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