ANNUAL ALLIANCE REPORT
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and the
American Biological Safety Association (ABSA)
January 6, 2011

1. Alliance Background  
   
   Date Signed
   
   September 23, 2002
   
   Date Renewed
   
   October 13, 2004
   January 29, 2007
   March 3, 2009
   
   Overview
   
   The OSHA and ABSA Alliance focuses on promoting healthy and safe workplaces. The organizations use their collective expertise both to enhance workplace health and safety and to assist employers, including small businesses, in developing a preventive focus for biological safety issues facing the American workplace.
   
   Implementation Team Members
   
   OSHA:
   
   Sharon Carr - Office of Biological Hazards (OBH), Directorate of Standards and Guidance (DSG)
   Nancy Hauter - Office of Health Enforcement (OHE), Directorate of Enforcement Programs (DEP)
   Jeff Lodwick - Salt Lake Technical Center, Directorate of Technical Support and Emergency Management (DTSEM)
   Jack Longmire - Office of Occupational Medicine, DTSEM
   Eric Lahaie - Office of Outreach Services and Alliances (OOSA), Directorate of Cooperative and State Programs (DCSP)
   Sandra Khan - OOSA, DCSP
   Thomas Nerad - OBH, DSG
   Audrey Profitt - OHE, DEP
   Gary Senatore - OHE, DEP
   Dionne Williams - OHE, DEP
   
   
   ABSA:
   
   David Counts - Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory; ABSA Member
   Penny Holeman - Lovelace Respiratory Research Institute; ABSA Member
   Rich Rebar - GlaxoSmithKline; ABSA Councilor
   Julie Savage - Director, Conference and Meetings, ABSA
   Ed Stygar - Executive Director, ABSA
   
   Evaluation Period
   
   September 23, 2009 - September 22, 2010
    
2. Implementation Team Meetings
   
   September 28, 2009 - Implementation Team Meeting
   February 24, 2010 - Implementation Team Meeting
   June 1, 2010 - Implementation Team Meeting
   September 14, 2010 - Implementation Team Meeting
   
   
   In addition to these formal meetings, the Alliance coordinators from both groups maintained regular contact throughout the reporting period to monitor the Alliance's progress and results.
    
3. Results

   OSHA's eTools

   ABSA's Technical Review Committee members serve on the editorial boards of the following OSHA eTools, providing OSHA with their expertise and technical review:

   Events

   52nd Annual Biological Safety Conference, October 18-21, 2009, Hyatt Regency Miami Convention Center, Miami, Florida

   OSHA representatives from Region IV staffed an Alliance Program exhibit booth during the conference. Vergie Bain, Compliance Assistance Specialist, reported that 200 conference attendees visited the Alliance booth. 

   2009 Drug-Free Work Week, October 19-25, 2009

   The American Biological Safety Association and a number of other Alliance Program participants supported the 2009 Drug-Free Work Week. Sponsored annually by the U.S. Department of Labor's Working Partners for an Alcohol and Drug-Free Workplace Program, the Week focuses on educating employers, employees and the public about the importance of being drug-free as an essential component of a safe and healthful workplace.
   
   To help support the week, ABSA posted information and a link to the event on the ABSA Alliance-related Web page.

   During the reporting period the OSHA and ABSA implementation Team did not address this Alliance goal.

   Promoting the National Dialogue on Workplace Safety and Health Goal

   Events

   2010 North American Occupational Safety and Health (NAOSH) Week, May 2-8, 2010

   The American Biological Safety Association and a number of other Alliance Program participants supported the 2010 NAOSH Week, "Mission NAOSH 2010: Safe Workplaces." Sponsored annually by the American Society of Safety Engineers, an Alliance Program participant, and the Canadian Society of Safety Engineering, the Week focuses on the importance of preventing injuries and illnesses in the workplace.
   
   To help support the week, ABSA posted the 2010 NAOSH Week banner to their Alliance Web page and disseminated promotional material to ABSA staff and members.

   1. Products and Events

      Outreach and Communication Goals

      • Work with OSHA to provide expertise in developing information on the recognition and prevention of workplace hazards, and to provide expertise in developing ways of communicating such information (e.g. print and electronic media, electronic assistance tools and OSHA's and ABSA's Web sites) to employers and employees in the industry.

      Products

      ABSA and OSHA Alliance-related Web Page

      ABSA continually updates the ABSA and OSHA Alliance Web page. The page includes links to the OSHA and ABSA Alliance agreement, renewal agreements and related documents on the OSHA and ABSA Alliance Web page on the Agency Web site.   
      
      OSHA and ABSA Alliance Web Page

      OSHA is continuing to update the OSHA and ABSA Alliance Web page posted on the Agency Web site. The page includes information on Alliance events, milestones and successes, and links to the OSHA and ABSA agreement, news releases, and to the ABSA and OSHA Alliance Web page on the ABSA Web site.  

      OSHA's Safety and Health Topics pages

      ABSA's Technical Review Committee members serve on the editorial boards of the following OSHA Safety and Health Topics pages, providing OSHA with their expertise and technical review:

      • Anthrax
        • Robert J. Hawley, Senior Advisor, Midwest Research Institute, Fredrick, MD
        • Jonathan Richmond, President, Jonathan Richmond and Associates, Southport, NC
      • Biological Agents
        • Elizabeth Gilman Duane, Associate Director, Biosafety, Wyeth, Cambridge, MA
        • Richard Rebar, Biosafety, GlaxoSmithKline, King of Prussia, PA
      • Bloodborne Pathogens and Needlestick Prevention
        • Mary Cipriano, Manager of Biological Safety, Abbott Laboratories, Abbott Park, IL
        • Elizabeth Gilman Duane, Associate Director, Biosafety, Wyeth, Cambridge, MA
        • Richard Rebar, Biosafety, GlaxoSmithKline, King of Prussia, PA
      • Botulism
        • Elizabeth Gilman Duane, Associate Director, Biosafety, Wyeth, Cambridge, MA
        • Richard Rebar, Biosafety, GlaxoSmithKline, King of Prussia, PA
      • Foodborne Disease
        • Elizabeth Gilman Duane, Associate Director, Biosafety, Wyeth, Cambridge, MA
        • Richard Rebar, Biosafety, GlaxoSmithKline, King of Prussia, PA
      • Hantavirus
        • Elizabeth Gilman Duane, Associate Director, Biosafety, Wyeth, Cambridge, MA
        • Richard Rebar, Biosafety, GlaxoSmithKline, King of Prussia, PA
      • Hazardous Waste
        • Elizabeth Gilman Duane, Associate Director, Biosafety, Wyeth, Cambridge, MA
        • Richard Rebar, Biosafety, GlaxoSmithKline, King of Prussia, PA
        • Stefan Wagener, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
      • Indoor Air Quality
        • Richard Rebar, Biosafety, GlaxoSmithKline, King of Prussia, PA
        • Wayne Thomann, PhD, Duke University Occupational and Environmental Safety Office, Durham, NC
      • Ionizing Radiation
        • Richard Rebar, Biosafety, GlaxoSmithKline, King of Prussia, PA
        • Stefan Wagener, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
      • Legionnaires' Disease
        • Elizabeth Gilman Duane, Associate Director, Biosafety, Wyeth, Cambridge, MA
        • Richard W. Gilpin, President, Gilpin, LTD, Baltimore,
        • Jack Keene, BioHazTec Associates, Midlothian, VA
        • Richard Rebar, Biosafety, GlaxoSmithKline, King of Prussia,
      • Mold and Fungi
        • Elizabeth Gilman Duane, Associate Director, Biosafety, Wyeth, Cambridge, MA
        • Richard W. Gilpin, President, Gilpin, LTD, Baltimore, MD
        • Richard Rebar, Biosafety, GlaxoSmithKline, King of Prussia, PA
        • Wayne Thomann, PhD, Duke University Occupational and Environmental Safety Office, Durham, NC
      • Plague
        • Elizabeth Gilman Duane, Associate Director, Biosafety, Wyeth, Cambridge, MA
        • Richard Rebar, Biosafety, GlaxoSmithKline, King of Prussia, PA
      • Ricin
        • Elizabeth Gilman Duane, Associate Director, Biosafety, Wyeth, Cambridge, MA
        • Richard Rebar, Biosafety, GlaxoSmithKline, King of Prussia, PA
      • Smallpox
        • Elizabeth Gilman Duane, Associate Director, Biosafety, Wyeth, Cambridge, MA
        • Richard Rebar, Biosafety, GlaxoSmithKline, King of Prussia, PA
      • Tularemia
        • Richard Rebar, Biosafety, GlaxoSmithKline, King of Prussia, PA
      • Viral Hemorrhagic Fevers
        • Richard Rebar, Biosafety, GlaxoSmithKline, King of Prussia, PA
      • Anthrax
        • Elizabeth Gilman Duane, Associate Director, Biosafety, Wyeth, Cambridge, MA
        • Richard Rebar, Biosafety, GlaxoSmithKline, King of Prussia, PA
      • Hospital
        • Debra L. Hunt, Director, Biological Safety, Duke University, Durham, NC
        • Yolanda Arriaga Stringer, Biological Safety Officer, Children's Mercy Hospitals & Clinics, Kansas City, MO
      • Legionnaires' Disease
        • Richard W. Gilpin, President, Gilpin, LTD, Baltimore,
      • Speak, exhibit or appear at OSHA's or ABSA's conferences, local meetings, or other events such as ABSA's Annual Conference.
      • Share information among OSHA personnel and industry safety and health professionals regarding ABSA's best practices or effective approaches and publicize results through outreach by ABSA and through OSHA or ABSA developed materials, training programs, workshops, seminars, and lectures (or any other applicable forum).
      • Convene or participate in forums, round table discussions, or stakeholder meetings on Biosafety issues to help forge innovative solutions in the workplace or to provide input on safety and health issues.
   2. Executive Summary
       

      Through the Alliance Program, OSHA and ABSA are working together to develop resources that focus on reducing and preventing exposure to biological health and safety hazards to assist employers, including small businesses. The positive relationship that ABSA and OSHA have developed over the past nine years has led to the development of many projects that the team is currently working on or has produced.
      
      Through the Alliance Program, ABSA invited an OSHA representative from the Area Office to staff an Alliance Program exhibit booth during their Annual Biological Safety Conference. Based on the success of this event, OSHA may speak and/or exhibit at the 2011 event.
      
      In addition, ABSA representatives are also sharing their expertise with OSHA through participation on the editorial boards for 16 OSHA Safety and Health Topics pages. The ABSA Technical Review Committee members are continuing to serve on the OSHA's editorial boards for the Anthrax, Hospital and Legionnaires' Disease eTools.
      
      Finally, as part of their outreach, ABSA supported and promoted the 2009 Drug-Free Work Week and the 2010 NAOSH Week by adding information about the Weeks on the ABSA Web site.

   3. Alliance Program Reach
       

      Type of Activity (Conference, Training, Print and Electronic Distribution, etc.)	Number of Individuals Reached or Trained
      OSHA and ABSA Alliance Web page on the Agency Web site	3,483
      ABSA and OSHA Alliance Web page on the ABSA Web site	Data Not Available
      October 18-21, 2009 52nd Annual Biological Safety Conference, Miami, Florida	200
      Anthrax, Safety and Health Topics page	675
      Biological Agents, Safety and Health Topics page	13,873
      Bloodborne Pathogens and Needlestick Prevention, Safety and Health Topics page	170,512
      Botulism, Safety and Health Topics page	4,136
      Foodborne Disease, Safety and Health Topics page	12,060
      Hantavirus, Safety and Health Topics page	7,830
      Hazardous Waste, Safety and Health Topics page	20,318
      Indoor Air Quality, Safety and Health Topics page	28,322
      Ionizing Radiation, Safety and Health Topics page	19,667
      Legionnaires’ Disease, Safety and Health Topics page	7,458
      Mold and Fungi, Safety and Health Topics page	20,669
      Plague, Safety and Health Topics page	1,557
      Ricin, Safety and Health Topics page	4,538
      Smallpox, Safety and Health Topics page	5,023
      Tularemia, Safety and Health Topics page	4,269
      Viral Hemorrhagic Fevers, Safety and Health Topics page	3,241
      Anthrax, OSHA eTool	11,932
      Legionnaires’ Disease, OSHA eTool	6,119
      Hospital, OSHA eTool	40,607
      Total	386,489

4. Upcoming Milestones
    

   In the upcoming year, OSHA and ABSA will undertake several additional projects through the Alliance to help employers and workers reduce or prevent exposure to health, safety, and biological hazards in a laboratory. For example, through the Alliance, ABSA will finalize the General Microbiology Fact Sheet and develop two more resources for Biosafety Professionals and non-scientific laboratory staff.
   
   In addition, ABSA representatives will continue to provide OSHA with their expertise by in serving on the editorial boards for OSHA�s Anthrax, Hospital, and Legionnaires' Disease eTools and for the 16 OSHA Safety and Health Topics pages, including but not limited to, Biological Agents, Bloodborne Pathogens, Foodborne Disease, Indoor Air Quality, Botulism, and Hantavirus.
   
   ABSA will also continue to provide their expertise to OSHA by providing feedback on draft biological safety and health documents developed by OSHA, as requested. OSHA representatives will participate at the ABSA Annual Biological Safety Conference, October 4-6, 2010, in Denver, Colorado.
   
   Finally, ABSA representatives will be joining with other Alliance Program participants to support 2011 North American Occupational Safety and Health Week, May 1-7, 2011, "NAOSH - Celebrating a Century of Safety."

Report prepared by: Morgan Seuberling, Safety and Occupational Health Specialist, Office of Outreach Services and Alliances, January 6, 2011.