It’s a new chapter year!
 
There are so many things going on in our world that it seems like time is just a blur. While still with us, the response to the coronavirus has stabilized, and we are now back to in-person meetings! We had a great safety conference last October with some great speakers—although the bulk of the activities were online. Despite all challenges of operating in such an environment, our chapter has done well and pulled through.    
 
Surely, we must recognize our members for staying the course and adapting to an ever-changing safe work environment. Changes by the Center for Disease Control, the Oregon Health Authority, government regulations, personnel changes, etc. have all been a challenge to navigate. The flow of change seemed endless. Our members have gone through a lot, and it is such a blessing to see how they have succeeded.   
 
As we roll into the new chapter year, I want to thank those who have stepped up to continue the chapter legacy of success! Take a look at this list of outstanding people who have taken on roles to support this chapter and its members. 
 

I can see that our chapter is in good hands for the future! Without question, this team was handed an outstanding chapter that was headed up by these people who gave it their all:  David Hanson was the back-to-back president whose efforts really did carry our chapter through the pandemic. There are no words that will do his commitment, work ethic, and success justice. Patti McGuire, this year’s vice president, held the treasurer position for many years. Again, as with all of the team, there are no words to do her service justice. She is an amazing person, and I can say this for sure: We have not had a better treasurer and supporter of our chapter. Mike Hill will still be doing meticulous work on the 2022 safety conference just as he has done for several years now with past conferences. What an inspiration. He has done such an awesome job at running our conferences, you would think it was his profession! Yet, like all board members, he volunteers his time! Kyle Valley did such a great job of keeping the chapter newsletter going and getting personnel involved. It may be like the proverbial herding of cats, but he stayed the course and knocked it out of the park. (That was for him—many of you may not know that he was once a professional baseball player!) Our monthly programs were still first-rate because we have a true professional named Jen Killpack who was the program director. Again, the professionalism she brought to the table was nothing short of outstanding. Karrie Hyde Bogart was running our chapter operations effort and did such a great job of jumping into that role despite being in another challenging volunteer role. Again, when I get beat down by the mental rigors of day-to-day safety, I think of folks like her, and I find myself being inspired to step up even more. We had some vacancies in positions throughout the year and we found some excellent people to stand in the gap. These outstanding professionals (Jeff Mook, Nilda Martinez, and Shyra Vaughn) helped the board finish the year in style! And the good news: these three awesome individuals volunteered to stay on for this new chapter year. 
 
As you can tell, I really do admire all these dedicated professionals! It takes dedicated folks such as them to make this chapter a success, but it takes really special people to stay the course when you consider the challenges we have seen over the last couple of years.
 
When you are out and about and see any these folks, please take the time to help us recognize them for their efforts. They deserve it without hesitation.
 
Chris Lawrence
 ​

As high temperatures continue throughout the summer, OSH professionals should be prepared to protect employees who will be exposed to heat and wildfire smoke. Oregon OSHA adopted new permanent rules designed to protect workers from the dangers of exposure to wildfire smoke and heat.
 
The permanent heat rule went into effect June 15th, 2022 and the wildfire smoke rule on July 1st, 2022. These rules are designed to prevent heat-related illnesses and exposure to wildfire smoke, both of which have the capacity to be relentless during Southern Oregon summers.
At 80°F, the heat rule calls for employers to provide water, shade, the ability to communicate, and training. Once the heat index reaches 90°F or higher, there are further requirements, which include frequent cooling breaks and an acclimatization plan. A written plan is required for the heat rule, which is also required to be located at each work site.
 
When implementing the wildfire smoke rule, it is important to understand the basics, such as learning about AQI (Air Quality Index) and what the various numbers mean. With the wildfire smoke rule, the rule takes effect when the AQI reaches 101 and filtering face piece respirators need to be made available for voluntary use.
 
When the AQI reaches 251, employees exposed to wildfire smoke are required to wear a filtering face piece respirator in accordance with Appendix A in the rule. When the AQI reaches 501, Appendix A is no longer applicable, and you will need to implement a Respiratory Protection Program (i.e. medical evaluation and fit testing).
 
You can read more about the new requirements of the heat and wildfire smoke rules here:
https://osha.oregon.gov/OSHARules/adopted/2022/heat-wildfire-smoke-rule-summary-2022.pdf.
 
In safety, the first and best line of defense is to remove the hazard whenever possible. When possible, rescheduling work for the coolest part of the day is a great idea. For many professions, such as public works, law enforcement, etc., this is not always feasible. Setting up misting tents, providing cooling packs or vests, and my personal favorite for law enforcement: Cool Cop Body Armor Air Conditioning. As temperatures increase, this is must for police officers who are running call to call.
 
There are so many great ideas out there that Southern Oregon employers are putting together on how to keep folks cool at work. Please join us for the August meeting and get to know what other employers are doing to keep employees cool. See you then!
 
Heather Ashwill

Save the Date
The 2022 Southern Oregon Occupational Safety and Health Conference is coming to Southern Oregon on October 18-20 and will feature a mix of in-person and online training sessions this year. Please watch for our flyer coming out soon.
 
Professional Development Workshop
Tuesday, October 18th will feature an entirely in-person event including a 4-hour professional development workshop led by retired colonel Jeff Crapo of Ethos Academy. “Leadership is influence,” Jeff quotes John Maxwell. Jeff also quotes the Army leadership manual, “Leadership is the process of influencing people by providing purpose, direction and motivation to accomplish the mission and improve the organization.” Jeff will lead us through his model of leadership training and help us better understand how purpose, direction, and motivation all work together to make you a more effective leader. You won’t want to miss it!
 
Special Session Banquet
Following the Leadership Workshop, we will have a special luncheon speaker. Dr. Nancy Knechel will present her sleep science research on how a person with three or more sleep risk factors has a 70% increased risk of on-the-job injury. This is profound research for safety professionals and a new layer of focus that can have a lasting impact on worker safety.
 
Award Ceremony
Next on the agenda, we will host our annual ASSP Award Ceremony featuring Craig Hamelund from Oregon OSHA. This year, we are bringing back the Bertak Award for Safety Committee Recognition, and Craig will recognize leaders and committee members for their hard work and accomplishments. Along with the Bertak Award, we will once again honor the Lundberg Award winners, as well as Business Leader Who Gets It Award, Safety Committee Champion Award, and Chapter Safety Professional of the Year Award. Award applications are posted on our website at: www.soassp.org/conference. Apply to recognize your safety leaders today!
 
Networking Mixer
Lastly, we will bring back our popular Networking Mixer celebration free to all ASSP Members and Conference registrants. We will offer food and beverage along with a no-host bar. The committee is putting together a fun opportunity to get to know other safety pros from our community, and it’s always a great time.
 
Online Safety Conference
The next two days, October 19-20 will be entirely online with dynamic speakers hosted live from our local region and around the country. We are offering three keynote sessions from Jeff Crapo of Ethos Academy, Linda Tapp of Safety FUN-damentals, and Jake Mazulewicz on Psychological Safety.
 
We will also offer three breakout tracks including the safety and health track, the safety committee series, and we are bringing back the construction track. The safety and health track will offer such sessions as Safety Technology, Ergonomics, Serious Injury and Fatality Prevention, Safety Management, and First Aid Playbook. The safety committee track will offer SC101 Safety Committee Introduction, COVE Visual Literacy, Seven Secrets to Root Cause Analysis by TapRoot, SC201 Safety Committee Toolbox, and SC301 Safety Committee Engagement. We believe this will be our best safety committee series ever so bring your team and give them the tools and inspiration they need to accelerate your safety program. Our construction track will feature five sessions including eToolbox Safety Apps for Construction, Focus 4 Hazards in Construction, Excavation Inspections, Suicide Prevention in Construction, and Silica Awareness.
 
We look forward to seeing you in October!
 
Enthusiastically,
Michael Hill
SOSAFETY Conference Chair
www.sosafety.org
www.soassp.org/conference