SWRI - Alliance Annual Report - February 26, 2004

ALLIANCE ANNUAL REPORT
Occupational Safety and Health Administration and the
Sealant Waterproofing and Restoration Institute (SWRI)
February 26, 2004

 

  1. Alliance Background

    Date Signed February 20, 2003

    Overview The Alliance addresses conditions for workers who apply and otherwise work with sealant, waterproofing, and restoration products. Its aim is to provide information and guidance that will help employers protect employees' health-particularly in the areas of reducing and preventing exposure to lead and silica-and safety-particularly in regard to confined spaces, fall protection, and staging requirements. The Alliances goals include:

    Outreach and Communication
    • Develop and disseminate information and guidance on relevant safety and health topics at SWRI conferences and through print and electronic media.
       
    • Promote and encourage SWRI members' participation in OSHA's cooperative programs such as compliance assistance, the Voluntary Protection Program, Consultation, Strategic Partnerships, and endorse mentoring among SWRI members.
    Promoting the National Dialogue on Workplace Safety and Health
    • In speeches and other public appearances, executives of SWRI and some of its members will attempt to raise others' awareness of and demonstrate their own commitment to workplace safety and health.

    Implementation Team Members
SWRI
Michael Ahearn Secretary/Treasurer
Eric Johnson Safety Committee
Jim Morasco Safety Committee
Deb Nemec Associate Director
Ron Pilla Safety Committee
Carl Seager Chairperson, Safety Committee

OSHA
Dale Krupinski Office of Construction Services
Jess McCluer Office of Outreach Services and Alliances
Lisa Ramber Office of Outreach Services and Alliances
Dom Salvatore Region III, Compliance Assistance Specialist
Nilgun Tolek Office of Outreach Services and Alliances

Contributors
Leighton Hill Contractor for OSHA, Salt Lake Technical Center

Evaluation Period

February 20, 2003 - February 20, 2004
  1. Implementation Team Meetings
  • April 22, 2003
  • September 16, 2003
  • December 16, 2003
 Kick-off meeting, OSHA, Washington, DC
Meeting, OSHA, Washington, DC
Meeting, OSHA, Washington, DC
  1. Events and Products

    Outreach and Communication
    Events:
    October 26-28, 2003: 2003 SWRI Fall Technical Meeting, Four Seasons Hotel-Vancouver, Vancouver, British Columbia.

    October 28, 2003: SWRI/OSHA Alliance, Domenick Salvatore, Compliance Assistant Specialist, Philadelphia Area Office, USDOL-OSHA. Mr. Salvatore presented an overview of the OSHA/SWRI Alliance, with a particular focus on confined space hazards, to over 130 attendees. 

    Mr. Salvatore also manned an OSHA tabletop exhibit at the event and distributed over 100 copies of OSHA publications including the English and Spanish versions of All About OSHA and Cold and Heat Stress Cards along with the Crystalline Silica Exposure Cards.
    Products:
    OSHA and SWRI Alliance Web Page The OSHA and SWRI Alliance Web page on OSHA's Web site contains information on the Alliance, Products and Resources, Activities and Events, and Milestones and Successes. The page is updated regularly.
    • SWRI Web page - Link to Alliance agreement on Web page.
       
    • February 20, 2003 - OSHA distributed a news release announcing the Alliance.
       
    • February 20, 2003 - SWRI distributed a press release announcing the Alliance.
       
    • March 1, 2003 - OSHA included information on the OSHA/SWRI Alliance signing in its bi-weekly e-newsletter, QuickTakes.
       
    • September 2003 - The SWRI Member Briefs, a monthly newsletter of SWRI, published an article on the benefits of the OSHA/SWRI Alliance agreement including a general description of what electronic assistance tools are, including eTools and Safety and Health Topics pages. SWRI also posts this newsletter on their Web page.
       
    • November 2003 - The SWRI Member Briefs, a monthly newsletter of SWRI, published an article on OSHA's Silica Safety and Health Topics page and eTools. SWRI also posts this newsletter on their Web page.
    Promoting the National Dialogue on Workplace Safety and Health

    Specific activities have not yet been planned to meet the promoting the national dialogue on workplace safety and health goal of the Alliance. This goal will continue to be discussed by the implementation team during the Alliance's second year.
  2. Results

    The OSHA/SWRI Alliance has helped increase SWRI members' understanding of lead and silica safety and confined spaces hazards. This has been done by working with Region III Compliance Assistance Specialist, Dominick Salvatore who made a presentation on confined spaces at SWRI's 2003 Fall Technical Meeting. Mr. Salvatore's presentation was titled "Confined Space: The Silent Killer" and focused on confined space hazards, injury and illness statistics, case studies and examples of best practices. Overall, SWRI Members were very pleased with Mr. Salvatore's presentation and now have a better understanding of the resources that are available through OSHA that help educate employers and employees about confined space safety. In addition, Mr. Salvatore's presentation has also been linked to on the OSHA Alliance Program Web page. 

    Due to the popularity and positive impact of Mr. Salvatore's presentation at the fall meeting, SWRI invited him to speak about mast scaffolding at the 2004 Annual Meeting February 29-March 3 in Tucson, AZ.

    Information on the OSHA-SWRI Alliance along with Mr. Salvatore's presentation on lead and silica safety has been included in SWRI's monthly newsletter, Member Briefs, which are accessible through the SWRI Web page. This has helped SWRI show their members that OSHA has numerous compliance assistance materials and resources available for use and distribution throughout the sealant and waterproofing industry.
Type of Activity (Conference, Training, Print and Electronic Distribution, etc.) Number of Individuals Reached or Trained
2003 SWRI Fall Technical Meeting, Four Seasons Hotel-Vancouver, Vancouver, British Columbia. October 26-28, 2003

Speaker: Domenick Salvatore, Compliance Assistance Specialist, Philadelphia Area Office, USDOL-OSHA		 130
November 2003 - The SWRI Member Briefs, a monthly newsletter of SWRI, published an article on OSHA's Silica Safety and Health Topics page and eTools Number of subscribers-
673
OSHA and SWRI Alliance Web page on OSHA's Web site 781 (Note: The count includes data from Aug. 2003 to Feb. 2004)
SWRI Web site - Link to Alliance Agreement 71 (Note: The count includes data from Jan. 2004 to Feb. 2004)
September 2003 - The SWRI Member Briefs, a monthly newsletter of SWRI, published an article on the benefits of the OSHA/SWRI Alliance agreement including participation in the development of Safety and Health Topics pages and eTools Number of subscribers - 673
March 1, 2003 - OSHA includes information on the OSHA/SWRI Alliance signing in its bi-weekly e-newsletter; QuickTakes 38,000
February 20, 2003 - SWRI distributed a press release announcing the Alliance 800
February 20, 2003 - OSHA distributed a news release announcing the Alliance 25 News Services
Total 41,128
  1. Upcoming Milestones

    The OSHA/SWRI Alliance implementation team has discussed a number of activities that will be undertaken in the upcoming year. SWRI would like to work on the development of a Safety and Health Manual for their members. The manual will cover topics such as hazard communication, confined space, fall protection, recordkeeping, personal protective equipment, respiratory protection and scaffolding. Other topics that SWRI members would like the manual to address include written work rules, on-site surveillance and disciplinary actions. 

    Also, SWRI has invited Mr. Salvatore to make presentations on mast scaffolding and respiratory protection at upcoming meetings in 2004. The mast scaffolding presentation will take place at the SWRI 2004 Fall Meeting that is scheduled for February 29-March 3 in Tucson, Arizona. In addition, OSHA will have a tabletop display in the exhibit hall where information about the OSHA-SWRI Alliance along with publications on lead, silica and confined spaces will be distributed. 

    Mr. Salvatore will also make a presentation on respiratory protection at the SWRI Fall Meeting that is scheduled for September 19-21, 2004 in Boston, Massachusetts. Also, OSHA will have a tabletop display where information about the OSHA-SWRI Alliance along with publications on lead, silica and confined spaces will be distributed.

    Report prepared by: Jess McCluer, Alliance Coordinator, Office of Outreach Services and Alliances, February 26, 2004