I. Alliance Background
Date Signed.
March 10, 2006
Alliance Overview.
OSHA and MIA formed an Alliance to provide MIA 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 silica hazards and addressing safety related hazards in
natural stone fabricating businesses, including, but not limited to material handling, with emphasis
on slab handling issues.
The MIA is the largest trade association serving the natural stone industry.
Implementation Team Members:
Julie Weis, CAS, Cleveland OSHA Office
Gary Distelhorst, Executive Vice President, MIA
Jim Hieb, Special Project Director, MIA
Michael Loflin, Special Project Coordinator, MIA
II. Implementation Team Meetings
The Implementation Team met several times to discuss possibilities to assure success of this
alliance. Discussions were also held many times via phone conferences regarding the planned
activities. All face to face meetings were held at the MIA headquarters in Westlake, OH. In the
evaluation period there were 4 onsite meetings and numerous phone conversations. In addition,
several OSHA offices throughout the country were contacted by MIA regarding assistance for the
development and implementation of educational seminars in those areas.
III. Activities and Products
Evaluation Period.
This report covers activities from March 10, 2007 to March 10, 2008.
Alliance Activity.
- Training and Education: Numerous outreach sessions were conducted nationwide for companies in the
stone industry. Sessions included OSHA polices and procedures, safe slab handling techniques,
prevention of silica exposure, and state consultation availability for assistance. See chart below
for specifics.
- Outreach and Communication: Since the beginning of the alliance the Cleveland OSHA CAS has
provided numerous brochures and other information to the MIA headquarters on many different safety
and health related topics. MIA has placed an OSHA link on their website, thereby encouraging
visitors to become involved in learning more about how to improve the safety and health of their
companies and employees. Multiple OSHA personnel have participated in nationwide seminars for the
stone industry on safety and health topics from inspection protocol to safe handling of stone slabs
and silica exposure. Additional information was provided during the presentations regarding specific
safety and health regulations and how to comply with OSHA standards. Questions were answered as
well. Because of the success of this forum, OSHA was requested to put on a similar presentations
thereby educating more businesses in this industry.
- Promoting the National Dialogue on Safety and Health: MIA has promoted this Alliance and the
safety and health topic in general during their internal meetings, conferences and other discussions
throughout the nation.
Alliance Products.
Training and Education
- OSHA actively participated in the production of MIA's DVD video on the "Basics of Safe Stone Slab
Handling" and "Basics of OSHA Compliance for the Natural Stone Industry." The industry realized that
companies needed to be better informed on safety and health related issues. They incorporated OSHA
personnel, including the Cleveland and Phoenix ADs and Cleveland CAS in the video describing basic
OSHA policies and procedures as well as the emphasis OSHA has on silica exposure and material
handling. These videos were produced professionally and distributed to MIAs member companies in
the magazine, "Stoneworld." This magazine reaches over 10,000 companies!
- New Jersey OSHA CAS assisted with S & H Seminar
- Florida OSHA CAS assisted with S & H Seminar
- Produced & distributed Silicosis video to industry
- Cleveland OSHA CAS assisted MIA in the review of their soon to be published "Tool Box Talks" for
the stone industry, specifically to assure that the appropriate regulatory standards were referenced
and well as an overview of the covered subjects. The Cleveland Office also assisted in the
development of informational handouts on silica exposure.
- Promoting the National Dialogue on Safety and Health: A video webcast was produced by MIA,
highlighting silica exposure in the stone industry. An OSHA rep. in Washington, DC was interviewed
extensively on OSHA's emphasis in this area. The background on silica was reviewed and included an
expert in the pulmonary field from the Cleveland Clinic. Information was provided to help companies
understand that they must have air monitoring conducted to determine what their employees' exposures
to silica actually are. It can be viewed on www.stonenewschannel.com.
- Numerous newsletter articles promoting S & H
The list below contains contributors to the success of the alliance, but are not
part of the implementation team:
Lou Lento, CAS, OSHA Hasbrouck Heights Area Office, NJ
Michael Yarnell, CAS, OSHA Avenel Area Office, NJ
Martin Davis, CAS, OSHA Marlton Area Office, NJ
Michael Corbett, Asst. Chief, NJ Labor and Workforce Development
Nancy Newman, Asst. Area Director, OSHA, Cleveland, OH
Ray Rivera, IH, OSHA, Cleveland, OH
Mindy Wessel, General Manager, Alpha Professional Tools, Oakland, NJ
Marc Rosenkrantz, President, Schechner Lifson Corporation, Summit, NJ
Vergie Bain, Compliance Assistance Specialist, OSHA Ft. Lauderdale Area Office, FL
Condell Eastmond, Compliance Officer, OSHA Ft. Lauderdale Area Office, FL
William Tomlin, Safety and Health Compliance Specialist, USF Safety Florida, Tampa, FL
Bill Heffernan, President, Marble Systems, Inc., Miami, FL
Jonathan Zanger, President, Walker Zanger, Sylmar, CA
William V. Levy, President, Levy Media Group, Cleveland, OH
Susan D. Meyers, Clear Blue Sky Design, Cleveland Heights, OH
IV. Results
This report outlines the successful activities that have been accomplished during the second year of
this Alliance. Other OSHA offices throughout the country have "opened the door" to communicating
with the largest trade association representing the stone industry. We are renewing this alliance
and look forward to another two year period of progress.
| Type of Activity (Conference,
Training, Print and
Electronic Distribution, etc.) |
Number of Individuals
Reached or
Trained |
| 2006 translated 3 Safety videos into Spanish (not
included in 06-07 Report) |
120 |
| 1/07 Revised/updated – "Safety in the Stone
Business" tech module (previously called "Stone Shop Safety") distributed free to membership (not
included in 06-07 Report) |
2,000 |
| 3/07 requires fabrication shops applying for MIA
Accreditation to have applied for a voluntary OSHA review within the previous 12 months OR had an
actual review (voluntary of non-voluntary) and are currently in compliance |
120 |
| 4/07 Produced Safety Meetings Tool Kit |
300 |
| 4/07 MIA Safety presentation @ Coverings trade show,
Chicago, IL |
100 |
| 5/07 Stone News Channel: special report- Silicosis:
Free DVD distributed w/newsletter |
2,500 |
| 5/07 Stone News Channel: special report- Silicosis:
online download |
2,000 |
| 5/07 Stone News Channel: special report- Silicosis:
online download |
2,500 |
| 7/19/07 Day long S & H Seminar, New Jersey |
50 |
| 8/07 Newsletter article: front page S&H seminar
article |
2,500 |
| 10/07 MIA Safety presentation @ StonExpo trade show,
Las Vegas, NV |
50 |
| 12/07 Newsletter article: OSHA PPE final ruling |
2,500 |
| 12/07 Newsletter article: OSHA PPE final ruling |
50 |
| 2/08 Newsletter article: Winter Shop Safety article |
2,500 |
| 2/08 Produce & distribute Silicosis training video |
11,000 |
| 2/08 Newsletter article: OSHA recordkeeping reminder |
2,500 |
| TOTAL |
17,220 |
V. Upcoming Milestones
- Renewal of the Alliance for a two year period, change from Regional to Local Alliance.
- Distribute Spanish and Canadian French translations of Silicosis: Incurable but Preventable Video.
- Translate Management Tool Kit: Safety Meetings into Spanish.
- Release 2 disc DVD set of 5 stone safety videos.
- Early 2009-New format Stone Safety seminar in Cleveland, OH. This will feature a mock OSHA
inspection of an operating stone fabrication shop.
- Continue Safety &Health seminars:
- In Las Angeles, CA March 2008
- In San Diego, CA March 2008
- In Boston, MA April 2008
During the next period of the Alliance, we will be working on developing a DVD that involves
creating a "mock OSHA inspection" at one of MIAs member companies. This locally developed project
will be able to visually depict how a compliance officer performs a typical OSHA inspection at a
stone fabricating company. During the course of this "inspection," procedures will clearly be
demonstrated, hazards will be pointed out, employees will be interviewed, etc. After editing, this
DVD can then be shared with other companies in order for them to become better educated on the OSHA
inspection process and how to find and correct potential hazards in their own shops.
The last page of this report depicts the covers of safety and health related projects that have been
developed as part of the Alliance with OSHA. Several have been translated into Spanish. They include
DVDs, webcasts, and written programs.
Report Prepared by: Julie Weis, CAS, Cleveland OSHA Office, 216-615-4260
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