​We will be taking an online vote in our May virtual chapter meeting. Please join us on May 5th at noon to take part in this by joining the WebEx meeting link. Thanks for your thoughtful consideration and for all those who agreed to serve this year. I look forward to working with you to help advance safety in Southern Oregon.
 
2020/2021 ASSP Southern Oregon Chapter Slate of Candidates for Election
(The 2020/2021 chapter year runs from July 1, 2020 to June 30, 2021.)
 
President – David Hanson
Vice President – Open Position
Past President – Chris Lawrence
Secretary – Roy Harper
Treasurer – Patti McGuire
Program Coordinator – David Spence
Membership Coordinator – Amy Stonehill
Communications Coordinator – Kyle Valley
Conference Planning Chair – Michael Hill
Government Affairs Coordinator – Ross Olson
Operations Coordinator – Open Position
 
The vote, which will occur on the first Tuesday in May, will be to approve the entire slate. Since we do not have any contested positions, we will be looking for your support of these leaders who have agreed to serve. Thank you for being a member of the Southern Oregon Chapter.
 
Michael Hill
Past President

​As I write this, I am hoping that all our chapter members and their loved ones are doing well during these challenging times.No, this is not another article on the perils of staying safe in a pandemic. I think most of us have that message well in hand.This is about new opportunities to learn and share. As an example, while we may not be able to meet in person, we will be working on how to bring technical meetings to where you are!
 
If all goes well, we will hold our first on-line chapter technical meeting on May 5th!Our goal is to have an OSHA representative, the well-known and loved Lenny Reierson, conduct an online course discussing the top OSHA violations that OSHA has been seeing over the last couple of years. With chapter leaders like Mike Hill and David Spence taking us on this journey, it is sure to be a successful and very good option to share important safety information with our chapter and region.
 
I will always believe that we see a much richer comradery when we meet together, but the learning part of our meeting can still occur in an electronic format.It truly can be a very functional way of sharing safety learnings. With what we learn through this social distancing constraint, we may be able to have a component of electronic learning in our future meetings. We will still have our very crucial in-person meetings and potentially have an electronic component for those who are not able to attend for some reason. 
 
While I definitely enjoy being able to see chapter members and visitors in our monthly meeting, I look forward to still being able to meet and learn in a new way for the time being. Perhaps we will be able to meet in person again starting in June, but for now, we are hoping you will be able to join in our WebEx format to learn and share valuable safety information from Oregon OSHA. 
 
Keep an eye on our website and your email for more information to come on our next meeting that will be in a WebEx format! I miss seeing you all, and I hope you are staying safe and healthy during this COVID-19 response effort.
 
 
Chris Lawrence
President, ASSP – Southern Oregon Chapter
 
​With over 20 years in occupational safety and health, Chris Lawrence is a retired US Air Force Safety Professional who is the Regional Safety Manager for Boise Cascade.

​Member Spotlight
We have two new members to spotlight this month, Ross Olson and Loria Holden. Check out more about their background and join us in welcoming them to our chapter!
 
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Have you ever asked yourself any of these questions?
 
Does our safety committee have the training it needs to operate effectively? When do we need to post the 300a report? Did we follow up on the hazard list that the safety committee submitted to us last month? Is this safety improvement really necessary? How are we doing on our corporate safety goals and objectives? Do our employees understand our safety policies? Weren’t we documenting our safety training? Does our safety policy need to be updated? When was the last time we updated our safety policy anyway? Why don’t our employees contribute more to our safety program? Why don’t we identify more hazards on our safety inspections? Are we really that safe? I reported a safety hazard last week—whatever happened with that? Are we safer now than we were three years ago?
 
It’s okay if you have. But if you have asked these questions, chances are you need a dedicated safety manager at your organization.
 
Things a safety manager can offer your organization:

• Clear direction for safety goals and objectives of the organization
• Safety efforts that are consistent and effective throughout multiple departments and by multiple supervisors
• Management support to safety committee activities and tying loose ends
• Follow-through on identified hazards by making sure that reported hazardsare making their way through steps to be resolved
• Help in identifying effective best practices that go above and beyond mere compliance
• Healthy change management processes and building safety into projects
• On-site resource for up-to-date safety best practices
• On-site safety resource that can train employees on the best practices and company policies
• A knowledgeable advocate that can assist when your organization is under the microscope from external agencies
• An additional concerned ear on the management team to employee safety concerns
• Assurance that safety recordkeeping is being done properly
• Data-driven decision making tools that help identify where your safety program is now and where your organization wants to go

 
Organizations that hire the right safety manager for their company soon learn that many of the techniques used to manage a great safety program also work to manage and organize other critical company functions. 
 
Now that you’ve asked the questions and know what you need, check out the ASSP guide to hiring the right safety professional here:
https://www.assp.org/docs/default-source/asspdoc/hiring_right_osh_professional.pdf?sfvrsn=0.
 
David Hanson, CSP
Vice President, ASSP – Southern Oregon Chapter
Senior Safety Management Consultant, SAIF Corporation
 
David has expertise in 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).