ALLIANCE ANNUAL REPORT
Occupational Safety and Health Administration
and
American Dental Association (ADA)
August 8, 2008
I. Alliance Background
Date Signed
April 12, 2004
Date Renewed
May 18, 2006
Evaluation Period
April 12, 2007 – April 11, 2008
Overview
The OSHA and ADA Alliance focuses on fostering a culture of prevention and
promoting safe and healthful working conditions for dental employees while
sharing technical knowledge in the area of ergonomics.
Implementation Team Members
OSHA:
Brett Besser
Directorate of Science Technology and Medicine (DSTM), Salt
Lake Technical Center (SLTC)
Cathy Cronin
Directorate of Training and Education (DTE), OSHA Training Institute (OTI)
Lee Anne Jillings
Directorate of Cooperative and State Programs (DCSP) Office
of Outreach Services and Alliances (OOSA)
Sarah Samuel
DCSP, Office of Small Business Assistance (OSBA)
Bill Willson
DCSP, OOSA
ASA:
Jerry Bowman
Donalda Ellek
Tom Spangler
Helen Ristic
Jim Willey
II. Implementation Team Meetings
May 15, 2007
Implementation Team Meeting, Teleconference
August 21, 2007
Implementation Team Meeting, Teleconference
December 4, 2007
Implementation Team Meeting, Teleconference
March 18, 2008
Implementation Team Meeting, Teleconference
III. Results
Events and Products
Outreach and Communication Goals
Work with OSHA to provide expertise in
developing information on the recognition and prevention of musculoskeletal
disorders, and to provide expertise in developing ways of communicating such
information (e.g. print and electronic media, electronic assistance tools and
OSHA’s and the ADA’s Web sites) to employers and employees in the industry.
Products
OSHA and ASA Alliance Web page
OSHA continues to maintain and update the OSHA and ADA Alliance Web page on the
Agency Web site. The page includes links to safety and health resources,
including the "Ergo Tips - Hand Pain" information sheet developed by ADA
through the OSHA and ADA Alliance. In addition, the page has links to news
releases and information on the Alliance’s activities and events and to their
milestones and successes. For more information on the number of visits to the
OSHA and ADA Alliance Web page, please see the Alliance Program Reach Table.
ADA/OSHA Alliance Web Page
The ADA/OSHA Alliance Web page on the ADA Web site features information about
the OSHA and ADA Alliance, including a link to the OSHA and ADA Alliance Web
page on the Agency Web site. The page also includes a number of links to
additional safety and health resources, including the OSHA "A Guide to
Compliance with OSHA Standards" for medical and dental offices and the U.S.
Department of Labor: Working Partners for an Alcohol- and Drug-Free Workplace
Web site.
OSHA Safety and Health Topics Pages
Through the Alliance, ADA representatives continue to provide their expertise
to review, maintain and update the OSHA Bloodborne Pathogens and Needlestick
Prevention and Dentistry Safety and Health Topics pages. Donalda Ellek,
Manager, Office of Quality Assessment and Improvement, Council on Dental
Benefits Programs, ADA, Chicago, Illinois, and Helen Ristic, Director of
Scientific Information, ADA Council on Scientific Affairs, represent the ADA on
the page’s editorial boards.
OSHA’s Compliance Assistance Quick Start: Health Care Industry
Through the Alliance, ADA representatives provided OSHA with their expertise
during the development of the Agency Compliance Assistance Quick Start: Health
Care Industry module. The module was posted on the Agency Web site in August
2007.Tom Spangler, Director, Legislative and Regulatory Policy, ADA,
Washington, DC, continues to serve on the tool’s editorial board. In December
2007, a link to the tool was added to the OSHA and ADA Alliance Web page on the
Agency Web site.
Ergo Tips - Hand Pain and Low Back Pain Information Sheets
Through the OSHA and ADA Alliance, ADA developed the "Ergo Tips - Hand Pain"
information sheet for dental schools and dentists. ADA completed the
information sheet and posted it on the ADA/OSHA Alliance Web page on the
association Web site in October 2007. OSHA links to the document from the OSHA
and ADA Alliance Web page on the Agency Web site.
In addition, through the Alliance ADA has begun development of its "Ergo Tips -
Low Back Pain" Information Sheet. ADA shared the draft information sheet, which
will be finalized in the fall of 2008, with OSHA for review and comment.
Publications and Newsletters
ADA has published the following articles about the OSHA and ADA Alliance, free
OSHA courses and safety and health compliance assistance resources in the ADA
News:
"Free OSHA Course Available on ADA CE Online Until September 1, 2007" ADA
News, August 14, 2007
"OSHA Launches Online Compliance Assistance Tool" ADA News, August
22, 2008
"ADA-OSHA Alliance Posts New Ergonomic Resources" ADA News, October 16,
2007
Please see the chart in this report under Alliance Program Reach Table for
additional information.
Events
American Dental Association Conference on Dentist Health and Wellness, Chicago,
Illinois August 16, 2007
On August 16, 2007, Dana Root, Ergonomist, Region V, USDOL-OSHA, spoke at the
American Dental Association Conference on Dentist Health and Wellness in
Chicago, Illinois. Ms. Root gave a presentation, "Ergonomics for the Front
Office Staff."
ADA Success Practice Management Series
The ADA added a slide on the OSHA and ADA Alliance to the ADA’s Success
Practice Management Series slide presentation and has presented or will present
the seminar at 31 dental schools during the 2007-2008 school year.
Share information among OSHA personnel and industry safety and health
professionals regarding ADA’s best practices or effective approaches and
publicize results through outreach by ADA and through OSHA- or ADA-developed
materials, training programs, workshops, seminars, and lectures (or any other
applicable forum).
During this reporting period, OSHA and the ADA did not work on projects to
address this goal.
Work with other Alliance participants on specific issues and projects on
ergonomics that are addressed and developed through the Alliance Program.
During this reporting period, OSHA and the ADA did not work on projects to
address this goal.
Executive
Summary
During the 2007-2008 reporting period, OSHA and the ADA continued to share
expertise and update and develop resources with information about the Alliance
and ergonomics. For example, the OSHA and ADA Alliance Web page on the OSHA Web
site provides links to a number of news articles that appeared in the ADA
publication ADA News, a link to the OSHA Compliance Assistance Quick Start:
Health Care Industry, related documents, activities and events, and milestones
and successes. The ADA maintains the ADA/OSHA Alliance Web page on the ADA Web
site with information about the Alliance and links to the OSHA Web site.
ADA representatives continue to serve on the OSHA Bloodborne Pathogen and
Needlestick Prevention and Dentistry Safety and Health Topics pages’ editorial
boards. In addition, ADA representatives provided OSHA with their expertise
during the development of the Agency Compliance Assistance Quick Start: Health
Care Industry module which was launched in August 2007. ADA representatives
continue to serve on its editorial board.
Through the Alliance, OSHA and ADA also shared information through speaking
opportunities. For example, on August 16, 2007, Dana Root, Ergonomist, Region
V, USDOL-OSHA, spoke at the American Dental Association Conference on Dentist
Health and Wellness in Chicago, Illinois.
Alliance Program Reach
Type of
Activity (Conference, Training, Print and Electronic Distribution, etc.)
Number of
Individuals Reached or Trained
OSHA and ADA Alliance Web page
on the OSHA Web site
3,433
ADA/OSHA Alliance Web page on
the ADA Web site
Data Not
Available
Bloodborne Pathogens and
Needlestick Prevention Safety and Health Topics page
Dentistry
198,666
Dentistry Safety and Health
Topics page
26,600
Compliance Assistance Quick
Start: Health Care Industry
28,000
August 14, 2007, "Free OSHA
Course Available on ADA CE Online Until September 1, 2007," ADA News
147,000
August 22, 2007, "OSHA Launches
Online Compliance Assistance Tool," ADA News
147,000
August 16, 2007, "Ergonomics for
the Front Office Staff" American Dental Association Conference on Dentist
Health and Wellness, Chicago, Illinois
Speaker:
Dana Root, Ergonomist, Region V, USDOL-OSHA
6
ADA’s Success Practice
Management Seminar
Presented 31 times in dental schools
31
October 16, 2007, "ADA-OSHA
Alliance Posts New Ergonomic Resources," ADA News
147,000
August 30, 2007, "OSHA, ASA Renew Alliance," The Daily Reporter
Data Not Available
TOTAL
697,736
IV. Upcoming Milestones
OSHA and ADA will sign the OSHA and ADA Alliance renewal agreement in the
summer of 2008.
In the upcoming year, OSHA and ADA will continue to promote awareness of the
Alliance Program and ergonomics in the dental industry. For example, OSHA and
ADA will continue to maintain and update the OSHA and ADA Alliance Web page on
the OSHA Web site and the ADA/OSHA Alliance Web page on the association Web
site.
In addition, ADA representatives will continue to review and provide information
for OSHA’s Safety and Health Topics pages on Bloodborne Pathogens and
Needlestick Prevention and Dentistry through their participation on the pages’
editorial boards. ADA staff also will continue to serve on the editorial board
for the OSHA Compliance Assistance Quick Start: Health Care Industry.
Further, through the OSHA and ADA Alliance, ADA will complete the "Ergo Tips -
Low Back Pain" information sheet in late 2008 and develop the "Ergo Tips - Upper
Back Pain" information sheet before April 2009. In addition, ADA will develop an
ergonomic fact sheet for dental office personnel and an online brochure or other
type of publication, for dentists, on ergonomics applied to patients in the
dental office.
The ADA also will invite Agency representatives to make presentations on dental
ergonomics and establishing a drug-free workplace at the 2009 Health and
Wellness Conference September 10-11, 2009 in Chicago, Illinois.
Other projects ADA will pursue through the Alliance include incorporating
additional slides on ergonomics and OSHA compliance assistance resources into
the Success Practice Management Series presentations for dental students,
posting hyperlinks to ergonomic articles and tips monthly on the ADA Web site,
and sending out ergonomics tips out to dentists via ADA electronic media on a
quarterly basis.
Report prepared by: Bill Willson, Alliance Coordinator, Office of Outreach
Services and Alliances, August 8, 2008.