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Regional and Area Office Alliances > Concluded Alliances > Alliance Final Report	Printing Instructions
ANNUAL Montana Utility Coordinating Council (MUCC) ALLIANCE REPORT October 18, 2005
I. Alliance Background This alliance was originally formulated between the two parties to heighten the awareness of the OSHA rules and regulations as applied to excavation, trenching, and underground utility lines that apply to contractors throughout the state of Montana and to recognize and promote the Montana laws regarding contractor usage of the ‘Call Before You Dig” campaign. In the past several years contractors have been ignoring the Montana laws and the OSHA regulations thus resulting in several “hits” of underground utility lines causing, and on occasion, disrupting services to home owners, businesses, and private property owners. In the past twelve months there have been at least two incidences that caused severe damage to private homes. It is the intention of both parties, the OSHA Billings Area Office and the Montana Utilities Coordinating Council (MUCC), to renew this agreement for an additional two years. Date Signed Original Alliance Agreement: October 2, 2003 Date Signed 1st Extension of Alliance Agreement October 8, 2004 – Expired October 2, 2005 Overview: Both parties agreed to promote the other party during outreach, training sessions, presentations, booths, seminars, electronic mailings, media, and personal communications. Members of Implementation Team Bud Criner, MUCC David DiTommasso, OSHA Area Director Michael Foreman, OSHA Compliance Assistance Specialist Ross Yeager, OSHA Area Director Contributors None noted in agreement nor added Evaluation Period October 3, 2004 through October 2005 II. Implementation Team Meetings 10/02/03: Signing of the original Alliance in the Billings Area Office 10/18/04: Signed the first renewal/extension for one year 11/16/04: Meeting with MUCC 12/06/05: MUCC training to BAO CSHO staff 02/11/05: Phone Call with MUCC 02/28/05: Meeting with MUCC 04/21/05: Phone Call with MUCC 05/18/05: Phone Call with MUCC 06/03/05: Phone Call with MUCC 06/08/05: Phone Call with MUCC 07/12/05: Phone Call with MUCC 08/15/05: Phone Call with MUCC 09/26/05: Meeting with MUCC 09/27/05: Meeting with MUCC III. Events and Products Training and Education > Events Bud Criner, MUCC, represented the Alliance at over 80 meetings with contractors and associations throughout Montana The Billings Area Office , CAS, represented the Alliance at over 20 presentations to companies, associations, and contractors throughout Montana > Products Power point presentations by OSHA and MUCC Outreach letters by MUCC Laminated outreach materials by MUCC Outreach and Communication > Events: OSHA 10/12/04: Training/Colstrip 10/15/04: Presentation/BAO 10/26/04: Speech/Teton Nat Park 11/09/04: Training/Colstrip 11/16/04: Speech/Missoula 11/30/04: Presentation/Crow Agency 12/02/04: Presentation/Missoula 12/15/04: Presentation/Crow Agency 02/02/05: Presentation/Denver 02/11/05: Presentation/Billings 02/25/05: Speech/Belgrade 02/26/05: Speech/Missoula 03/04/05: Booth/Billings 03/05/05: Presentation/Billings 03/10/05: Presentation/Kalispell 03/10/05: Presentation/Kalispell 03/17/05: Presentation/Billings 03/22/05: Speech/Missoula 03/24/05: Speech/Missoula 04/07/05: Speech/Butte 04/26/05: Presentation/Big Timber 05/09/05: Training/ BAO 06/15/05: Training/Glacier Park 06/21/05: Training/Yellowstone Park 07/21/05: Presentation/Darby 07/27/05: Presentation/Teton Park 08/11/05: Presentation/Crow Agency 09/14/05: Training/Yellowstone Park > Events: MUCC MUCC conducted over 40 presentations throughout Montana to over 500 contractors, sub-contractors, owners, and operators. Products: OSHA Quarterly electronic newsletter to 205 subscribers Distributed by the MUCC and the Billings Area Office copies of the Trench Safety Awareness Training CD made by the Center for Disease Control (CDC) and NIOSH to promote trenching safety. Promoting the National Dialogue on Workplace Safety and Health > Events At virtually every outreach session conducted by Mike Foreman, Compliance Assistance Specialist, and by Bud Criner, MUCC, the Alliance was presented and discussed. Contractors, sub-contractors, owners, and operators in the state were represented at each outreach session. An estimated 750 people were in attendance during the past 12 months > Goals Training/education: Bud Criner conducted over 40 outreach and training sessions throughout the year to contractors and sub contractors in Montana Print/Electronic Media: The OSHA Area Office on a quarterly basis emailed to 206 subscribers a newsletter with references made to our alliance and the “Call Before You Dig:” campaign Speak/Exihibit: OSHA made over 20 speeches and presentations to contractors, groups, associations, and students defining the hazards associated with trenches and excavations. MUCC conducted over 40 presentations to contractors. MUCC attended 4 conventions and displayed materials and written information to contractors. The OSHA Area Office attended two conventions displaying written materials and information. Promote OSHA Programs: MUCC promoted partnerships, alliances, and VPP at all presentations. Share Information: In October of 2005 the Billings Area Office consulted with the MUCC on a recent gas line explosion that injured a member of the public. Both the MUCC and OSHA are sharing information on this incident. In May of 2005 Bud Criner presented to the Billings Area Office Compliance and Administration staff an in depth review of the One Call operation and explained the intricacies of the day to day operations. He focused on the contractor responsibilities and their process for requesting line locates at a job site. In 2005 the MUCC began issuing locate requests from contractors via the internet. IV. Results During this one year alliance agreement the MUCC and OSHA have impacted more than 50 companies involved in trenching and excavation throughout the state of Montana. The number of violations by OSHA and the number of violations by contractors has decreased. On two occasions this year the BAO CSHO’s contacted MUCC for information regarding inspections involving contractors hitting underground gas lines. The information shared was essential to the case file. V. Upcoming Milestones This current alliance agreement expired in October of 2005. There are no plans at this time to renew the agreement. If sometime in the future the parties agree to continue in this direction a new alliance will be drafted and signed.

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