Alliance -- An OSHA Cooperative Program<< Back to Concluded Regional Alliances - Region III

  1. Alliance Background

    Date Signed: August 17, 2007

    Overview

    The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), Allentown Area Office, and the American Red Cross, Greater Lehigh Valley Pennsylvania Chapter formed an Alliance to provide local businesses and others with information, guidance, and access to training resources that will help them protect employees' health and safety particularly in reducing and preventing exposure to falls, amputations, ergonomic, chemical, electrical and other physical hazards, development of emergency preparedness programs and/or addressing implementation of an effective safety and health program.

    Implementation Team Members.

    Scott G. Shimandle, Compliance Assistance Specialist, USDOL/OSHA – Allentown

    Joy Zukauskas, Director, Health and Safety Services, American Red Cross of the Greater Lehigh Valley

    Evaluation Period

    August 17, 2008 – August 16, 2009

  2. Implementation Team Meetings

    Sept. 15, 2008 - E-mail correspondence for Workplace Safety Seminar for Trainers
    Oct. 1, 2008 - Meeting with Director, Health and Safety Services and one of the Volunteer Red Cross Trainers
    Oct. 6, 2008 - E-mail correspondence canceling Workplace Safety Seminar for Red Cross Trainers
    Oct. 27, 2008 - E-mail correspondence for Workplace Safety Seminar for the American Red Cross clients (new and existing)
    Oct. 30, 2008 - Outreach/Training - Best Practices for Medical Emergency Response Seminar (Lower Bucks County Chapter event)
    Nov. 10, 2008 - E-mail correspondence for Workplace Safety Seminar
    Nov. 12, 2008 - Outreach/Training – Workplace Safety Seminar
    March 26, 2009 - E-mail correspondence for Best Practices for Medical Emergency Response Seminar
    Apr. 6, 2009 - Meeting for Best Practices Seminar
    Apr. 16, 2009 - E-mail correspondence for May 6, 2009 – Protecting Workers on the Job Means Sending Them Home Safe Webinar
    Apr. 24, 2009 - Outreach/Training - Best Practices for Medical Emergency Response Seminar

  3. Events and Products

    Training and Education

    • Events

      October 30, 2008 – OSHA Best Practices for Emergency Response Seminar conducted for the American Red Cross of Lower Bucks County. Note: Although this particular Chapter is not related to the American Red Cross of the Greater Lehigh Valley Chapter, the outreach/training event was identical as that which was held with the Lehigh Valley Chapter. Since this event was with the same National Organization and the Lower Bucks County currently does not have a “chapter specific” Alliance, it has been included in this annual evaluation to ensure that the national alliance efforts with the American Red Cross are captured.

      November 12, 2008 – Workplace Safety Seminar was conducted for clients of the American Red Cross of the Greater Lehigh Valley.

      April 24, 2009 - Best Practices for Medical Emergency Response Seminar was conducted for new, existing and prospective clients.

    • Products

      PowerPoint presentation has been modified by this Chapter of the American Red Cross, since it was originally developed by the National Offices of both OSHA and American Red Cross.

    • Promoting the National Dialogue on Safety and Health

    Outreach and Communication

    • Events

      See seminar events listed above.

    • Products

      New PowerPoint presentation was developed and used locally.

    Promoting the National Dialogue on Workplace Safety and Health

    • Events

      No events conducted to promote the National dialogue on Workplace Safety and Health. All dialogue has been on a local level.

    • Products

      No products developed at this time.

  4. Results

    The Best Practices for Medical Emergency Response Seminar(s) were conducted for new, existing and prospective clients of the American Red Cross and topics covered included Emergency Action Plans, First-Aid/CPR/AED's and Bloodborne Pathogens.

    The Workplace Safety Seminar was conducted for existing clients of the American Red Cross and topics covered OSHA standards that all employers (general industry and construction) would need to know, including but not limited to: recordkeeping of injuries/illnesses, emergency action plans, hazardous chemicals, machine guarding, fall hazards and protective equipment. Additionally, OSHA inspection activities including Local and National Emphasis Programs were discussed, along with the most frequently cited standards for General Industry and the Construction Industry,


    5. Type of Activity (Conference, Training, Print and Electronic Distribution, etc.)

    Number of Individuals Reached or Trained

    Best Practices for Medical Emergency Response (Lower Bucks Chapter) 23
    Workplace Safety Seminar 25
    Best Practices for Medical Emergency Response 40
    TOTAL: 88

  5. Challenges

    As previously report there had been a change in the staff at the American Red Cross of the Greater Lehigh Valley, and as a result of that change, and from previous implementation meetings a decision was made to attempt to have an outreach session for the American Red Cross trainers (paid staffers, volunteer instructor/trainers as well as the third party trainers). The Director of Health and Safety Services had attempt to arrange a session (scheduled for Oct. 1, 2008) to present information on the OSHA Alliance, its' goals and objectives and to hopefully conduct a brainstorming session with their trainers to identify safety and health issues that they have encountered when they conduct safety and health training services to Red Cross clients. However, upon solicitation for assistance in preparing for this session, only one trainer responded favorably. As such a meeting was held with the Director of Health and Safety Services and this volunteer trainer and the discussion focused on her specific issues relative to swimming pool safety issues. Recently, the Safety and Health Services department has lost all but two of its' full time staff. As such, the outreach sessions will most likely continue to focus on current and potential clients and not Red Cross staff.

  6. Upcoming Milestones

    Based on comments received, after the Workplace Safety Seminar (through a seminar evaluation form developed by the American Red Cross), it was identified that evacuation plan development is a topic that needs to be expanded upon for a future training event or a brainstorming session. Issues listed appeared to focus on the need to identify available resources in an emergency situation and how to “write” an evacuation plan.