A 2-day event in Pendleton, Oregon, will offer employers and workers a variety of opportunities to sharpen their workplace health and safety programs. Topics covered include safety committees, safety leadership, root cause analysis, and chemical safety.

Oregon OSHA Consultation Services, a division of the Oregon OSHA, Department of Consumer and Business Services, is one of several partners presenting at the June 3-4, 2019, Blue Mountain Occupational Safety and Health Conference at the Pendleton Convention Center, 1601 Westgate, Pendleton, Oregon.

On Monday, June 3, the Oregon Safety and Health Achievement Recognition Program (SHARP) Alliance will hold a pre-conference, no-cost workshop to discuss how to sustain a strong safety program despite personnel changes. The Monday activities also feature a free Forklift Round-Up. Spectators are welcome to enjoy the forklift event. Both the Alliance workshop and the forklift event are open to the public.

The nonprofit SHARP Alliance promotes safety and health management by encouraging teamwork among people, employers, and organizations to improve on-the-job health and safety for Oregon workers. Alliance members participate in the U.S. Department of Labor, Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) . This program recognizes small business employers who have used OSHA On-Site Consultation Program services and operate an exemplary safety and health program. Acceptance of a worksite into SHARP from OSHA is an achievement of status that singles the company out among its business peers as a model for worksite safety and health.

The OSHA On-Site Consultation Program offers no-cost and confidential occupational safety and health services to small- and medium-sized businesses in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and several U.S. territories, with priority given to high-hazard worksites. On-Site Consultation services are separate from enforcement and do not result in penalties or citations. Consultants from state agencies, such as Oregon OSHA Consultation Services or universities, work with employers to identify workplace hazards, provide advice for compliance with OSHA standards, and assist in establishing and improving safety and health programs.

On Tuesday, June 4, 2019, keynote speaker Rob Fisher will present "How Personality Impacts Risk." Fisher, president and director of operations for Fisher Improvement Technologies in Concord, North Carolina, will show how different personalities see risk differently and how to manage risk from that standpoint. "It is important to be aware of and manage the personality tendencies that can blind people to risk," Fisher said. "When we account for certain tendencies, we increase our chances of being safer. There is more to being safe than just managing the physical hazards."

Other conference topics include:

• I am on the safety committee, now what?
• Confined space and industrial rescue: How much and how?
• Forklift safety
• Overexertion: Using alternative therapy to overcome repetitive use injuries
• Machine safety: What are you doing to improve your machine safety program?

For more information about this conference, click here. OSHA On-Site Consultation and SHARP are voluntary programs. To locate the OSHA On-Site Consultation Program nearest you, call 1-800-321-OSHA (6742) or visit www.osha.gov/consultation.

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