Region 3 - Alliance Annual Report - July 1, 2014

ANNUAL ALLIANCE REPORT
ALLENTOWN AREA OFFICE
THE LEHIGH CAREER AND TECHNICAL INSTITUTE
July 1, 2014

  1. Alliance Background

    Date Signed:

    August 23, 2003

    Date Signed:

    August 23, 2005, March 27, 2008, April 19, 2010, September 6, 2012 (rewrite/renewed) December 12, 2012

    Alliance Overview:

    The Alliance was formed to provide LCTI students, staff members and others, including public and private volunteer members of the Safety Occupational Advisory Council (Safety OAC) with information, guidance, and access to training resources in order to provide safety and health education to staff and students (youth entering the workforce) and to help promote, protect and on the LCTI campus.

    Implementation Team Members:

    • David Lapinsky*/Tim Rushton LCTI
    • Daniel Kotran, LCTI
    • Linda Pacifico, LCTI
    • Kurt Adam, LCTI
    • Scott G. Shimandle, USDOL/Allentown Area Office
    • Claude Kohl, retired
    • Craig Berrier, Alvin H. Butz, Inc.
    • Tyrone Reed, Alvin H. Butz, Inc.
    • Christine Sullivan-Reitz, American Millwork & Cabinetry
    • Bill Horn, Lutron Inc
    • James Casey, Praxair Distribution, Inc.
    • Tom Civic, Merck Sharpe and Dohme
    • Steve Hughes, Uline
    • Frank Baxter, Skanska USA
    • Jordan Hanna, Amazon
    • Kathyrn Hertzog, Lehigh Valley Health Network
    • Edward Kresge, retired
    • Richard Warner, Lehigh Carbon Community College
       

  2. Implementation Team Meetings/Activities

    • May 22,2013 - Meeting with exiting Director of Education*
    • September 24, 2013 - Meeting with new Director of Education
    • November 21, 2013 - Safety Occupational Advisory Council Meeting
    • April 17, 2014 - Safety Occupational Advisory Council Meeting
       

  3. Activities and Products

    Evaluation Period.

    April 2012 through April 18, 2013.

    Alliance Activity.

    • Training and Education

      September 25, 2013 - "Safety and Health Issues for the Pre-Emerging Engineering Program" - An OSHA presentation was conducted for a class of Pre-Engineering students and their instructor. These students are conducting job shadowing activities at several workplaces in the Lehigh Valley and are currently pursuing engineering degrees/carriers in the chemical, electrical, mechanical, and/or architectural engineering fields. Topics covered during the presentation included emergency action plans, safe egress, personal protective equipment, hazardous chemicals, first-aid, control of hazardous energy, confined spaces and construction workplace hazards, including but not limited to falls, heat stress, noise, excavation and electrical hazards.

    • Outreach and Communication

      Over this past year, there has only been one outreach activity conducted by the Allentown Area Office (AAO). As noted above, this was for the students and faculty of the Pre-Emerging Engineering Program.

      Unfortunately, there were only two Safety OAC meetings held during this school year. Several of the six scheduled meetings were cancelled due to unavailability of Council members, a school audit and severe winter weather, which forced the cancellation of school. When the school is closed, for any reason, all meetings and activities are cancelled.

      As stated in the previous report, most of the council members are from the "private sector". With several new members being added the various issues, ideas, and control strategies; the discussions are not just contained within the institute but are being shared, communicated and disseminated to new stakeholders.

      The Safety OAC meetings discussed and reviewed numerous safety and health programs, policies and activities. A description (beyond the review and approval of previous meeting minutes) is as follows:

      May 22, 2013 - Meeting with the outgoing Director of Education, David Lapinsky, PhD*. The discussion focused on the safety and health efforts (advancements) the school has made through the OSHA Alliance and the expectations for continued enhancements after his retirement.

      September 24, 2013 - Meeting held with the new Director of Education, Timothy Rushton, PhD. This discussion was to inform Dr. Rushton of the OSHA Alliance and the efforts to enhance the safety and well-being of students and faculty at LCTI. We discussed the scope of OSHA’s efforts to reach out to youth and the multitude of available materials and programs that the agency has for safety and health education.

      November 21, 2013 - At this meeting the council focused its discussion on the injury and illness reports for both students and faculty, the use of personal protective equipment (e.g. gloves) within some of the laboratories, eyewash stations and their location within a few of the laboratories, a review of the previous years’ inspection summary reports and a review of the school’s house project which is being constructed by students of LCTI.

      April 17, 2014 - Unfortunately this council meeting was lightly attended and therefore the topics of discussion and areas of review were somewhat limited. Topics included a discussion on the chemicals used in the small engine laboratory, a discussion on the house project and the previously noted conditions, and a review of the student and faculty injury reports. Safety and health activities were reviewed and discussed for Floral Design/Greenhouse Management, Landscape Construction & Environmental Design, Heavy Equipment Operations & Preventive Maintenance, Material handling/Logistics Technology, Service

      Occupations including Material Handling, Service Occupations including Building Trades Maintenance, Small Engines & Recreational Vehicle Repair, Auto Technology I, Auto Technology II, Auto Technology Specialty, Diesel, Medium & Heavy Truck Technology, Auto Body/Collision Repair Technology, Career Academy Program - Auto Specialization and the Commercial Photography/Electronic Imaging Program.

    • Promoting the National Dialogue on Safety and Health

      During this evaluation period, there were no specific efforts made by this OSHA office in promoting the national dialogue on safety and health with Career and Technical Institutions. However, staff and faculty of LCTI and members of the Safety Advisory Council continue to promote safety and health curriculum and school safety at the various Administrator and other Occupational Advisory Council meetings.

    Alliance Products.

    During this evaluation period a PowerPoint presentation had been modified for the specific topics/subject matter listed above.

    As noted above, a PowerPoint presentation was developed/modified for the Pre-Emerging Engineering Program and used locally.

    • Training and Education
    • Outreach and Communication

  4. Results

    The Alliance activities conducted during the reporting period, albeit limited, continue to enhance the safety performance and culture throughout the entire school. Faculty and students continue to demonstrate more and more safety knowledge and internal bi-weekly inspections are identifying fewer unsafe conditions as hazards are reported and corrected promptly.

    The table below lists each of the activities conducted and the number of individuals reached or trained during the reporting period.

    Type of Activity (Conference, Training, Print and Electronic Distribution, etc.) Number of Individuals Reached or Trained
    Meeting with outgoing Director of Education (5/22/2014) 1 Committee Members
    Meeting with the new Director of Education (9/24/2014) 1 Committee Members
    Presentation - Safety and Health Issues for the Pre-Emerging Engineering Program (9/25/2013) 14 Students & 1 Instructor
    Meeting - Safety Occupational Advisory Council (Safety OAC) (11/21/2013) 9 Committee Members
    Meeting - Safety OAC (4/17/2014) 6 Committee Members
    TOTAL 32 directly
    3,064 indirectly - all students and staff at LCTI

    C. As noted previously, the only issue that has some significant bearing on the Alliance’s implementation is that the Safety OAC only meets during the academic school year. Therefore, the insight, technical assistance and expansion of safety and health promotion beyond the school may be somewhat limited. However, the AAO CAS continues to be in constant contact with LCTI officials throughout the entire year, as Building Maintenance and Services are year round functions.

  5. Challenges (past and upcoming)

    Due to the limited number of Safety OAC meetings held over the past evaluation period (for various reasons including school closure with the severe winter weather, a school compliance audit (Chapter 339, which reviews the state standards for compliance with vocational education standards, planning, curriculum, guidance, personnel, facilities and state vocational funding) and due to the unavailability of council members (including this CAS during the sequestration period), it has been decided that in lieu of attempting to schedule six meetings throughout the school year, the Safety OAC will meet quarterly. It is anticipated that council members will be able to commit to four meetings and since the new schedule (2014 - 2015) has already been distributed to the council that all members could (should) be able to arrange their availability accordingly. As an added challenge for the upcoming school year, with only four meetings being scheduled, efforts will be made to ensure that the entire school and all academic programs will be reviewed by the fourth and final meeting.

    OSHA’s continued participation will be based on a "renewal" of this OSHA Alliance.

Report Prepared by: Scott G. Shimandle, Allentown AAO Compliance Assistance Specialist

For more information, contact the Office of Outreach Services and Alliances at 202-693-2340 or go to www.osha.gov.