St. Louis Chapter Newsletter September 2016

St. Louis Chapter Board Members Dennis Dubitsky – President, 314-678-8173 (dennis.dubitsky@geco.com)

Steve Williams – Treasurer, 314-213-5859 (swilliams@frenchgerleman.com) Mark Krieger – Vice President, 636-698-2701 (mark.krieger2007@gmail.com)

Rudy May – Secretary, 636-677-3421x362 (rudym@h-j.com) Scott Honer – Past President (safetyconsultingservices6@gmail.com)

Follow us on Facebook and Twitter: http://stl.asse.org/

Next Event Monday, September 12th – Prescription Overuse and Abuse Speaker: Brandon Costerison, Public Awareness Specialist, National Council on Alcoholism & Drug Abuse Syberg’s (2430 Dorsett Rd. Maryland Heights, MO) We open at 11:00am for networking, followed by

lunch and chapter business at 11:30am and ourpresentation at noon.

All meetings are $15 for members and $20 fornon-members. Credit, cash, and check accepted atthe door.

American Society of Safety Engineers

Upcoming EventsMonday, October 10th – Our friend Brad Young of Harris Dowell Fisher & Harris Law Firm will be here to share the latest happenings in Work Comp law. It is always a well attended event so please register.

Newsletter Articles If you would like to contribute a regular or one-time article to the newsletter, or respond to an article, please contact Dan Bembower, Newsletter Editor

In This Issue Page 2: President’s Note, by Dennis Dubitsky Page 3: Member Spotlight: Mike Ray, by Patte Ackermann, PT Page 8: CPR – Reducing Risks and Costs, by Julie Brown Patton Page 9: Discipline for Safety Violations, Bill Kincaid, P.E., CSP, CET Page 13: Government Affairs Update, by Tom Lawrence Page 17: Annual ASSE Meeting Calendar Page 18: Job Board Link, Committee Listings, Membership Update

Our St Louis Chapter had the summer membership appreciation outing on

August 12. A total of fifty people enjoyed dinner, cruising and excellent

comradery with other members and their guest. This year we entertained a

special guest, Brian Hammer, our area VP. The feedback was all positive and

participants seem to enjoy themselves.

I’ll invite everyone to check our schedule of events for the upcoming

chapter year. Our Program chair has put together an excellent selection of

topics, gatherings and events that will provide our members with a diverse

range of information and education.

We are also excited about our first live coverage of our monthly meeting.

Our Media chair created a live streaming of our last meeting. We learned a few

lessons on how to improve the process and will implement them, going forward.

Our objective is to provide a platform so members who are unable to physically

attend have an opportunity to join in, remotely.

More to follow.

Dennis Dubitsky

Chapter President

Phone: 314-678-8173

PRESIDENT

a message from the

by Patte Ackermann, PT SSM Physical Therapy The purpose of The Member spotlight is to learn a little bit about some of our members. If there is an ASSE member you would like to see featured, please contact Patte Ackermann at ackermap@ssm-select.com This month’s member spotlight features Mike Ray. He is the Safety Director for Acme Constructors. PA: What does Acme do?

MR: We are an industrial contractor. The majority of our work is in 2 business units. We have an iron worker division and we have a millwright/carpenter division that is mostly millwright work in the field. We do a lot of conveyors and equipment setting. We do the meticulous level of work; jobs that have to be within a 1000th of an inch to be correct. We do jobs where a million dollar filler has to be handled very precisely in the way it gets put into place on a production line.

We have a great customer base that seek us out and really trust us with their jobs. They know that we work safely. We have really good guys that work here. The majority of our guys are what I call “farm boys”; and I say that with the utmost respect. They have a great work ethic. There are a lot of “yes ma’am’s” and “no sirs” when they talk to customers. And because of that our customers ask us back. We have a lot of repeat customers that is a core part of our business.

PA: How long have your worked for Acme?

MR: It was 3 years on July 15, 2016.

PA: How many employees do you have?

MR: We have about 25-30 project managers/senior leadership/administration folks. We run from 20-50 iron workers at any given time and usually 30-70 millwrights. We’ve had great growth in the last several years. We’ve twice been on the “Fastest Growing Companies in St. Louis” list through the St. Louis Business Journal. We’ve gone from about 8-10 Million dollars/year 6-8 years ago to about 40 million per year and growing over the last couple of years. We do a lot more work out of town now.

PA: How much traveling do you do?

MR: I do a lot of traveling around town and around the state. I try to get to a lot of jobs on the first day, that’s where I feel I can have the greatest impact; especially with a new customer. I like to talk to the guys about safety, sure. I also talk about the fact that you get one chance to make a first impression. I am hoping that the customer notices that the safety director came all the way from St. Louis to be at orientation at 7:00 AM on a new job 2-1/2 hours from St Louis. I hope that means something to them. I always talk to the guys about opportunities and building relationships with our customers. It takes a lot to build a good name, and it takes NOTHING to ruin a good name. Folks remember the last thing that happened. Perhaps you have worked safely, incident free for 10,000 hours. Everything is on time. The quality is great. Then, you do one thing wrong and everyone remembers the one thing that was done wrong. Fair or not, that is the way it can be. I talk to our employees about our customers priorities being our priorities. Whatever they may be.

Member Spotlight, Continued

PA: How did you get into safety?

MR: There is a big safety element to my former life. I was in the Army for 20 years.

PA: When did you join the Army?

MR: Just before my 21st birthday. While everyone else got to have way too many alcoholic beverages on their 21st birthday, I did about 2500 push-ups! The drill sergeants were having me drop, get up, drop, get up, throughout the day. And it was a Saturday, no less!

PA: Was that because it was your birthday?

MR: No. It was because it was the Army!

PA: What did you do in the Army?

MR: I was an ammunition guy by trade. So there was a lot of safety involved in that. Storage, distance factors, vehicular safety, etc. In the Army I had a great safety core developed. I retired after 20 years as a Sergeant 1st class-E7.

PA: Where are you from?

MR: I grew up in Cahokia. My dad worked on Route 3 at Phillips 66, which is now Conoco Phillips. My mom didn’t work. We were the standard family. I went to the Army, retired and wanted to come back home to be close to my family (who I don’t see as much as I would like). I came back to the area and went to work at Chrysler for 20 months as a line supervisor. Then I got an offer to go to work at what was then called Dial (now it’s Henkel). The plant makes Renuzit air fresheners and Purex Laundry Detergents. They were very fair to me and I was hired on as a line supervisor. While I was there I told my boss I had done enough of being in charge of people all day every day for many years and I was going to leave and do something else. I was not going to stay and continue to be a production supervisor. They liked me and didn’t want me to leave and they had some other management changes occurring at the time and they came to me and asked if I would like to take over safety. I said “Great!” I didn’t know anything about OSHA and everything at that time but I was very lucky that I came in behind a guy, Larry Pellicano, who is smart, organized and had really put a great safety infrastructure into the organization. The luckiest thing was that Larry wasn’t leaving, he was just moving to a different role in the plant. So I had someone I could just walk down the hall to talk to if I needed anything or had any questions. He was great to me and we remain good friends.

PA: How did you build your safety skill set?

MR: I went to a lot of the National Safety Council classes and got the advanced safety certificate. Took other classes. And a big piece of it was networking. Went to ASSE meetings. I am in a roundtable group that Tom Lawrence leads that for AAIM (an HR Consulting firm). That’s a smaller group so it is a little more intimate, for lack of a better term. When a speaker is there if you want to talk to them during the Q and A or stick around after, it’s great for that. Through all of that networking I started learning if I would ask “hey, does anyone have a such and such policy?” usually, by the time you get back to the office, there are 3 of that policy waiting in your email inbox! Everyone in the safety community is so willing to share. In addition to all that, I researched safety and learned along the way. Since joining the construction community I have been involved with the safety side of the AGC (Association of General Contractors) and SLCCC (St Louis Council of Construction Consumers).

Member Spotlight, Continued

PA: How did you like transitioning to safety?

MR: When I started safety at Dial/Henkel even though they had great policies and procedures, they had been having quite a few injuries. We went for 16 injuries a year to four to zero. I think I brought a different skillset. I am not the most technical guy you will ever meet, I am not a math and science whiz, but I know how to walk over and talk to someone about why they need to be wearing their PPE or do they understand that they are not only putting themselves at risk but also their co-workers by their behavior. Everything doesn’t have to be chopping someone’s head off, they’re going to get fired, they’re going to get laid off, whatever. There should always be a progressive element that leads to that. I feel like I am good at having the positive conversation. Giving out the positive rewards. I like to carry $5 QuikTrip cards with me. When I see a guy driving and he has his seatbelt on, I’ll say “thanks for having your seatbelt on” and give him a gift card. Building a culture is a long-term project.

PA: I’ll bet you people really appreciate your tokens of appreciation.

MR: I hope so. We do a fair amount of training. We try to bring all of the guys in for a full day of annual training. Part of it is for MSHA where we do a required refresher. We also do forklifts, aerial lifts, and a whole variety of safety topics. At these training sessions we spend all day together, instead of just a few minutes on a site. I can get to know them. I get to find out that a guy is a boating guy, or a fishing guy, or into his kid’s little league, or whatever. Next time I see him I can ask about that. But it has to be real. It cannot be disingenuous.

PA: How long did you work for Dial?

MR: I was there for 9 years. Acme was in Dial as a General Contractor almost daily for a couple of years. The same foreman was almost always there. His boss was there at least once or twice a week and I developed a real rapport with these folks. I was just starting to initiate the idea of doing something different and leaving Dial. Almost at that same time the foremen that I worked with so often told me that the safety director position for Acme opened up. The pieces fell into place quickly after that. They knew me, knew my personality and wanted me despite that (laughs).

Member Spotlight, Continued

PA: Was it a good move?

MR: Absolutely. I’ve never looked back and I was a great career move for me.

PA: What do you like about safety?

MR: I’ve said before, I think that the safety world is like the intelligence world. No one says “Great job, FBI. You’ve prevented 2 terrorist attacks today”. You never hear about the victories, only the defeats. With safety, you hear about the bad injury but rarely the celebration of the success. I know that when I call people or when I show up at the president of the company’s office the first thought is “Shoot, Mike Ray is here, what’s wrong” and sometimes I will say “Hey, I was out at a this job site and the customer loves our guys and is really happy” and he will wipe his brow and say “phew” because he assumed I was there with bad news.

PA: So, what do you like about safety?

MR: I like making a difference even if I don’t know that I get to see it every day. I like knowing that I am making a difference; making a culture that embraces it. Having people think every day about what is out there that could hurt them and how can they keep that from happening. I like continuously enforcing that and working to get a level of buy in. Working for this company I also really enjoy the “how it’s made” aspect of what I get so see all of the time. I know how these things are made now. I go into so many different companies that do so many different things and I get to see so much. It’s very interesting. Another thing that I like is that the safety field, as a whole, is filled with a lot of really good people. And I love the people I work with at this company and our customers. And the professional organizations I work with, too. I work with a lot of good people.

PA: What frustrates you about safety?

MR: You’re never “there”. You may think you’re there, but anyone that thinks their place is always 100% buttoned up…they’re kidding themselves. Sometimes you end up taking 2 steps forward and 1 step back. There’s still improvement to be made. The defeats are frustrating.

PA: Tell me a compliment you’ve received lately.

MR: Through the Carpenters Union the Millwrights have to do some annual training. I put together a document showing where a core group of our guys had met that obligation. It got a little caught up in red tape for a little bit. Then I saw an email thread where people were trying to determine if the training had occurred or not and one guy wrote “hey, give it to them. If Mike Ray says they did it it’s good”. That’s what you want to do. Make a name for yourself. Be honest and do things the right way.

PA: Tell me how your military background plays into your skills as a safety director.

MR: It’s everything. I don’t think that you can do what I did without it changing who you are. I always say it’s in my DNA. So much of my teaching with the guys go back to “well that’s how we did it in the Army” and the guys know that’s where I’ll go. They’re probably rolling their eyes “hey Sarge, you’re not in the Army anymore”. But it is in my DNA. It is who I am.

I got to speak to some folks over 4th of July weekend. I was trying to get in their pocketbooks for an organization that takes care of veterans that are in a bad way. I talked to these groups about it being ingrained in me as a Sargent that my 2 priorities are Accomplishment of the Mission and the Welfare of the Troops. Accomplishment of the Mission is “fix that tank” or “take that guy’s

Member Spotlight, Continued

blood pressure” or “defend that hill”. Whatever you do for a living is your mission. Welfare of the Troops is making sure your guys are paid properly and telling guys “don’t go to that club on Friday night, you’ll get in trouble”. All these elements of someone raised this kid and now he is in Germany and I have to take care of him now. That really was paramount to me. I think that’s who I am. I think taking care of people is a big part of that DNA.

PA: Tell me about the ASSE in your life.

MR: The ASSE, especially as I first began in the safety community, at first was a place to have lunch meeting and sit and listen to someone talk about something you didn’t know that much about. Unfortunately I don’t go as often as I should these days because I am all over the place with work and involved with a handful of other organizations. I also know that I can get an update from the newsletter, through networking that I have already reach out to folks and get help that I need when I need it. It’s a great organization. I have had interns and I tell them all to join the ASSE and it needs to be part of their professional career.

Mike is married to Peggy and has a son, David who is a Belleville Detective who is working on his Masters in Criminal Justice and a daughter, Kelly, who just graduated from Mizzou with a degree in Business with an emphasis on finance and will be working in Chicago for Yelp.

Mike’s hobbies include golf, fishing, boating, and his dogs

He is a preceptor with St. Louis University where he has his second intern, works with Songs for Soldiers, and he’s an Elder at his church.

THE GOAL IS TO SAVE LIVES, BUT DID YOU KNOW CPR AND FIRST AID

TRAINING REDUCES COMPANY’S RISKS AND COSTS? By Julie Brown Patton

About 90 percent of the 326,000-plus people each year who have heart attacks outside of a hospital die, usually because bystanders don’t know CPR or they’re concerned they’ll make a mistake, according to American Heart Association research. And did you know a person can bleed to death in just 5 minutes?

Solid medical emergency training helps your crews and staffs feel prepared to provide more effective CPR without fear or confusion. It also gives them the confidence to assist with accidents in personally safe exposure manners.

Consider the other benefits of securing hands-on training for your employees:

• Establishing safety protocols prior to accidents strengthens your OSHA compliance programs, while helping to avoid financial costs that result from long-term injuries that might be lessened by proper and rapid responses.

• Safety training can be a non-threatening way to build teamwork.

• Preparation training increases morale, and reminds employees they are valued by your company.

• Conducting regular training prompts companies to check vital safety items, such as maintaining first aid supplies, freshening AED batteries and revisiting first responder plans.

• Additionally, prompt CPR, performed with an AED, can double the chances of survival for victims!

AHA guidelines recently changed – when’s the last time you’ve updated your teams’ safety knowledge?

For complimentary consultations about on-site CPR, First Aid, AED and Bloodborne Pathogen courses for fellow ASSE St. Louis chapter members, call CPR Plus at (314) 313-5980 or email cprplusjulie@gmail.com.

Same Old Water, New Surprises by William Kincaid, P.E., CSP, CET

Loss Control Consultant Lockton Companies of St. Louis, LLC

Water is often used in chillers that are part of large commercial HVAC systems. Since they’re common, and there have been some publicized serious health incidents involving waterborne diseases, there’s a substantial body of information available on controlling microbial growth in HVAC chillers. But what about the other recirculating water systems?

Industrial plants, office buildings, retail malls and even some residences sometimes have process equipment or decorative fountains which include recirculating supplies of water. We see water used to cool parts as they come out of extruders and molders, splashing in fountains and in ponds in the lobbies of buildings. In some cases, water has some chlorine added to it to keep it clear, but there are plenty of water systems that get virtually no care. These can become bacterial soup, with nobody realizing it until it becomes a problem. Sometimes the problem is just a smell or cloudy appearance, but in some cases it can lead to fatal diseases.

As an example, ornamental fountains in restaurants, hotels, offices and conference centers have been associated with Legionnaires’ disease outbreaks. Most reported outbreaks have been associated with indoor ornamental water fountains, but there has been at least one case traced back to an outdoor fountain. These outbreaks can result in serious illness and death. As with mold cases, many insurance carriers refuse to cover costs associated with Legionnaires’ disease outbreaks. Legionnaires’ disease is not uncommon. There are an estimated 15,000 cases of Legionnaires’ disease in the U.S. annually and, according to CDC, less than 10% of them are diagnosed or reported. And that’s just the Legionella.

There are plenty of other strains of bacteria and fungi that can be found happily paddling around in recirculating water. Recently one of my clients had problems with employees getting necrotizing skin infections from handling extruded parts cooled by recirculating chilled water. The water had enough chlorine in it to satisfy CDC’s swimming pool safety guidelines, but when tested it was found to contain one species

Kincaid Safety Article, Continued

of bacteria: Pseudomonas Oleovorans, a hardy bug that likes oily industrial water, and that can cause necrotizing skin infections.

It makes sense if you have such a water supply, AND there is potential for human contact, to take steps to keep the water free of harmful microbes like MRSA, Legionella, Pseudomonas and E. Coli. Equipment reliability and efficiency is another reason to control microbial growth. Microbes and slime can coat heat exchangers and leave scale or other gunk that inhibits flow in pipes. There’s good reason to control growth in just about any recirculating open water supply.

That’s usually done with water changes, and between the changes, addition of chemicals. Any chemicals added to the water have to be safe for employees or anyone else who might contact the water. Commonly, in the absence of any specific guidelines, chlorine is the first choice for keeping water clear and smelling good. Bromine is also used. These are both swimming pool chemicals, so if they are used at swimming pool levels, in the water they are safe for human contact. But here’s a word of caution: just because it looks good and smells good doesn’t mean it is free of infectious microbes, and it doesn’t mean the water isn’t harming the equipment it’s circulating through.

Water quality in recirculating industrial equipment depends not only on microbial contamination but also on pH, total alkalinity, and levels of scaling minerals such as calcium. Although less important to employee safety and health concerns, these factors can shorten the life of equipment through corrosion and scale buildup as well as decrease the efficiency of devices that depend on heat exchange such as chillers do. The CDC indicates that “as pH goes up, the ability of free chlorine to kill germs decreases, especially if pH is >8.0. Second, as pH goes down, especially if pH is <7.0, the ability of free chlorine to kill germs increases but the pool or hot tub/spa pipes are more likely to corrode or break down.”

Trial and error could be used to arrive at an effective procedure with the right balance of chemicals, although to arrive at the ideal process safely and more quickly, a company with expertise in industrial water issues could develop a procedure that keeps bacteria levels controlled and protects the equipment from being damaged by the water. Plus, there are ASHRAE standards, Joint Commission healthcare standards, OSHA protocols and other relevant standards to bear in mind.

Kincaid Safety Article, Continued

Initially, in the absence of any standard, the 1- 3 ppm is a good starting point. CDC recommends “pH 7.2–7.8 and a free chlorine concentration of at least 1 ppm in pools”. Generally, once chlorine levels in a pool have fallen below the desired 1 – 3 ppm, it is necessary to super-chlorinate, or “shock”, a pool at chlorine levels that can be up to 10 times the normal level. This is done up to a weekly frequency. The same procedure might be needed if following a pool protocol to maintain a fountain.

How about a UV system? Ultraviolet light can be very effective at killing bacteria, viruses and algae. There are devices available that can be installed inline with water pipes to blast the water with UV as it flows. The catch is UV light is effective in killing organisms only if the light intensity reaches the organisms to be eliminated. Therefore, nothing should be present in the water that shields the organism from the radiation. If there is any sediment suspended in water, any color or any cloudiness, the UV system can’t do the whole job. Also, UV lacks any residual disinfecting capacity, so microbial reproductive activity resumes the moment the UV light, or the pump that moves the water past the light, is turned off. This makes a difference when the water pump is turned off at night, on weekends or at the end of a shift.

A UV system can be used in conjunction with a chemical strategy. If it is possible to clarify the water, the UV system can assist the chlorine in eliminating bacteria. UV will also greatly reduce organic loading and result in lower use of chlorine. However, UV bulbs lose their effectiveness quickly and are generally replaced every year. One UV light bulb I looked that fit a 12 GPM filter had a $1500 replacement cost, so that cost is substantial. If chemical treatment on its own is enough to control microbial growth, the extra cost of maintaining the UV system could be avoided.

There are many other microbes which can live in water, and some of them are more resistant to chemicals than others. It’s important to have some oversight over what’s living in the water. Once a strategy that holds the water at a consistent chemical level is implemented, water should be tested weekly to see if bacteria have been eliminated, and if any new growth of bacteria or fungus has developed. Do-it-yourself dipslides – bacteria count on one side, fungus on the other - can be used for that purpose at a cost of about $5 per test. If bacteria or fungi persist, adjustment to the treatment strategy will be necessary to achieve the desired result.

Kincaid Safety Article, Continued

When we have the same old water recirculating over and over in a system, often at room temperature or a little above where microbes like it, and with traces of organic materials or oils to feed the microbes, don’t be surprised when microbes grow in that water. It may lead to a cosmetic issue, an odor issue, might clog or coat heat exchangers, or might even harbor infectious microbes that are a risk to humans. A sensible control strategy is a necessary part of the maintenance package for recirculating water systems.

Opinion by Tom Lawrence, STL ASSE Government Affairs Chairman

A concern expressed at the establishment of the OSHAct in 1969/70 was that it would be used for safety and health but also political agenda. It has taken 45 years but the political class running OSHA has now achieved a completely political agenda regulation in Electronic Tracking of Injuries/Illnesses. If a regulation from OSHA is not addressing a hazard and steps to prevent/manage it, then it is not safety. It is pure political agenda.

But don’t companies track the injury illness rates of their sites? Many larger firms do track among their corporate sites to monitor performance. That is truly a part of their safety and health management system. But when OSHA imposes injury/illness recordkeeping, it is and has been purely political agenda.

That is one problem with this regulation. But there is another problem, perhaps an even more significant one.

The OSHA injury/illness recordkeeping system is poorly conceived. It is focused primarily on the large mass of data generated from medical treatment cases. Please understand. There is no workplace injury/illness that should not be investigated and the causes addressed. However, the more severe cases, which are fewer in number, are the ones that get largely “lost” in the OSHA recordkeeping system. That should not be.

Data measures should help set priorities for action. The more severe outcome cases are where the primary, first order focus should be. OSHA itself, in effect, agrees that the severe cases are the most important by requiring employers to report immediately to OSHA any fatalities, or cases that result in hospitalization, amputation or loss of an eye. The purely medical treatment cases are lower order priority even for OSHA---but not in their recordkeeping system.

Further, the medical treatment cases create significant confusion about what is medical treatment and what is first aid. That, in turn, creates confusion about work relationship—is the medical treatment injury work related or not. Frankly,

Government Affairs Update, Continued

OSHA’s extensive interpretations add to the confusion. I did not verify this myself, but somewhere along this recordkeeping road, there was a quote that claimed that there were more interpretive letters and directives from OSHA on injury/illness recordkeeping than on any other OSHA regulation.

Why has criticism of the OSHA recordkeeping system not arisen before now? While OSHA’s recordkeeping system was internal to OSHA, it was not worthwhile to push back against it. But now OSHA is using their flawed recordkeeping system to define companies’ safety performance to the public in terms of a large mass of data on medical treatment cases and to generate public criticism of companies’ safety performance through that definition. It is now appropriate to push back.

There is a conceptual analogy here with OSHA’s flawed focus on medical treatment data. Recall the Heinrich Triangle. The number of high severity cases are displayed at the top apex of the triangle and the more numerous, lower severity cases, are down the triangle nearer the larger base. Also recall the interpretation of this Heinrich Triangle that was in vogue for many years. It was: “Focus safety program efforts to reduce the larger number of less severe cases at the lower end of the triangle. By focusing on the base of the triangle, the number of higher severity cases at the apex of the triangle will also be reduced”. That is conceptually in error. Instead, the primary effort should be focused on the most severe cases. The downstream consequences of those efforts will then ultimately impact the occurrence of the less severe cases at the base of the triangle.

Another concern here is how OSHA used this recordkeeping regulation process. OSHA announced the public hearings on this regulation in a very casual manner. Although, they had to hold public hearings to be in compliance with the Administrative Procedures Act, they attempted to minimize the publicity about the hearings. The turnout from the regulated community in a snowy January in DC was large, forcing OSHA to hold two days of hearings instead of one.

Then, several months later, OSHA issued a supplemental notice of rulemaking prohibiting post incident drug testing, immediate reporting of injuries/illnesses requirements and rewards/recognition programs for excellent

Government Affairs Update, Continued

safety performance. It appears that this was the real political agenda objective of the regulation.

So now that this regulation is imposed upon us, what can we do to now to push back against its political agenda objectives?

We MAY be fortunate in a couple of ways. First, the public typically yawns at occupational safety, particularly data. To be sure, the OSHA PR Department will be working hard to whip up some anti-employer interest using this largely medical treatment data base. Dr. Michaels spoke at the ASSE PDC in Atlanta in June and gave us some hints about what is coming. He compared two nursing homes’ injury/illness rates. One had a 2+ and the other a 10+ TRR. He asked, in which one of these homes would you want to place your mother as a resident? Or have your daughter to work as a nurse? I thought: I am going to decide what nursing home my mother should be in on the basis of TRR? Then he went further and asked: at which restaurant would you prefer to eat—one that has an “A” rating, or one that has a “C” rating? I thought, so now he is comparing safety and health professionals to sanitarians. And what TRR is equivalent to an “A” rating and what TRR is a “C” rating?

This just gives you a hint what kind of PR we are likely to hear from the OSHA political class in DC.

Again, the public may just yawn. But the real concern may be activist groups that are seeking to attack our employers for a variety of reasons and may use this data for that purpose.

The other possible fortunate outcome that we may experience is that the post incident drug testing prohibition and perhaps even others in this supplemental rulemaking may present some legal problems for enforcement. There has been some talk of that. If that occurs, it may become a significant obstacle to the full implementation of this regulation.

But what if your company is singled out by an activist group, your TRR is publicized and your company is held up for public ridicule? My suggestion is that

Government Affairs Update, Continued

you prepare an action plan now to discuss with your management to encourage them to be assertive and push back.

Issue a letter to OSHA and submit a copy to every print and social media outlet, personal and professional, that you have available to you:

• Criticize OSHA’s mass data medical treatment case based recordkeeping system as significantly flawed for effective measurement of safety and health management.

• Include in your statement the number of severe cases that you have experienced that require reporting to OSHA and what you have done to address the causes of these cases.

• Convert these numbers to a rate basis and present them in comparison to your medical treatment TRR.

• Point out in your statement that occurrence of these cases are the most important to measure. State that even OSHA concurs, given OSHA’s requirements for immediate notification of their occurrence.

---Tom Lawrence

The opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the author. They do not necessarily represent the views of the leadership or membership of the St. Louis Chapter of ASSE.

Date Meeting Topic & Presenter NotesJuly 11 Monday Lunch

Eye Injuries in the Workplace: An Overview, Speaker Dr Mark Kahrhoff of Complete Vision Care.

Lunch Menu

August 8Monday Lunch

OSHA's new silica rule, Speaker Eric Olson, Safety Director Western Construction Group. Eric will provide a quick overview of the new rule, then share some of its pitfalls he has experienced.

Lunch Menu

September 12 Monday Lunch

Prescription Overuse/Abuse and the inevitable path ....Speaker Brandon Costerison, Public Awareness Specialist, National Council on Alcoholism & Drug Abuse (NCADA). You'll lock your medicine cabinet after this meeting.

Lunch Menu

October 10 Monday Lunch

Workers Compensation... Speaker: J Bradley Young of Harris Dowell Fisher & Harris Law Firm. Hear the lastest information on what is happening in legal circles that affect worker's compensation

Lunch Menu

November 14 Monday Lunch

Joint Meeting with the Gateway Society of Hazardous Material Managers (GSHMM) Speaker Michael Langston, Director Corporate Safety & Health for Emerson Worldwide

Lunch Menu

December 12 Monday Lunch

OSHA Update Speaker, Bill McDonald, OSHA's Area Director in St Louis provides his annual OSHA fiscal year update and quick review of new/old initiatives

Lunch Menu

January , 2017 Thursday evening

Membership Appreciation Night No luncheon meeting this month. Enjoy dinner at The Bristol on Olive and relax with others in your field at this event just for St Louis Chapter Members.

Dinner Menu: Heavy Appetizers

February 13 Monday Lunch

OSHA Defense Speaker Julie O'Keefe of Armstrong Teasdale Law Firm Update on strategies to defend against OSHA citations.

Lunch Menu

March 6Monday All Day

Professional Development Conference - Ameren Head Quarters Joint conference with the American Industrial Hygiene Association to bring you high quality training at the best price.

Registration required CEU's awarded

April 10 Monday Lunch

TBD Lunch Menu

May 8 Monday Lunch

TBD Lunch Menu

June 2Friday All Day

ASSE Scholarship Golf Tournament Fundraiser Location TBD

Registration required

Lunch will include house salad, bread and cookies in addition to the entre.

2016 to 2017 Calendar of Meetings and Events

Follow us on Facebook and Twitter: http://stl.asse.org/

Job Opportunities

Job opportunities are posted frequently on the website:

http://stl.asse.org/jobs.php

The St. Louis Chapter would like to offer unemployed ASSE members with a free lunch at our monthly meeting! Just be ready to show your membership card for validation.

American Society of Safety Engineers St. Louis Chapter Committees Below is a list of all committees. Please contact the committee chair with comments or if you would like to participate.

Website – Dave Callies – dcallies@kelpe.com Maintains website with updated news, chapter events, and job postings

Newsletter – Dan Bembower – dan.bembower@usi.biz Publishes and distributes the chapter newsletter to all chapter members

PDC Chair – Paul Edler – paul_edler@yahoo.com Coordinates logistics of professional development activities

Government Affairs – Tom Lawrence – twlawr@swbell.net Provides input on federal laws and regulations on which ASSE is proposing to comment

Membership – Dianne Gibbs – dianne@ideasftp.com Ensures new members are recognized & introduced at membership meetings

Public Relations – Steve Williams – swilliams@bellelectrical.com Promotes chapter activities to the general public. Coordinates poster contest

Awards & Honors – Kevin Hoffman – k.a.hoffman@att.net Recognizes member achievement through awards like Safety Professional of the Year

Scholarship – Rob Miller – rmiller7@ameren.com Promotes student scholarships & continuing education scholarships for members

Programs – Jim Latta – jlatta@nbwest.com Plans the program time and needs for presentations & coordinates schedule

Social Media – Mark Krieger – mark.krieger2007@gmail.com Maintains Face book &Twitter accounts promoting discussion with local membership

Mid Missouri Officers Brett Derrick, Chapter Section Chair Bekki Howard, Chapter Section Vice Chair John Benson, Chapter Section Secretary and Chapter Section Treasurer

Have a great month!

Membership Total membership as of August remained strong at 558 members. This is a strong result, particularly since this is a period of renewal for ASSE membership in general. Our August report did not indicate any new members. If you know someone in a safety position, who is not yet a member, please encourage them to join by visiting the website at http://www.asse.org/membership/becomeamember/