<< Back to Concluded Regional Alliances - Region V

ANNUAL REGIONAL ALLIANCE REPORT
The Marble Institute of America (MIA) and OSHA
(Region V)
May 2007
I. Alliance Background
Date Signed
March 10, 2006
Alliance Overview
OSHA and MIA formed an Alliance to provide MIA members 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 silica hazards and addressing safety related hazards in
natural stone fabricating businesses, including, but not limited to material handling, with emphasis
on slab handling issues.
The MIA is the largest trade association serving the natural stone industry.
Implementation Team Members
Julie Weis, CAS, Cleveland OSHA Office
Gary Distelhorst, Executive Vice President, MIA
Jim Hieb, Special Project Director, MIA
II. Implementation Team Meetings
Once the Alliance was signed, the Implementation Team met several times to discuss possibilities to
assure success of this endeavor. Discussions were also held many times via phone conferences
regarding the planned activities. All face to face meetings were held at the MIA headquarters in
Westlake, OH. In the evaluation period there were 4 onsite meetings and numerous phone
conversations.
III. Activities and Products
Evaluation Period.
This report covers activities from March 10, 2006 to April 10, 2007.
Alliance Activity.
- Training and Education: Cleveland OSHA CAS provided numerous brochures and other information to
the MIA headquarters on many different safety and health related topics that would ultimately
benefit the MIA members. CAS explained OSHA regulations and opportunities for stone businesses to
become more acquainted with their responsibilities under the OSHA Act.
- Outreach and Communication: On Dec. 19, 2006, MIA and OSHA sponsored a day long seminar for
companies in the stone industry. This was held in the Cleveland, OH area with companies from four
other states in attendance. The day included sessions on OSHA polices and procedures, safe slab
handling techniques, prevention of silica exposure, state consultation availability for assistance,
and a first hand account from a local company that had recently been inspected by OSHA.
MIA has placed an OSHA link on their website, thereby encouraging visitors to become involved in
learning more about how to improve the safety and health of their companies and employees.
- Promoting the National Dialogue on Safety and Health: MIA has promoted this Alliance and the
safety and health topic in general during their internal meetings, conferences, and other
discussions throughout the nation.
Cleveland CAS was invited to speak at the MIA’s Stoneworld National Conference (StonExpo), November
2006, on the OSHA Alliance. Additional information was provided during the presentation regarding
specific safety and health regulations and how to comply with OSHA standards. Questions were
answered as well. Companies from almost all states were represented. There were approximately 150
attendees at the session. Because of the success of this forum, OSHA was requested to put on a
similar presentation at the StonExpo in Atlanta, Georgia, thereby educating even more businesses on
this topic.
Alliance Products.
Training and Education
- OSHA actively participated in the production of MIA’s DVD video on the "Basics of Safe Stone Slab
Handling" and "Basics of OSHA Compliance for the Natural Stone Industry." The industry realized that
companies needed to be better informed on safety and health related issues. They incorporated OSHA
personnel, including the Cleveland and Phoenix ADs and Cleveland CAS in the video describing basic
OSHA policies and procedures as well as the emphasis OSHA has on silica exposure and material
handling. These videos were produced professionally and distributed to MIAs member companies in
the magazine, "Stoneworld." This magazine reaches over 10,000 companies!
- Cleveland OSHA CAS assisted MIA in the review of their soon to be published "Tool Box Talks" for
the stone industry, specifically to assure that the appropriate regulatory standards were referenced
and well as an overview of the covered subjects.
- Promoting the National Dialogue on Safety and Health: A video webcast was produced by MIA,
highlighting silica exposure in the stone industry. An OSHA rep. in Washington, DC was interviewed
extensively on OSHA’s emphasis in this area. The background on silica was reviewed and included an
expert in the pulmonary field from the Cleveland Clinic. Information was provided to help companies
understand that they must have air monitoring conducted to determine what their employees’ exposures
to silica actually are. It can be viewed on www.stonenewschannel.com.
IV. Results
This report outlines the successful activities that have been accomplished during the first year of
this Alliance. OSHA has "opened the door" to communicating with the largest trade association
representing the stone industry. This industry has many inherently hazardous operations that
employees are exposed to, including, but not limited to, silica exposure and slab handling. We feel
as though we have begun the process to provide the necessary information and education, through
discussions, seminars, video webcasts and DVDs to this industry through this cooperative Alliance
and look forward to another year of progress.
Type of Activity (Conference, Training, Print and Electronic Distribution, etc.) |
Number of Individuals Reached or Trained |
Speech @ Stoneworld National Conference, Nov., 2006,
Las Vegas, NV |
150 |
OSHA newsletter articles |
10,000 (subscribing members) |
Day long S & H Seminar, Cleveland, Dec. 19, 2006 |
65 |
DVD on Safe Slab Handling and Basic Shop Safety |
10,000 produced and distributed |
OSHA assistance on development of Safety Tool Box
Talks for Stone Industry |
Number not known at this time. |
MIA @ OSHA DC for video on Silica |
(webcasts on Stoneworld’s (www.stonenewschannel.com)
and MIA websites) |
TOTAL |
Difficult to quantify from above information |
V. Upcoming Milestones
During the next period of the Alliance, we will be working on developing a DVD
that involves creating a "mock OSHA inspection" at one of MIAs member companies. This locally
developed project will be able to visually depict how a compliance officer performs a typical OSHA
inspection at a stone fabricating company. During the course of this "inspection," procedures will
clearly be demonstrated, hazards will be pointed out, employees will be interviewed, etc. After
editing, this DVD can then be shared with other companies in order for them to become better
educated on the OSHA inspection process and how to find and correct potential hazards in their own
shops.
Report Prepared by: Julie Weis, CAS, Cleveland OSHA Office, 216-615-4260
|