was a participant and
presenter at a workshop on reactive chemicals sponsored jointly by OSHA, the US
Environmental Protection Agency, and the Chemical Safety and Hazard
Investigation Board.
European Union Conference on Safety and Health, Lemnos, Greece, October 15-17,
2003
The European Union and the United States held their third Joint Conference on
Occupational Health and Safety October 15 -17, 2003 in Lemnos, Greece. A topic
of the conference was “Co-operative Programs and Partnerships”. The discussions
covered the critical elements of successful partnership/co-operative programs
and working toward a common framework for partnership/co-operative programs.
Mark Spence, Manager, Health and Safety Regulatory Affairs at Dow and a member
of the Alliance Implementation Team, attended the conference. Paula White,
Director, Directorate of Cooperative and State Programs at OSHA also attended
the conference and presented a white paper on OSHA's cooperative programs.
Products:
OSHA's eTool: Ammonia Refrigeration
Dow participated in the development and review of the first section of OSHA's
eTool for ammonia refrigeration. It is expected that this information will be
posted on OSHA's web page in 2004.
OSHA's Safety and Health Topics Pages
Safety managers from Dow are participating on chemical-related editorial boards
for the OSHA Web site's Process Safety Management, Reactive Chemicals, Ammonia
Refrigeration, and Isocyanates Safety and Health Topics pages.
Safety and Health Case Studies: Ergonomics and Motor Vehicle Safety
Dow has been working with OSHA to develop case studies on ergonomics and motor
vehicle safety that will be posted on OSHA's Web site in 2004. The case studies
will discuss how Dow has applied the Six Sigma strategy to identify and reduce
hazards and implement solutions to improve the safety and health of the
workplace.
OSHA and Dow Alliance Web Page
The OSHA and Dow Alliance Web page on OSHA's Web site contains information on
the Alliance, Products and Resources, Activities and Events, and Milestones and
Successes. The page is updated regularly.
- January 13, 2003 -- OSHA distributed a news release announcing the Alliance.
- January 13, 2003 -- Dow distributed a news release and posted it on the
company's web site; "The Dow Chemical Company First Fortune 100 Company & First
Chemical Manufacturing Company To Sign Alliance with OSHA."
- January 15, 2003 -- OSHA included information on the OSHA/Dow Alliance signing
in its bi-weekly e-newsletter; QuickTakes.
- January 16, 2003 -- Article on the Alliance published by Occupational Safety &
Health Reporter; "Dow Chemical Signs Alliance With OSHA Focusing on Process
Safety, Ergonomics."
- January 20, 2003 -- Article on the Alliance published by
www.InsideHealthPolicy.com; “OSHA, DOW Chemical Forge Alliance to Cooperate on
Ergonomics, PSM.”
- January 22, 2003 -- Article on the Alliance published by Chemical Week; "Dow
Agrees to Help OSHA Promote Compliance."
- January 30, 2003 -- Article on the Alliance published by the Times-Picayune
(New Orleans, LA); "Business Notes: DOW-OSHA Alliance."
- 2003 Dow Chemical Company Annual Report -- The Dow-OSHA Alliance is
mentioned in annual report's section on "Driving Improvement." (http://www.dow.com/financial/2003ann/index.htm)
Promoting the National Dialogue on Workplace Safety and Health
Events:
2nd Annual OSHA Compliance Assistance Conference, Tysons Corner Marriott,
Vienna, Virginia, June 9-13, 2003.
Dow participated as an exhibitor.
- Results
Dow has demonstrated its commitment to improving the safety and health of the
workplace through implementing innovative programs and its willingness to work
cooperatively with various trade associations and regulatory agencies. In
addition, a number of the company's facilities have been in OSHA's Voluntary
Protection Programs (VPP) for over 10 years and Dow participated in the steering
committee that designed the Corporate VPP Program. Dow extended its commitment
to building a culture of incident prevention by being the first Fortune 100
company to sign an Alliance with OSHA.
While initially uncertain on how best to leverage OSHA's and Dow's expertise to
the benefit of the organizations and the chemical industry as a whole, the
Alliance implementation team met regularly and held productive discussions that
helped focus the groups' work during the first year of the Alliance. As a result
a number of projects were undertaken and OSHA used Dow's expertise in a number
of different instances, including safety and health professionals from Dow
agreeing to review OSHA's Safety and Health Topics pages for Process Safety
Management, Reactive Chemicals, Ammonia Refrigeration, and Isocyanates.
In addition, Dow experts reviewed and provided OSHA with comments on the first
module of the Ammonia Refrigeration eTool. The module is expected to be posted
on OSHA's Web site in the first half o 2004. Additional modules will be
developed as funds are available and Dow is committed to providing comments.
The implementation team also agreed that it would be beneficial for OSHA staff
to hear directly from a recognized leader in safety and health on how it
implements and meets the requirements of OSHA's PSM standard. As a result, the
group developed the OSHA/Dow Workshop, "OSHA's Process Safety Management (PSM)
Standard: The Dow Approach," that was presented on September 16, 2003 at OSHA's
Training Institute in Arlington Heights, Illinois. Presenting for Dow were Kevin Shaughnessy a Global Process Safety Technology Leader and Don Jones, a
Registered Professional Engineer and Certified Safety Professional with Dow
Regulatory Affairs. Over 25 OSHA staff members, from Region V, including
Regional and Area Offices, Michigan OSHA and Wisconsin Consultation, heard Dow
discuss the company's overall organization, roles, and use of internal
standards, work processes and management systems to achieve consistent
implementation of the PSM standard's requirements and process risk management
within Dow.
In addition, Dow representatives were very active in promoting and discussing
the Alliance Program through speeches to professional associations (such as the
American Chemistry Council), other businesses and the international community.
Dow staff also worked with OSHA to develop case studies and address and provide
information on a number of safety and health issues in the workplace, including
material safety data sheets, ergonomics, motor vehicle safety and reactive
chemicals.
| Type of Activity (Conference, Training,
Print and Electronic Distribution, etc.) |
Number of Individuals Reached or Trained |
OSHA/Dow Workshop, "OSHA's Process Safety
Management (PSM) Standard: The Dow Approach," OSHA Training Institute,
Arlington Heights, Illinois, September 16, 2003
Dow Speakers:
Kevin Shaughnessy, a Global Process Safety Technology Leader
Don Jones, a Registered Professional Engineer and Certified Safety
Professional with the Regulatory Affairs Department
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25 |
2nd Annual OSHA Compliance Assistance
Conference, Tysons Corner Marriott, Vienna, Virginia, June, 12, 2003, "A
Vision and Culture of Zero"
Dow Speaker:
- Samuel L. Smolik, Vice President, Environment, Health and Safety at Dow
|
200 |
2nd Annual OSHA Compliance Assistance
Conference, Tysons Corner Marriott, Vienna, Virginia, June 9-13, 2003
Dow exhibited
|
200 |
Environmental, Health and Safety Conference
of the Texas Chemistry Council, June 2003
Dow Speaker:
- Mark Spence, Manager, Health and Safety Regulatory Affairs at Dow
|
40 |
Workshop on Reactive Chemicals, June 2003
Dow Speaker:
- Tim Overton, Dow's Process Safety Technology Center
|
90 |
European Union Conference on Safety and
Health, Lemnos, Greece, October 15-17, 2003
Dow Participation:
- Mark Spence, Manager, Health and Safety Regulatory Affairs
|
25 |
| OSHA and Dow Alliance Web Page |
4,000 |
| January 13, 2003 -- OSHA distributed a news
release announcing the Alliance. |
25 News Services |
| January 13, 2003 -- At Dow distributed a
news release and posted it on the company's web site; "The Dow Chemical
Company First Fortune 100 Company & First Chemical Manufacturing Company To
Sign Alliance with OSHA." |
News Section had 63,000 visitors per month
in 2003 |
| January 15, 2003 -- OSHA includes
information on the OSHA/AMI Alliance signing in its bi-weekly e-newsletter;
QuickTakes. |
35,000 |
| January 16, 2003 -- Article on the Alliance
published by Occupational Safety & Health Reporter; "Dow Chemical Signs
Alliance With OSHA Focusing on Process Safety, Ergonomics." |
2,000 |
| January 20, 2003 -- Article on the Alliance
published by www.InsideHealthPolicy.com; “OSHA, DOW Chemical Force Alliance
to Cooperate on Ergonomics, PSM.” |
25,000 |
| January 22, 2003 -- Article on the Alliance
published by Chemical Week; "Dow Agrees to Help OSHA Promote Compliance." |
21,206 |
| January 30, 2003 -- Article on the Alliance
published by the Times-Picayune (New Orleans, LA); "Business Notes: DOW-OSHA
Alliance." |
270,000 |
| 2003 Dow Chemical Company Annual Report --
The Dow-OSHA Alliance is mentioned in annual report's section on "Driving
Improvement." (http://www.dow.com/financial/2003ann/index.htm) |
455,000 shareholders
representing 936 billion shares outstanding |
OSHA's Safety and Health Topics Pages
- Process Safety Management
- Reactive Chemicals
- Ammonia Refrigeration
- Isocyanates
|
Data Not Available |
| eTool for Ammonia Refrigeration |
Data Not Available |
| TOTAL |
875,811 |
- Upcoming Milestones
In addition to renewing the Alliance agreement, the OSHA and Dow Alliance has
some major projects planned for the upcoming year. Starting off the year will be
the Alliance renewal signing. It is being scheduled in tandem with the kick-off
for OSHA's Corporate Voluntary Protection Program (VPP) pilot at OSHA in
Washington, DC.
In response to the success of the Region V workshop, “OSHA's Process Safety
Management (PSM) Standard: The Dow Approach”, the Alliance implementation team
is considering holding another workshop at a Dow,VPP-participating facility in
the Gulf Coast for Region IV and Region VI OSHA staff. The team has discussed
the possibility of developing a two-day program and presenting the PSM workshop
on the first day followed by a tour of the Dow facility on the second day.
The implementation team is committed to continuing to provide expertise and
input on appropriate OSHA publications and electronic assistance tools,
including additional modules of the Ammonia Refrigeration eTool and reviewing
the Safety and Health Topics pages as needed.
The OSHA and Dow Alliance has also discussed working through other Alliances,
e.g., the Reactives Alliance, to address additional safety and health issues
that have an impact on the chemical industry.
Report prepared by: Lisa Ramber, Alliance Coordinator, Office of Outreach
Services and Alliances, March 30, 2004
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