OSHA PUB 8.5A August 14, 1989 Office of Information & Consumer Affairs

Subject: OSHA Magazine - Job Safety and Health Quarterly

A. Purpose. This instruction transmits procedures to be followed by and responsibilities of field and national office staff in generating and publishing material for Job Safety and Health Quarterly.

B. Scope. This instruction applies OSHA-wide.

C. Reference. OSHA Instruction PUB 8.4A, dated July 8, 1985, subject, "OSHA's Periodicals, Pamphlets and Audiovisual Control Plan."

D. Cancellation. OSHA Instruction PUB 8.5, OSHA magazine--Job Safety and Health Quarterly--is cancelled.

E. Action. OSHA staff at the national offices and field offices will carry out the responsibilities and duties outlined in this directive to assure a continual flow of professional articles on occupational safety and health topics to appear in the Job Safety and Health Quarterly.

F. State Plan States Action. State plan designees are not required to follow the procedures outlined in this directive for OSHA staff, but are encouraged to participate in independently developing professional articles for submission, through the Regional Administrator, to Job Safety and Health Quarterly.

G. Background. A number of years ago, OSHA published a highly successful monthly magazine called Job Safety and Health. That magazine was discontinued in the late 70's to cut expenses and curtail staff. With the passage of time since then, it has become increasingly apparent that there is a need for OSHA to publish a single public information product that would inform both OSHA staff and the public of current and upcoming developments in the occupational safety and health field. To accomplish this purpose, it has been decided to

 

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OSHA Instruction PUB 8.5A August 14, 1989 Office of Information & Consumer Affairs

reinstate a magazine to be distributed free of charge to internal OSHA readers and by a $5.50 annual subscription fee through the Government Printing Office to the general public. To keep costs to an essential minimum and avoid the need for added staffing, it has been decided to issue a quarterly journal including material prepared, for the most part, of material submitted by OSHA staff, state plan designees and OSHA consultation program staff. Attached to this directive is a listing of the topical areas and "departments" that will be either regularly or periodically included in the journal (see Appendix A).

 

H. Procedures.

1. Editorial Board. There will be established an editorial board that will meet monthly. At each meeting, the board will establish the general outline of stories to be included in the journal to be printed three months hence; a review of materials received and accepted two months before printing; a review and necessary adjustments to content one month prior to printing; and a final review of material just prior to sending to the printer. Thus, once the board is in full operation, any given monthly meeting will be looking at material for four consecutive issues of the journal. The following individuals are encouraged to be personally present at the monthly meeting; however, when necessary, a designated representative is acceptable.

 

a. Members:

 

 

 

(1) Director, Office of Information & Consumer Affairs.

 

(2) Director, Directorate of Federal-State Operations.

 

(3) Director, Directorate of Field Operations.

 

(4) Director, Directorate of Policy.

 

(5) Director, Directorate of Administrative Programs.

(6) Special Assistant to the Assistant Secretary for Press and Public Affairs.

 

 

 

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OSHA Instruction PUB 8.5A August 14, 1989 Office of Information & Consumer Affairs

2. Development of Articles. All OSHA staff, state plan staff and consultation project staff are encouraged to develop original articles for submission to Job safety and Health Quarterly. Articles prepared should illustrate lessons learned, valuable experience that could help others solve job safety and health problems, articles that explain basic programs, policies or procedures of OSHA, or any other material that would be useful in the journal. The editorial board also will assign articles to be prepared to meet agency internal or external information objectives. In addition, each directorate head in the national office, each Regional Administrator, each consultation project manager, and each state plan designee is urged to submit monthly news "bullets" regarding promotions, reassignments, awards (within or outside the Department), and any other interesting personnel news (for RA's, regular submission of regional newsletters will suffice).

 

3. Clearance of Articles. Whether directed or voluntarily prepared, all articles prepared for submission to the journal will be cleared through successive supervisors for factual and policy accuracy. The final clearance stop for field articles is the Regional Administrator; for national office staff, the Directorate (or separate office) head; for state- and consultation project-originated articles, the state designee and the appropriate regional administrator. All articles will be finally cleared by the editorial board and such other technical experts as necessary. When the material is received by the journal staff, it must be accompanied by a clearance sheet (see attached copy of a locally reproducible OSHA Form 83) indicating name and signature of all who have reviewed and cleared it.

 

4. Format. Whenever possible, all materials to be submitted for publication in the magazine shall be prepared in word perfect format on a 5 1/4-inch double density floppy disk. Copy should be double spaced for in 8 1/2 x 11-inch format.

 

5. Bylines. All articles (not departments such as calendars and personnel notes) will be credited to the author. Therefore, articles submitted should be accompanied by

 

 

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OSHA Instruction PUB 8.5A March 14, 1989 Office of Information & Consumer Affairs

the author's name, official position, duty station and assignment, and any titles such as Ph.D., M.D., etc.

 

 

6. Accompanying Material. The journal urges submission of photos (preferably black and white, although slides and color photos usually can be used), drawings, graphs, charts and the like to help illustrate articles submitted. All such material should be accompanied by appropriate caption material describing the content, date (where appropriate) and the source (photos taken during work should be credited to U.S. Department of Labor; those taken by the individual with personal equipment should be credited to the individual).

 

I. Responsibilities.

1. All OSHA Staff Consultants State Plan Staffs. To be alert to the opportunities and be able to devote sufficient work time to preparing original material for submission to the journal.

 

2. Editorial Board. Director, Office of Information & Consumer Affairs (OICA); Special Assistant for Press and Public Affairs; Directorate heads of Policy, Administrative Programs, Federal-State Programs, Field Programs; will meet monthly at the call of the Director of OICA to appropriately plan and review content of upcoming issues and to issue final approval prior to submission for printing.

 

3. OSHA Supervisors. To be alert to opportunities for informative articles and to direct or suggest, as appropriate that staff members develop articles. Review for factual and policy accuracy, approve and complete clearance sheets for materials developed for the journal by staff members they supervise.

 

4. Directorate Heads, Regional Administrators. Assign articles to be prepared as appropriate. Review, approve and complete clearance sheets for materials prepared for the journal. RA's will also encourage consultation project managers and state plan designees to develop appropriate articles.

 

5. Director Information & Consumer Affairs.

 

a. Produce and print the journal.

 

 

 

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OSHA Instruction PUB 8.5A AUG 14, 1989 Office of Information & Consumer Affairs

b. Establish production schedules and deadlines.

 

 

c. Issue calls for specific articles in the name of the Editorial Board with deadlines for submission.

 

 

d. Edit materials received to assure consistent editorial style.

 

 

e. Recommend to authors additional research and/or development of topics prior to publication.

 

 

f. Provide art direction and design services in support of the journal.

 

 

g. Provide guidance, assistance, suggestions to authors prior to or during article preparation.

 

 

6. Director, Information and Public Affairs, Department of Labor.

 

a. Review and approve final camera-ready material for the journal to assure it is consistent with Departmental style guides and policy considerations.

 

 

b. Send to the printer approved copy for the journal.

 

 

7. U.S. Government Printing Office.

 

a. Print and distribute free (OSHA "family") and subscription copies of the journal.

 

 

Maintain a current mailing list of subscribers, collect and account for subscription fees.

 

 

Alan McMillan Acting Assistant Secretary

DISTRIBUTION: OSHA National, Regional and Area Offices; State Plan States, Consultation Program Managers; OSHA Division, Office of the Solicitor; Office of Information and Public Affairs.

 

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OSHA Instruction PUB 8.5A August 14, 1989 Office of Information & Consumer Affairs

 

APPENDIX A

 

MAGAZINE CONTENTS

(* Indicates regular departments; others occur, as appropriate.)

* Assistant Secretary's Message - This regular column would be generated by the Assistant Secretary's office and would highlight particular topics of interest to OSHA staff or the general public.

* Calendar of Events - Outlines activities for the current quarter, including congressional/public hearings, special seminars, exhibits, training, etc.

Technical Issues - Discusses new and emerging technologies, incorporating many of the activities now presented by Tech support in newsletter form.

Federal-State Operations - Presents items of interest on VPP, consultation, state programs, and grant topics. A different program/item could be highlighted each quarter--e.g., CAL-OSHA would have been of interest.

Education and Training - Relates news from the Institute in terms of new courses and training programs for private/public sectors. A piece on the Institute, its programs, services, and trainees would be informative.

Standards (related issues) - Contains articles on relevant standards-related subjects and outreach programs. This section could be used as a vehicle to explain and summarize complex standards and related issues--e.g.,PELS, Hazard Communication, AIDS, Hazardous Waste, Lead, etc.

* Regional Topics - Provides an overview of general news items for the regions--activities, special happenings, etc.

Regional Highlight - Gives a close-up look at one region--what it does, who the players are, issues, accomplishments, etc. One region would be highlighted each quarter. This and above section could be combined.

* Congressional/Legislative Issues - Looks at pending and current legislation affecting OSHA; important issues in news, etc. Possibly interviews with important players; an excellent

 

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OSHA Instruction PUB 8.5A August 14, 1989 Office of Information & Consumer Affairs

opportunity to track case/legislation from beginning to end.

Historical Hazards/Equipment - As interesting information is available, provides a pictorial look at past workplace hazards/equipment and how changed today.

Hazalert - Brief column, as information is available, alerting workers/employers to hazardous/potentially hazardous substances/processes/equipment.

*Ergofacts/Safeworks/Fatalfacts - Reprint of the latest of each topic as perforated tearout.

Major Issues/Innovative Solutions to Workplace Problems - As information is available, addresses major issues facing job safety and health (nationally/worldwide). Show situations where industry has solved problems in interesting and creative ways. Guest feature articles on innovative solutions (public/private) to these problems. (This may be better combined with emerging technical issues section.)

Management Forum/Outlook - Provides a platform for articles on management techniques, issues, problems, solutions, etc. Can be in a general sense and specific to OSHA.

Who's Who at OSHA - Gives a profile of persons/departments and their activities and functions. A look into a particular directorate, for example, and the people running it.

* Career Focus - Discusses various professional job series at work in OSHA. One series per issue (e.g., industrial hygienist, CSHO, safety engineer, economist, etc.) including the training required, entry level salary, available jobs, etc. Article would focus on an individual.

Awards and Citations - Lists significant awards received by OSHA personnel. Photos when available. This column could also point to awards from OSHA to private industry/public (e.g., NACOSH, VPP, etc.)

PC Talk - Presents articles about computer usage and programming hints related to software. Review programs that could be used by OSHA/DOL. Solicitation of articles by experts.

Appointments - Contains brief items concerning people who have assumed new duties within OSHA, have moved on to other agencies/industries, or have retired.

 

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OSHA Instruction PUB 8.5A AUG 14 1989 Office of Information & Consumer Affairs

* Publications and Audiovisuals - Identifies recent publications, posters, reports and audiovisuals available from OSHA along with ordering information. Highlighting what they contain and including ones that perhaps have a tie-in with one of the featured articles.

* Reader's Forum - Provides a "Letters to the Editor" format. Q&A with experts at OSHA responding to reader inquiry. Featuring perhaps one or two prime questions that would be dealt with in some length. Problem-solving with answers from the experts--from management to science.

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