If you have a desire to help in any way, or know someone in need, the Jackson County Emergency Management webpage and The Rogue Valley Preparedness and Recovery Hubare amazing sources of information and resources for volunteer work, donations, community resource organizations, shelter locations, free meals, and mental health support. In addition, below is a compiled list of organizations that are also taking donations to help provide for the direct needs and long-term recovery of recent fire victims. Thank you for all you do. Please stay safe.
 
Ella Lane Boutique at 739 Medford Center is accepting donations, here is what they need:
-Clothing (all sizes)            -Shoes (all sizes)
-New Underwear (all sizes) -Hangers      
-New Socks (all sizes)        -Toiletries
                   
Josephine County Fairgrounds is open to receive donated items, here is what they need:
-Non-perishable food          -Toiletries
-Water                              -New sleeping bags, blankets, and pillows
 
Medford Neighborhood Church “I C.A.R.E.” campaign – MONETARY DONATIONS ONLY
Donate online here – make sure to designate that your donation is for “I C.A.R.E.”
Mail to 1819 W. Stewart Ave. Medford, OR 97501
 
Journey Church – MONETARY DONATIONS ONLY
Donate online here – select “Almeda Fire Relief”
 
Red Cross – monetary donation for general disaster relief
          Donate online here
 
Rogue Valley Fire Mutual Aid has established supply drop-off locations:
South Ashland @ 770 Faith St. (Drop off at driveway on Wine St.)
North Ashland @ 223 Maple St. (Drop off at side yard/driveway)
Medford @ YMCA parking lot, 522 West 6th St. (Drop off 9/10 from 2:30pm-6:30pm)
 
Rogue Credit Union is matching up to $50,000 in donations.
Donate online here
 
New Life Church is open as a shelter and is distributing donated goods.
Call (541) 779-7777 or Text (531) 262-1823
Email: info@newlifenaz.church
Two locations at 1974 E. McAndrews Rd. Medford, OR & South Medford High School 1551 Cunningham Ave. Medford, OR
Roy Harper

We have a great line-up ready for the last quarter of the year. We are working to help our region finish 2020 as strong as we can. On October 21st, our Safety Committee University content will become available. I implore you to take advantage of this free content to support safety committees everywhere. This is great material you can use to supplement your required safety committee training. Safety Committee University makes it easier for you to have a world-class safety committee that is educated and effective. We can thank our generous sponsors and our conference planning committee for helping us provide this free service to Southern Oregon. Our conference planning committee has worked hard to provide this training material. Because of our free online offering, Safety Committee University has attracted attention across Oregon and beyond. Unfortunately, there are no graduates from Safety Committee University, because the learning never ends!
 
The elephant in most rooms this year has been COVID19. Are you tired of it yet? Me too. In November, we tackle the elephant head-on with our guest speaker, Matt Kaiser, MS, industrial hygienist from Oregon OSHA. Matt is one of the top experts on the new OR-OSHA COVID19 standard. We will have a special opportunity to hear from him and ask him some questions to learn more during our November chapter meeting.
 
We have a special speaker in December. Kim Henry, MS, CIH, CHMM, is an industrial hygienist at SAIF Corporation. She has been part of a team that studies techniques in assessing your chemical hazards easier and more productive. This will be the perfect presentation for the safety manager that is challenged with reviewing safety data sheets for health hazards in order to implement effective controls and train employees. Sure, we all know how to read those SDSs by now, right? This presentation may surprise you.
 
2020 has been an important year to be a safety advocate in our workplaces. No, it definitely hasn’t been easy. We have all had individual challenges that continue to test us. Just remember that our businesses need you, our community needs you, and ASSP needs you! Let’s finish 2020 strong.
 
 
 
David Hanson
President, ASSP – Southern Oregon Chapter
Senior Safety Management Consultant, SAIF Corporation
 
Stay safe!
 
David Hanson, CSP
President, ASSP – Southern Oregon Chapter
Senior Safety Management Consultant, SAIF Corporation
 
David has an expertise building dynamic safety teams and developing high-performing safety cultures. He spent 18 years at Timber Products Company as a supervisor and safety coordinator and facilitated continued certification into Oregon OSHA's Voluntary Protection Program (VPP).

​A few months ago, because of the global pandemic, your Southern Oregon conference planning committee had to make the very difficult decision to cancel our 30th annual Southern Oregon Occupational Safety and Health Conference. In its place, we all agreed that we wanted to give back during this very difficult year. So, we decided to create something new, unique and free. Safety Committee University was born out of that meeting. Every year at the Annual Safety Conference we have held a special track designed for safety committee members.
 
This year, Safety Committee University will serve safety committee training needs in our community and we’ll go ahead and let other regions enjoy this training as well. This online training will provide a hybrid approach for every level.

Employers have a specific obligation in Oregon to have safety committees, and to provide training for its members, and this series will help fulfill that obligation as well as improve the safety bench strength in those organizations that take advantage of it. Safety Committees are only required in 14 states and recommended in 5 others. Oregon has had this requirement since the 1990 Mahonia Hall Workers Comp Reforms where safety committees were required for all public and private employers with 10 or more employees. While it may be the law to have a safety committee in Oregon, it’s also an incredibly valuable resource for any organization to get workers engaged in a regular monthly effort to improve safety for all workers.
 
Our new website is being developed and will Go-Live on October 21st: www.SafetyCommitteeUniversity.com
 
On this site we will house our collection of safety committee resources going forward. Things like the valuable training already mentioned, training rosters, quizzes, to test employee knowledge, and handouts and other resources.
 
Currently, this website is being forwarded to our existing website: www.soassp.org/scu, but on the day of the roll-out, our newly developed website will be linked and active. Starting first thing on October 21st, you will be able to begin downloading resources, attending training sessions as well as join in on live Q&A Networking sessions at specific times.
 
Safety Committee University Training Schedule:
7:00 am         Check-in, find your way around the site, and download your handouts and training guides. Students sign-in.
8:00 am         Module One - Introduction and Keynote Presentation (45 Minutes)
8:45 am         Break
9:00 am         Module Two – Safety Committee 101: Roles and Responsibilities (45 Minutes)
9:45 am         Q&A Networking – Zoom Session – Complete Quiz
10:00 am      Break
10:15 am      Module Three – Effective Incident Analysis (75 Minutes)
11:30 am      Q&A Networking – Zoom Session – Complete Quiz
12:00 pm      Lunch Break
1:00 pm        Module Four – Hazard Identification (45 Minutes)
1:45 pm         Q&A Networking – Zoom Session – Complete Quiz
2:00 pm        Module Five – Safety Committee Success Stories (60 Minutes)
3:00 pm        Training Conclusion – Complete Certificate of Completion           
 
Be sure to mark your calendar and get your committee members ready to attend. And if for some reason they are unable to attend on October 21st, all the training will be available on-demand on our website.
 
Special thanks go to our very generous sponsors. Thank you to Boise Cascade, EHS Maven, Rogue Valley SHRM, Timber Products, and SAIF Corporation for their financial support, PHD Studios for the fine logo art, and Light Symphony Productions for the creative video work!
 
Also, a special thanks goes to our dedicated conference planning team that makes it happen every year: David Hanson, Patti McGuire, Sharell Lien, Jill McConnell, David Meador, Chris Lawrence, Mike Niedermeyer, Susan Riehlman, Diane Kronemann, Kerrie Hyde Bogart, Tim Capley, John Jean, and Sarah Elkinton.
 
Please join us at the Safety Committee University on October 21st!
www.SafetyCommitteeUniversity.com
 
Michael Hill, CSP
ASSP – Southern Oregon Chapter - Conference Planning Chair
www.soassp.org/conference

This is the article I hoped I would never have to write you. Our chapter region has been dealt a difficult blow with recent fire activity. In my 20+ years of experience with the people of our region, Southern Oregon and Northern California, I have learned that the people in our region will band together to help each other get through these challenges. I know that many of you are already getting involved to help any way you can with the hundreds of displaced individuals in our communities through community, government, and church organizations. A lot of this work is changing daily, so it is difficult to give you up-to-date information about the opportunities to help as I write this article. From what I understand at this time, some items needed most are toiletries, ready-to-eat foods, and pet food. There is an anticipated need for tools such as shovels and rakes as residents are allowed to return to their homes. Of course, there is still a huge need for PPE like masks and work gloves.
 
Any recovery from something this big will take time. Because of this, I know that we will also be looking at new ways that our Southern Oregon Chapter can support the safety and health of our community in light of this devastating week. Feel free to contact me with ideas you may have going forward about how our members and chapter can support our community and make improvements. Remember, we are safety professionals, and it is time for us to help. My thoughts and prayers go out to all of you. My sincere appreciation goes out to our brave fire fighters, law enforcement, and public works teams across our region.
 
Stay safe!
 
David Hanson, CSP
President, ASSP – Southern Oregon Chapter
Senior Safety Management Consultant, SAIF Corporation
 
David has an expertise building dynamic safety teams and developing high-performing safety cultures. He spent 18 years at Timber Products Company as a Supervisor and Safety Coordinator and facilitated continued certification into Oregon OSHA's Voluntary Protection Program (VPP).

I am thinking of you all as we navigate the new conditions this pandemic is creating. Many people are reporting unusually high levels of stress and increased anxiety. I want to remind you to pay extra attention to what you can do, moment-to-moment, to calm (or excite) your nervous system as often during the day, and for some, the night. As you help your nervous system calm and reset, you provide the needed internal environment to reduce your stress hormones that cause the increased anxiety, headaches, fear, overeating, etc., that many are struggling with.
 
How can you calm your nervous system and give it a chance to reboot?
 
A key reminder, whatever you do, grows. Is your breathing, thinking, conversation and activity supporting calm, joy, and capability or upset and projecting fear?

• Breathe – low and slow. BELLY out first. 4-6 breaths a minute. Can you do this breathing on the hour or a few times a day?
• Engage your inner coach. Remind yourself in your self-talk, that while you might not like what is going on, you have the skills to work with it.
• Play soothing music in the background. Your nervous system will ‘entrain’ or sync to the beat. If you can find music you enjoy without words, all the better.
• Watch your sugar and caffeine consumption; both increase stress hormones.
• Find a conversation friend – someone who is able to have conversations that include humor, appreciation, and good brain-storming. Intentionally stay away from projecting fear, overwhelm, and dismay.
• Remember to build your life around your joy.

 
Robin’s Ideas for Having a Great Day
1. Before you get out of bed in the morning:
     a. Take three deep, slow belly breaths. Start your day with fresh oxygen.
     b. Think of something you love or are grateful for.
     c. Order up! Focus your mind on what your intention is for the day.
2. Remember your Q-TIP: Quit Taking It Personally. What other people say and do is about their wants and needs; it’s not about you.
3. Connect with at least one person every day in a meaningful, uplifting manner.
4. Notice and celebrate your accomplishments. Congratulate yourself any time you remember to breathe and calm down instead of snapping at your child, coworker, or spouse.
5. Drink plenty of water. Hydration supports your energy level and flushes your toxins.
6. Get up and move. Take a five-minute walk. Stretch. Moving your body frequently during the day will help you maintain a better cognitive and emotional balance.
7. Listen to music that inspires you. Choose songs that move you to laughter, smiles, tears, or any emotion that is real for you.
8. Fill your days with gratitude. Make a list of what you are grateful for and put that list where you can see it easily. Make it a regular habit to be grateful.
9. Stop engaging in conversations that trigger your survival brain. Steer clear of shaming, blaming, and complaining. Reroute or disengage from conversations that include criticizing, comparing, or recycling disappointments. Stop initiating or participating in put-downs or snide remarks, gossip, whining, or angry outbursts. Don’t energize the drama.
10. Focus on what you do want rather than what you don’t want. Remember, your brain does not process negatives. Replace what you don’t want with a request for what you do want – in your own mind and in your conversations with others.
11. Laugh! Who makes you laugh, chuckle, and grin? Include contact with them or thoughts of them often.
12. If your children are upset, use your breathing to calm their difficult moments. When you are breathing fully and easily, you can parent consistently and calmly.
13. Feel your feelings - but act from your values. Remember, you can have strong and uncomfortable feelings and still choose behaviors that are in alignment with your values.
 
 
Robin Rose
Author, Trainer and Consultant
 
https://www.robinrose.com/
​

​Without a doubt, the past few days have had their challenges. Many of you, and your loved ones, have been directly impacted by recent fires that have swept through our region and communities. With an estimated 600 homes lost in the Almeda fire, and a wildfire still threatening Shady Cove and Butte Falls, there is potential for more loss. If you have a desire to help in any way, or know someone in need, the Jackson County Emergency Management webpage and The Rogue Valley Preparedness and Recovery Hub is an amazing source of information and resources for volunteer work, donations, community resource organizations, shelter locations, free meals, and mental health support. In addition, below is a compiled list of organizations that are also taking donations to help provide for the direct needs and long-term recovery of recent fire victims. Thank you for all you do. Please stay safe.
Ella Lane Boutique at 739 Medford Center is accepting donations; here is what they need:
-Clothing (all sizes)            -Shoes (all sizes)
-New Underwear (all sizes) -Hangers      
-New Socks (all sizes)        -Toiletries
                   
Josephine County Fairgrounds is open to receive donated items; here is what they need:
-Non-perishable food          -Toiletries
-Water                              -New sleeping bags, blankets, and pillows
 
Medford Neighborhood Church “I C.A.R.E.” campaign – MONETARY DONATIONS ONLY
Donate online here – make sure to distinguish that your donation is for “I C.A.R.E.”
Mail to 1819 W. Stewart Ave. Medford, OR 97501
 
Journey Church – MONETARY DONATIONS ONLY
Donate online here – select “Almeda Fire Relief”
 
Red Cross – monetary donation for general disaster relief
          Donate online here
 
Rogue Valley Fire Mutual Aid has established supply drop-off locations:
South Ashland @ 770 Faith St. (Drop off at driveway on Wine St.)
North Ashland @ 223 Maple St. (Drop off at side yard/driveway)
 
Rogue Credit Union is matching up to $50,000 in donations.
Donate online here
 
New Life Church is open as a shelter and is distributing donated goods.
Call (541) 779-7777 Text (531) 262-1823
Email: info@newlifenaz.church
Two locations at 1974 E. McAndrews Rd. Medford, OR & South Medford High School 1551 Cunningham Ave. Medford, OR

Roy Harper

Considering recent circumstances within our Southern Oregon community, I was inclined to write an article for the Southern Oregon ASSP newsletter. I am a member of the SO ASSP chapter and work in the safety field. However, I have spent most of my adult life as a firefighter/paramedic. With these wildfires spreading through our community, devastating everything in their path, my time has been split between the fire department and my safety position. As fatigue sets in and is accompanied by overwhelming empathy for my fellow Southern Oregon residents, I am reminded of a poem used in my firefighting training more times than I can count. This poem was written by Dave Hollenbach who is a retired lieutenant with Orange County Fire Rescue and was adapted from the Navy SEALs. What he wrote is more of a creed than a poem. It is something every firefighter has adopted as they prepare to put their lives at risk to save another’s. This creed embodies the firefighting career and every man/woman who wears that Maltese cross accepts the responsibility of this chosen profession. 

“Where there are citizens in distress or in harm’s way there is a special breed that stands ready to answer the call.

A common individual with uncommon desires forged by adversity this person stands alongside their brothers and sisters to serve their community, and protect their lives and property.
​
I am that firefighter!”

My thoughts and prayers go out to all our firefighters, police officers, medics/EMTs, dispatchers, public works, utilities, and all other responders who answered the call and worked tirelessly to protect the lives and property of our Southern Oregon residents. Please keep these responders in your thoughts as they have worked days on end fighting to lessen the impact of this tragic event. Thousands of residents have been displaced while losing everything. However, we should be hopeful. My family has volunteered in the relief effort and have passed out necessities for the affected residents. Nurses, CNAs, and healthcare providers working their regular 12-hour shifts and then volunteering their time in the relief effort is something to see. The community response has been nothing short than inspirational. Piles of donated items stretching from the floor to the ceiling can be seen in many locations. Southern Oregon has shown their fortitude and wherewithal once again! 
 
Kyle Valley

Our search for a vice president is complete. Roy Harper was elected to serve as our vice president at our August 4th meeting. Roy has spent years as an outstanding secretary on our executive board. The secretary position does a great job to prepare someone to be vice president. Roy is a solid leader in our chapter and will be a great vice president. 
 
Unfortunately, our long-time membership chair, Amy Stonehill was unable to continue in her role on the executive board. A big thank you to Amy for her hard work in her leadership in our chapter over the years. I served as the membership chair years ago and I can tell you, Amy did an amazing job.
 
Loria Holden, Timber Products Company, has been appointed and approved for the membership chair role on our executive board. Loria is well qualified and has served as president of an ASSP chapter back east. Loria has also volunteered to lead WISE efforts in our chapter. If you haven’t welcomed her to our chapter yet, go ahead and do so. We are very fortunate to have Loria and her experience in our chapter.
 
We still have vacancies on our executive board. The biggest vacancy is the secretary position. This is a lot of work, but it does give the individual a great view of the mechanics of how our chapter runs. The other position is the COMT position. This executive board position works within the Chapter Operations Management Tool (COMT) online to make sure our chapter is doing the things we need to do to be a successful chapter. This is a great position for a new member on the executive board and helps guide the executive board in their efforts. The Chapter Operations Management Tool makes this an easier task. Please let me know if you are interested in either of these positions on our executive board.
 
The new availability of recorded content for visitors to our website has been a great resource. If you missed last month’s chapter meeting or can’t remember how the speaker answered a certain question, it’s still available to watch afterwards. This change in our online presence has expanded the value of our website to you and our community. Our July presentation by Nathan Sweet and Matt Kaiser from Oregon OSHA was thus able to gain statewide audience because the topic included the entire state and our recording of the meeting was available online.
 
What’s on the horizon for you from your Southern Oregon Chapter for the next three months? While it is only available to ASSP members, don’t forget the ASP/CSP study group. This study group is designed for safety professionals preparing to take the ASP/CSP tests but available to any ASSP member. Join us monthly on the third Tuesday evening, 7:00-8:30 pm by virtual web-based meeting. Our next study group will be September 15th.
 
Pay special attention to Jon Sowers’s upcoming presentation on September 1st where he will discuss the 5 principles of Human Performance. This proves to be an interactive adventure into the Human and Organizational Performance principles that are changing the way we talk about safety in the workplace.
 
In October, we are going to host our first ever Safety Committee University which is shaping up to be a great event to provide support for your safety committee members. We are working hard to keep this event free as a special thankyou to the Southern Oregon community for helping make our Occupational Safety and Health Conference a major success over the decades.
 
David Hanson
 
 
Stay safe!

​Everything that happens in your organization, happens because of the systems in place that ultimately determine the outcomes. Successful organizations have more positive outcomes than negative outcomes. Stellar organizations are able to analyze these systems and make changes to get the results they expect. We must always remember that these systems are within our control, either by intention or by default. To be a stellar organization, we must control these systems by intention. To do this, we must first learn all we can about the relationships between these systems.
 
That is the purpose of learning teams. The learning teams approach has been most recently popularized by Todd Conklin, Bob Edwards, and Jim Howe. According to Conklin, Edwards, and Howe, a learning team is a loosely structured group of workers from any level or levels within an organization that has been assembled to learn how a significant event happened. This group adheres to some key principles that ensure team effectiveness:

• The focus is not on finding someone to blame.
• Primarily interested in “how” an event happened. (Not why or who.)
• The primary focus is on what lessons we can learn from the context of the story of the event.

 
Learning teams were originally developed to improve operational learning and make it more effective. There is an important realization that workers have a more complete “contextual understanding” of how work happens in the field. A learning team can harness this understanding to learn more about what is really happening at the task level.
 
We need to try to learn about our systems—failures and successes—before we can make meaningful improvements in our operations. The very things that we do to keep each other safe at work are the very same kinds of things we need to do to be successful in everything we do.
 
I have seen these principles in action. When I was a supervisor, the best solutions we ever found were when we included employees in the information gathering and decision-making process. When frontline employees were part of the decision-making process, they had buy-in and saw the benefit of the solutions we were implementing. As a supervisor, it was so much easier to manage a system that was established with input from all levels of an organization and that considered the experience and viewpoints from frontline employees. Remember, frontline employees are experts on the frontline day-to-day context of how your operation works. The employee that offers a suggestion that is accepted becomes personally motivated to participate in the implementation of that solution.
 
That is the challenge that the learning team principles ask us to confront: Let’s get better, and let’s do it together.
 
David Hanson, CSP

​The last four months have changed our safety profession in startling ways. The sobering decision we had to make to cancel the Southern Oregon Safety and Health Conference is still a shock for me as I consider what it means for our region. Losing this sensational event for 2020 has caused me to reconsider how our chapter can serve our region in the upcoming year. Social distancing requirements have forced our monthly events to a virtual setting. One of the benefits of this has been an increase in availability to ASSP members throughout our area. Members who once could not sacrifice the hours it would take to attend our monthly meetings are able to attend on our web-based meetings.
 
Another change that is significant is that the need for safety professionals has not decreased. Safety professionals are not only needing to implement new policies, but assure that safe practices are being practiced.
 
In a world where safety and health best practices are changing almost daily, it is even more important that we stay connected to each other as safety professionals. The Southern Oregon Chapter of the ASSP is still one of the best organizations for you to do this. Keep a close eye on our chapter website as we offer additional resources, meeting, and videos. While we may not be holding our annual safety conference this year, we are committed to provide you with a Safety Committee Academy learning opportunity that you can use to supplement safety committee member training. Look for that opportunity to be available in the fall.
 
Stay safe!
 
David Hanson
 
David Hanson, CSP
President, ASSP – Southern Oregon Chapter
Senior Safety Management Consultant, SAIF Corporation
 
David has an expertise building dynamic safety teams and developing high-performing safety cultures. He spent 18 years at Timber Products Company as a Supervisor and Safety Coordinator and facilitated continued certification into Oregon OSHA's Voluntary Protection Program (VPP).