Occupational Safety and Health Data Collection and Injury Prevention Work Group

  • October 19, 2005:

Minutes:

Occupational Safety and Health Data Collection and Injury Prevention Work Group

Minutes

Bureau of Labor Standards First Floor Training Room October 19, 2005 10:00 ? 11:30 A.M.

Present: Bill Peabody, Chair (Maine Department of Labor), Gary Baxter (Maine Employers Mutual Insurance Company), Brad Brown (Maine Bureau of Insurance), Peter Doran (Maine Occupational Research Agenda), Jeff Levesque (Workers? Compensation Board), Kim Lim (Maine Department of Labor), Al May (Bureau of Health), Pat Philbrook (Maine State Nurses Association), John Rioux (Maine Department of Labor), Carol (Grenier) Tompkins (Cannon Cochran Management Services, Inc.), and Leslie Walleigh (Workplace Health).

Absent: Brian Doe (Hannaford), Denise Dumont (US HealthWorks), Steve Minkowsky (Workers? Compensation Board), Louise Morang (Maine Association of Occupational Nurses), Vanessa Santarelli (Maine Department of Labor), Saskia Janes (Maine Public Health Association), Stefanie LaRose (Canon Cochran Management Services, Inc.), and Dave Wacker (Maine Department of Labor),

Staff: Ted Bradstreet (Maine Department of Labor) & Terry Hathaway (Maine Department of Labor).

Bill Peabody called the Occupational Safety and Health Data Collection and Injury Prevention Work Group to order at 10:00 A.M.

Approval of September 21, 2005 Minutes. Jeff Levesque made a motion to approve the minutes of September 21, 2005. Peter Doran seconded the motion. The minutes were unanimously approved.

Draft Report ? Bill Peabody. Bill incorporated the changes to the report and it is going through the Maine Department of Labor approval process, which means it will go through the Commissioner, the Assistant Commissioner for Legislative Affairs, and the Publications Unit. Discussion followed regarding types of changes that would be made. Once the report is final, copies will be printed and sent to the Labor Committee. Bill will notify the work group as soon as he hears from the Commissioner?s office.

Peter Doran stated that MORA is also interested in the report and would like to see it as soon as possible. It should be available by the next MORA meeting. The report will be available as soon as it is approved for printing. It will not be fully public until it is provided to the Labor Committee. Terry will work with Bill to coordinate the Apendices for the report.

CSTE Indicators ? Al May. Al handed out an abbreviated copy of the report, Putting Data to Work: Occupational Health Indicators from Thirteen Pilot States for 2000. The entire report is available on the web at: www.cste.org. It is also available on the NIOSH web site. The report is the result of a collaboration of the CSTE (Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists) with NIOSH (National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health). Information includes data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration in the U.S. Department of Labor. A brief discussion followed.

Data Subgroup Update ? Al May. The Data Subgroup met prior to the work group meeting. Present at the subgroup meeting were Al May, John Rioux, Pat Philbrook, and Gary Baxter. There is a Resolve on Latex Gloves, which Pat will bring to the next Data meeting for input as she will be meeting with Rep. Chellie Pingree in January. The Resolve actually started as a bill in the Legislature. The question is who is to enforce it ? Bureau of Health or Maine Department of Labor. Al May will research this issue regarding the Bureau of Health. The reason is that there are known latex allergies because the manufacturers changed the procedure in making the gloves in order to meet the high demand.

Al May is to set up a meeting with Steve Minkowsky as the major goal for the Data Subgroup is Workers? Comp. If Steve is unable to meet with the Data Subgroup, then they are willing to meet with him at his office. Also, Al will contact the MHDO (Maine Health Data Organization) to see if someone will talk to the subgroup regarding comparing workers? compensation data to hospitalization like what was done in Connecticut.

Gary Baxter suggested a narrative of the Matrix as well as a summary of where the work group is at presently.

The Data Subgroup has changed the meeting time from 8:30 A.M. to 9:00 A.M. and will meet for an hour prior to the regular work group meeting.

Prevention Subgroup Meeting ? Leslie Walleigh. The Prevention Subgroup met without its chair, Dave Wacker. Attending were Leslie Walleigh, Louise Morang, and Peter Doran.

The first thing the group wants to do is catalog those organizations that provide some kind of prevention training, starting with the government. Also, the Prevention Subgroup would like to survey certain groups to find out how they use data to develop programs.

Peter Doran suggested a definition of prevention so there is an understanding and agreement on the use of the terms and their application.

Other ? Bill Peabody. Bill updated the work group regarding membership. Still looking for a labor representative as well as OSHA representative. Bill is open to suggestions for the work group as well as for subgroups.

Bill suggested a presentation from a group such as OSHA enforcement. Leslie suggested a presentation on consultation or local Emphasis programs as to what they are and how they use data. Peter suggested a presentation on public sector workplace exposures. Al suggested the Maine Health Data Organization. Gary suggested the top ten injuries and strategies to prevent them. Jeff suggested EDI and Bureau of Labor Standards? comp data ? what are the types of injuries we are seeing and what are the applications. Al suggested the Connecticut model for data matching workers? compensation with hospital data.

Next Meeting. The next meeting will be held on Wednesday, November16, 2005, at 10:00 AM in the First Floor Training Room with the subgroups meeting prior to that.

Adjournment. Bill adjourned the meeting at 11:21 A.M.

Respectfully submitted,

Terry M. Hathaway Recording Secretary