The VOSH Conference is at the very top of Circle Safety’s list of favorite meetings to attend.  Yes, we are there as exhibitors and as presenters of

Jan Thomas presenting on Electrical Safety at the 2009 VOSH Conference. Photo by Jim Morris, VaDOLI

educational sessions – Jan presented on Electrical Safety and Anna spoke on OSHA Recordkeeping Issues – but we are also attendees at the break-out sessions.  Each year our consultants who attend the conference select sessions that build our individual and corporate knowledge base.  We ask questions, take notes,
collect handouts and business cards, and share what we learn with each other.

Here are only a few of our notes:

New Dust Mask Demonstration – Reed Schaffer with 3M Corporation demonstrated newer dust mask and respirator technologies that are on the market protecting workers.  He stressed the importance of evaluation selection criteria – knowing the contaminants and their concentrations is key in choosing an appropriate respirator; i.e., exposure limits, odor thresholds, IDLH limits, and particulate molecular weight.  Correct donning of even the simplest respirator protection still remains a key point for employee training and management follow-up.

 Leading & Lagging Indicators – Dave Mazary from Western Yorktown Refinery clearly showed that setting “OSHA compliance” as the goal leads to a minimal effort, comparable to a  C- grade.  Relating this grade to performance in school, we would hope that most managers would strive for a higher grade.  This can be accomplished by incorporating industry best-practice as a supplement to OSHA rules and by helping  workers reach peak safety performance through clearly defined tasks & objectives;  training the workers to properly perform these tasks; measuring the performance with validity; and rewarding for desired performance – immediately, personally and sincerely.

Crane Maintenance – Bill Davis with Zurich provided excellent photographs and a fast-paced discussion of the leading causes of crane accidents with highlights on crane maintenance and correct set-up and operation as preventions.  Q&A time highlighted areas of improvement in the new OSHA crane standard (to come out in Fall 2009?).  The proposed standard is supposed to include a 20-foot “limited approach” prohibition for overhead power lines – a 10-foot improvement on what we have now.

As we wrap up this year’s conference, we look forward to what VOSH has planned for the coming year, and as always, we anticipate interesting topics and new learning opportunities.