OSHA Updates

Invitation to Take Free Online
CPR/AED and Teen Driver Safety Training
As part of our efforts through the Alliance Program to share information on OSHA and other workplace safety and health resources, I wanted to alert you to the availability of free online training classes offered by the National Safety Council (NSC), an Alliance Program participant, as NSC launches their 2009 June as National Safety Month observance.
First Aid and CPR with AED is a three-hour online course where users learn the latest method of cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and how to use an automated external defibrillator (AED), as well as how to help a person who is choking. Offered in conjunction with National CPR/AED Week, the course's first aid topics include bleeding, wound care, shock, burns, serious injuries, fractures and sprains. Free registration is available through June 7 by visiting  www.nscfirstaid.com/nationalCPRweek.
 
NSC is also offering the "Alive at 25 Parent Program" which is an engaging, science-based course that educates parents about the risks teen drivers face. Through this two-hour online program, parents will learn how to reinforce basic driving skills and good decision-making that can help teens become safe and responsible drivers.

Free registration is available through June 7 by visiting www.parentprogram25.com/NSM.

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New OSHA Compliance Assistance Products
OSHA issued the following new or updated compliance assistance products in the first half of FY 2009.  For more information, see the New Compliance Assistance Products page on the OSHA Compliance Assistance Web page at www.osha.gov/complianceassistance.

Products Developed
by Alliance Program Participants
The following products were issued by OSHA’s Alliance Program participants as part of the Alliance Program in the first half of FY 2009. For a complete listing and links to the products, see the Alliance Program Participants Developed Products page.

Free Safety Seminar
Join health and safety professionals from companies of all sizes, industries and locations across the United States and Canada at Protecting Workers on the Job Means Sending Them Home Safe. Co-hosted by the American Red Cross, the Canadian Red Cross and StayWell, this exciting live event offers vital workplace emergency preparedness and safety information, and serves as a keynote of North American Occupational Safety and Health (NAOSH) Week. Click here to register.

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Industrial Hygiene Webinar
Through the OSHA and American Industrial Hygiene Association (AIHA) Alliance, AIHA has extended an invitation to the OSHA Alliance Program participants and OSHA staff to attend "The Industrial Hygiene (IH) Value Proposition: Making the Business Case for Industrial Hygiene" Webinar from 11 a.m. to 12 p.m. on March 25, 2009.

The Webinar, sponsored by Travelers Insurance and AIHA, will describe how IH practices can benefit a company’s business objectives and financial goals. (Please note that while the seminar was initially put together by Travelers and AIHA, it is not designed as a promotional tool for either Travelers Insurance or AIHA membership.)

Attendees will be able to learn:

• How to identify key business strategies that can be impacted by IH activities and programs.
• How to apply a business value proposition to IH activities within your operations using the AIHA Value Strategy.
• Key steps of an effective value presentation to make the business case for IH activities and programs.

Attendees may register for the Webinar at https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/523743614  

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Laser Safety Training
In conjunction with the 2009 North American Occupational Safety and Health Week and through the OSHA Alliance Program, the Laser Institute of America (LIA), an Alliance Program participant, will conduct a 4-hour "Laser Safety" training seminar on May 5, 2009 from 9 a.m. - 1 p.m., in room C5320 Conference Room 6, at the Department of Labor (DOL) - Francis Perkins Building, 200 Constitution Avenue, NW in Washington, DC.

The seminar will discuss what to look for and key questions to ask when entering a workplace that is using laser technology. Gus Anibarro, Education Director, LIA, teaches the seminar. A course description, with the agenda, is attached. While the scope of the course is geared towards
what OSHA should look for when inspecting facilities that utilize lasers, LIA expects that the material would be useful for those in industries that work with lasers, especially the healthcare industry.

The closest metro stop to DOL is Judiciary Square on the Red line. Please use the main entrance to the building, which is located at the intersection
of 3rd and C Streets, NW, Washington, DC. At the security guard's desk, please ask for the Alliance Program "Laser Safety" training seminar. You will need to provide a photo ID and will receive a visitor's badge.

Please let Sandra Khan, khan.sandra@dol.gov, know by March 31, 2009 if you or your local area members would be interested in attending this training.

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OSHA Alliance Updates
OSHA would like to develop a checklist for students in the cosmetology/nail care program that will encourage safe work practices and to provide information about the possible health problems from exposure to chemicals and dust. If SkillsUSA instructors are interested in participating in the development of the checklist, please contact Sandra Khan at khan.sandra@dol.gov.

OSHA would like to work with SkillsUSA to develop a fact sheet on hearing conservation for SkillsUSA students exposed to noise. The fact sheet will encourage the use of hearing protection and provide information about the adverse effects of noise exposure on hearing and quality of life. If SkillsUSA instructors are interested in participating in the development of the fact sheet, please contact Sandra Khan at khan.sandra@dol.gov.

OSHA is in the process of revising the Teen Worker Safety and Health Topics page on the OSHA Web site. The goal of the revision is to encourage teen workers to visit the page, make it user friendly and to provide safety and health information to teen workers entering the workforce. Through the OSHA and SkillsUSA Alliance, OSHA would like to invite SkillsUSA instructors and students to participate in the revision of the Teen Worker Safety and Health Topics page. If you are interested, please contact Sandra Khan at khan.sandra@dol.gov.

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U.S. Labor Department and SkillsUSA kick
off youth job safety campaign on TODAY show

Safety and health events, activities planned nationwide

 

WASHINGTON - U.S. Secretary of Labor Elaine L. Chao today kicked off the Occupational Safety and Health Administration's (OSHA) national 2008 Teen Summer Job Safety Campaign on NBC's TODAY show.

"The Teen Summer Job Safety Campaign educates teenagers on the importance of workplace safety and health habits that will help protect them and their coworkers at work," Secretary Chao said.

OSHA launched the fourth year of its youth public awareness campaign at Rockefeller Plaza in New York City, where the agency and teens from SkillsUSA demonstrated safe work practices for some of the most common tasks that teens are likely to encounter in summer jobs. SkillsUSA, an OSHA national Alliance Program participant, is a nonprofit organization serving teachers and high school and college students who are preparing for careers in trade, technical and skilled service occupations.

OSHA will host and participate in local events and activities around the country to help keep teenagers safe and healthy on the job. Activities include career fairs, youth programs, expos, career days and training seminars. OSHA and its regional partners are striving to reduce work-related injuries among teens by teaching them on-the-job safety and integration of principles into their work tasks from this early age. Through working with many strong national and regional Alliance Program participants and other cooperative programs, OSHA plans to reach more than three million teens.

Workplaces are safer than they have ever been with fatality and injury and illness rates declining to record lows in this administration. The injury and illness rate was 4.4 per 100 employees and the work-related fatality rate was 4.0 fatalities per 100,000 employees in 2006, the latest data available. Since OSHA's inception in 1971, U.S. employment has increased from 56 million employees at 3.5 million worksites to more than 135 million employees at 8.9 million worksites.

"Programs like the Teen Summer Job Safety Campaign help create a culture of safety," said Assistant Secretary of Labor for Occupational Safety and Health Edwin G. Foulke Jr. "Our goal is to continue to drive down the number of occupational injuries among teens, especially in the construction industry."

The campaign is part of OSHA's Young Worker Initiative, which provides information and resources to teenagers, parents, educators and employers to ensure safe and rewarding work experiences for these summer employees. More information about workplace safety for teens is available at www.osha.gov/teens.

Under the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970, employers are responsible for providing a safe and healthy workplace for their employees. OSHA's role is to promote the safety and health of America's working men and women by setting and enforcing standards; providing training, outreach and education; establishing partnerships; and encouraging continual process improvement in workplace safety and health.

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CareerSafe Online

The CareerSafe Online program has been an integral part of training students on OSHA standards and safety issues since September of 2003.  Since that time, nearly 50,000 students nationwide have either completed or enrolled in the CareerSafe Online OSHA Training Program. 

The overall satisfaction rating for the CareerSafe course is above 96 percent, with 50 percent of new enrollment coming from repeat customers. The CareerSafe program is an on-line course accessible to youth that provides ten hours of classroom content within a Web-Based Training (WBT) compressed learning time.

The program was designed to teach younger workers (ages 16-24) how to stay safe in the workplace and how to be safety conscious. Not to be confused with the OSHA Training Institute-approved 10-hour General Industry and Construction courses, the CareerSafe Program is an OSHA-approved program for its intended purpose, i.e., blending the training highlights of the General Industry and Construction 10-hour courses and other OSHA-sponsored courses into a youth-focused, on-line delivery medium.

By providing entry-level workers, particularly high school and college students, with fundamental safety knowledge needed in the workplace, CareerSafe brings the significance of safety to the forefront. Additionally, it seeks to challenge society to affirm the value of life by joining efforts to reduce the workplace injuries and fatalities suffered by this at-risk working population. Upon successful completion of the CareerSafe modules and evaluation, youth participants receive an OSHA-approved CareerSafe Card that indicates they have completed the CareerSafe OSHA 10-hour Occupational and Health Training Course.

This OSHA-approved CareerSafe Card should not be confused with the 10-hour cards issued through completion of other OSHA-approved classes. The issuance of this CareerSafe Card is useful to young workers in advising prospective employers that they 1) have completed a basic safety awareness training course, 2) have completed a foundation course that prepares them for additional training, and 3) are better prepared to enter the workforce from a safety awareness perspective than youth who have not received any safety training.  CareerSafe Online is dedicated to keeping students safe, while giving them a competitive advantage in the workplace.