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Region 6 - Alliance Annual Report - May 29, 2015

ANNUAL ALLIANCE REPORT
U.S. Department of Labor
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration
The Dallas Area Office and Baton Rouge Area Office
And
The Ark-La-Tex STEPS Network
May 29, 2015

  1. Alliance Background

    1. Date Signed

      May 8, 2013 - End Date: May 8, 2015

    2. Evaluation Period

      Aug 27, 2014 through May 13, 2015

    3. Overview

      Alliance with the Ark La Tex STEPS Network and the Dallas Area Office (Primary) and the Baton Rouge Area Office. The Alliance is directed towards reducing injuries, illnesses and fatalities in the oil and gas exploration and production industry. STEPS Network is a monthly safety meeting where best practices and incident trends are discussed, and guest speakers provide safety information to address hazards in the industry.

    4. Implementation Team Members

      OSHA

      Stephen Boyd
      Area Director (A.D.), Dallas Area Office
      Dorinda Folse
      Area Director (A.D.), Baton Rouge Area Office
      Elias Vela
      Compliance Assistance Specialist (CAS), Dallas Area Office

      ARK LA TEX STEPS

      Larry Cooper
      President (2014), ARK LA TEX STEPS
      Phillip Crutcher
      Tech Assist (2014) ARK LA TEX STEPS

  2. Implementation Team Meetings

    Alliance coordination and planning was conducted through phone, email, and monthly safety network member meetings.

    ArkLaTex meetings were conducted on the second Wednesday of each month throughout the evaluation period. OSHA CAS' were present and conducted OSHA enforcement inspection and statistical updates regarding hazard identification and relative accident information.

  3. Events and Products

    Training and Education

    • Events

      • Oil and Gas Safety Stand-Down Month March 2014

    • Seminars

      • The Ark La Tex STEPS Network purpose is to provide a safety forum for companies and organizations involved in the oil and gas exploration and production industry to meet on a monthly basis to discuss accident trends, best practices, disseminate safety information, and have speakers talk on relevant topics to safety in the exploration and production field. Meetings are held monthly and last approximately two hours.

    • Products

      • A resource slide presentation was developed with industry related safety information and distributed to hundreds of companies in the oil and gas industry.
      • The ArkLaTexSTEPs.com website is being updated

    Outreach and Communication

    • Events

      • Monthly safety forums (second Wednesday of each month)

    • Products

      • Website, www.arklatexsteps.com facilitated the dissemination of information to the industry in the East Texas, South Arkansas and North Louisiana areas.

    Promoting the National Dialogue on Workplace Safety and Health

    • Events

      • No National dialogue at this time
      • Members of the ArkLaTex chapter of the STEPS network attended the ASSE Safety Exposition at the Cobb Convention Center in Longview TX on or about Oct 29, 2014.
      • The chapter members also attended the OSHA Oil &Gas Conference in Houston, TX on or about Dec 2, 2014.

    • Products

      • No products developed at this time

  4. Results

    Participation in the Alliance has helped maintain and improve the knowledge and sharing of best practices for the exploration and production field in the Ark La Tex area. In addition to the meetings covering FRCs, Heat Stress, safe driving, H2S, slings inspection and safety, cell phone (Distracted driving) policies, cranes, and other topics, meetings on fatality trends, best practices, and new regulations were distributed to the exploration and production contractors.

    The group has become a distribution point for safety related classes and information in the area, particularly non-profit classes offered in the area. The meetings average approximately 40 attendees.

    OSHA's National Campaign for work-related Heat Stress and National Initiative for Distracted Driving were addressed and materials were provided to members-attendees of the monthly meetings.

    The following was reported by the University of Texas University OSHA Education Center regarding the March 2013 Safety Stand-Down

    These tables are best viewed on tablets, notebooks, or desktop computer screens.

    # Jobsites Inspected # Hazards Identified & Corrected # Workers Trained # Sub-Contractors Training Hours Required Hours Spent on Inspections Which STEPS Network?
    16 28 33 1     ArkLaTex STEPS
    1 2 3 0     ArkLaTex STEPS
    4 33 80 75     ArkLaTex STEPS
    11 142 343 0     ArkLaTex STEPS

  5. Upcoming Milestones

    The ArkLatTex Alliance renewal agreement will be signed on June 10, 2015.

    The new Chairman has been identified as Liz McDaniel.

    Continued monthly ArkLaTex Network safety forum meetings.

    The 2015 Oil and Gas Environmental Conference is projected to be held December 1st through 3rd 2015 in Houston, Texas.