​Safety Committee University was a success! Thanks to all who helped us put this great training together for our region. From our dedicated conference planning team, the many presenters and contributors, our wonderful sponsors, and especially the many people and groups that attended online, thank you for helping to make this training series a success.
 
On October 21st, we rolled out an exciting series of trainings for safety committee members. This training was designed to help safety committees sharpen their skills, learn what is required of them under Oregon OSHA, and to take their committee to a whole new level. We heard some great feedback. We got to meet most of the Timber Products Medford Hardwoods safety committee who met safely together on the day of the roll-out to attend all five modules and even join us for the live welcome session. The really cool part is this training was not limited to our region. We met several people from the Coos Bay area that were attending.
 
The best news of all is that this training will continue to be available throughout the year. Feel free to have your committee members take advantage of the Safety Committee University from the comfort of their own computer in a self-paced manner. All five modules are recorded and available at no charge at www.SafetyCommitteeUniversity.com.
 
In case you missed any of this great content, it’s not too late!

• Craig Hamelund’s inspirational and touching keynote presentation.
• Patti McGuire’s super informational Safety Committee 101. Learn the safety committee requirements in a simple to understand way.
• David Hanson’s version of CSI for safety in his skilled presentation on Effective Incident Analysis.
• Chris Lawrence’s 25+ years of experience taught to you in this dynamic Hazard Identification training.
• Lastly, one of my favorite modules, a collection of safety committee success stories with the powerful conclusion by Tim Hart of Duro-Last Roofing, one of the safest companies in the nation.

 
Our plan is to continue to grow this resource with added trainings, best practices, and stories when they become available, so if you’ve already enjoyed the training and are looking for more, check back. If you have something to share with other safety committees, please reach out to us on the “contact us” page at www.SafetyCommitteeUniversity.com.
 
Michael Hill
ASSP Southern Oregon Chapter Conference Planning Chair

​Who is responsible for safety at your organization? The answers to this question are windows into how safety happens at your organization. This reminds me of a story.
 
I remember years ago helping to get my safety committee members signed up for the annual Southern Oregon Occupational Safety and Health Conference. This was a big deal. We depended on this conference to boost our safety committee members’ knowledge about their role in many different safety topics. New safety committee members always went to the safety committee track to make sure they had the required safety committee training. Seasoned safety committee members often chose other topics that they were working on that could help them make our department better. Part of this process included applying for safety committee awards and safety program awards. Would we finally get the coveted “Randall Lundberg” award for outstanding safety and health program this year? Would we be in the running for the exclusive “Best of the Best” for safety committees? Did we work hard enough to earn these awards in the last 14 months? We were enrolling our safety committee members to attend the best safety conference in Southern Oregon when we noticed a new question on the application. It read, “Who is responsible for safety at your company?” Aha! We knew the answer to this question. Our department had attended enough of these conferences to know what the correct answer to this question was. We knew that there was only one correct answer you could ever give to that question. This was a foundational safety principle and clearly the conference organizers were trying to test our safety culture IQ with this clever question. We all patted ourselves on the back as we answered the question correctly with a “me” or a “everyone,” convinced we had passed the test. In hindsight, the lesson was clear: The Southern Oregon Occupational Safety and Health Conference had effectively shaped the way that our safety committee understood safety and our role to keep everyone safe.
 
It has been a constant refrain for the last few months—the conference will not happen this year. It still hurts to say it, and it hurts as I type it now. I do find comfort in this fact: our chapter is still committed to safety committees. This event will be available as free recorded content for you and your safety committees. This material can help support your safety committee in its important role.
 
Years later I had a chance to speak to a couple veteran conference planning committee members. I asked them why we don’t ask the safety culture question on the enrollment process anymore. They admitted that they weren’t sure what I was talking about as they glanced at each other with puzzled expressions. I explained to them the question, “Who is responsible for safety at your company?” When they realized what I was referring to, they said, “Oh, we just wanted to know who to send the attendee schedules to.” 
 
Let our free Safety Committee University continue our long tradition of helping safety committee members to understand their important role in workplaces across our region and beyond.
 
David Hanson
​President, ASSP – Southern Oregon Chapter
Senior Safety Management Consultant, SAIF Corporation

​Subject: Would you or a coworker benefit from added leadership training? 
 
Would you or a coworker benefit from added leadership training?  
     
The aims of this program are to help supervisors develop and enhance leadership skills. Participants will discuss a variety of topics including:  
 

• Leadership fundamentals, including leadership styles and what makes an effective leader 
• Employee involvement and work styles 
• Communication and having difficult conversations 
• Accountability 
• Total Worker Health  

• Human and Organizational Performance 
• Unconscious bias, diversity, and inclusion 

   
Class Size: 10 Participants
 
Format:  The sessions will include group discussion, where participants will learn from each other as well as from instructors.  
   
Details: The seven-meeting series will occur remotely, via a Zoom meeting,starting Wednesday, Januray 6th at 1:00 pm, for one hour every other week.  
 
Expectations for Participants:  Participants should make every effort to attend all sessions and understand that they will not graduate if they have two absences. Participants will be expected to create a Leadership Action Plan. They will share this plan and their progress with the instructors. Participants will be expected to spend about one hour to one and a half hours doing “outside of class” tasks for each session. This may include reviewing handouts, viewing recorded webinars, and/or watching specific presentations on YouTube. Participants will be expected to meet with a member of their firm’s upper management team to discuss what they are learning and applying.  
   
Expectation for the Organization:  The organization will be expected to have a member of the upper management team serve as a mentor for the participant. The mentor will meet with the participant to discuss what they are learning, applying, and Leadership Action Plan progress. 
 
To sign up for the next available training or with questions contact: Jon Sowers jonsow@saif.com or Jim Nusser jimnus@saif.com.
 
We look forward to hearing from you.  

​Subject: Would you or a coworker benefit from added leadership training? 
     
The aims of this program are to help supervisors develop and enhance leadership skills. Participants will discuss a variety of topics, including:  
 

• Leadership fundamentals, including leadership styles and what makes an effective leader 
• Employee involvement and work styles 
• Communication and having difficult conversations 
• Accountability 
• Total Worker Health  

• Human and Organizational Performance 
• Unconscious bias, diversity, and inclusion 

   
Class Size: 10 Participants
 
Format:  The sessions will include group discussion where participants will learn from each other as well as from instructors.  
   
Details: The seven-meeting series will occur remotely, via a Zoom meeting for one hour every other week.  
 
Session 1 12/01/20 10 AM
 
Session 2 12/15/20 10 AM
 
Session 3 01/05/21 10 AM
 
Session 4 01/19/21 10 AM
 
Session 5 02/02/21 10 AM
 
Session 6 02/16/21 10 AM
 
Session 7 03/02/21 10 AM
  
Expectations for Participants:  Participants should make every effort to attend all sessions and understand that they will not graduate if they have two absences. Participants will be expected to create a Leadership Action Plan. They will share this plan and their progress with the instructors. Participants will be expected to spend about one hour to one and a half hours doing “outside of classwork” assignments for each session. This may include reviewing handouts, viewing recorded webinars, and/or watching specific presentations on YouTube. Participants will be expected to meet with a member of their firm’s upper management team to discuss what they are learning and applying.  
   
Expectation for the Organization:  The organization will be expected to have a member of the upper management team serve as a mentor for the participant. The mentor will meet with the participant to discuss what they are learning, applying, and Leadership Action Plan progress. 
 
To sign up for the next available training or with questions contact: Jon Sowers jonsow@saif.com or Jim Nusser jimnus@saif.com.
 
We look forward to hearing from you.  

​Safety Committee University was a success! Thanks to all who helped us put this great training together for our region. To our dedicated conference planning team, the many presenters and contributors, our wonderful sponsors, and especially the many people and groups that attended online, thank you for helping to make this training series a success.
 
On October 21st, we rolled out an exciting series of trainings for safety committee members. This training was designed to help safety committees sharpen their skills, learn what is required of them under Oregon OSHA, and to take their committee to a whole new level. We heard some great feedback. We got to meet most of the Timber Products Medford Hardwoods safety committee who met safely together on the day of the roll-out to attend all five modules and even the live welcome session. The really cool part is this training was not limited to our region. We met several people from the Coos Bay area that were attending.
 
The best news of all is that this training will continue to be available throughout the year. Feel free to have your committee members take advantage of the Safety Committee University from the comfort of their own computer in a self-paced manner. All five modules are recorded and available at no charge at www.SafetyCommitteeUniversity.com.
 
In case you missed any of this great content, it’s not too late!

• Craig Hamelund’s inspirational and touching keynote presentation
• Patti McGuire’s super informational Safety Committee 101—Learn the safety committee requirements in a simple to understand way
• David Hanson’s version of CSI for safety in his skilled presentation on Effective Incident Analysis
• Chris Lawrence’s 25+ years of experience taught to you in this dynamic Hazard Identification training
• Lastly, one of my favorite modules—a collection of safety committee success stories with the powerful conclusion by Tim Hart of Duro-Last Roofing, one of the safest companies in the Country

 
Our plan is to continue to grow this resource with added trainings, best practices, and stories when they become available, so if you’ve already enjoyed the training and are looking for more, check back. If you have something to share with other safety committees, please reach out to us on the “contact us” page at www.SafetyCommitteeUniversity.com.
 
Michael Hill
ASSP Southern Oregon Chapter Conference Planning Chair

​David Hanson
Southern Oregon Chapter President
 
Our Safety Committee University is a great virtual on-demand resource for safety committees and businesses. If you missed the go-live event on October 21st, do not worry. All our content is available ondemand on the SCU website. You can take as much time as you need to explore our excellent local content. Naturally, a big thank you goes out to our planning team and especially Mike Hill, the energy and genius behind the effort. At our November chapter meeting, I presented a plaque to Mike in recognition of his hard work and amazing contributions. If you get a chance, please thank Mike for his hard work on behalf of our chapter and our Southern Oregon safety communities.
 
If you hoped to join the November 3rd session with Matt Kaiser from Oregon OSHA on the new COVID-19 standard but were unable, I have good news. It was postponed to our January 5th meeting due to the delay in the standard being rolled out. Matt is one of the top experts on the new OR-OSHA COVID-19 standard. We will have a special opportunity to hear from him and ask him some questions to learn more during our January 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.
 
Keep an eye on your email inbox for a link to a survey. We do want to hear from Southern Oregon members about how your chapter is doing at supporting your role. Have a great holiday season!
​
 
David Hanson
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).

 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).