Staff present:  Lynne Lamstein & Terry Hathaway.

Members Present:  Brad Brown (Bureau of Insurance), Dan Cote (MEMIC), Peter Crockett (MLGH), Peter Doran (MIOHE), Denise Dumont (U.S. HealthWorks), Ruth Lawson-Stopps (Occupational Health Associates), Kim Lim (Maine Bureau of Labor Standards), Steve Minkowsky (Maine Workers Compensation Board), Ivan Most (Strategic Occupational Health), Peggy Parsons (Maine Cancer Registry), Andy Smith (Bureau of Health), Peter Snell (Peter Snell & Associates), Jonathan Torres (Workmed) & Leslie Walleigh (Workplace Health).

Members Absent:  Ron Dyer (DEP) and Jonathan Lepoff.

Guest:  Norm Anderson (Maine Lung Association).

The meeting began at 9:15 A.M.

The first order of business was each member introduced themselves.

Peter Crockett (Maine Labor Group on Health).  Mr. Crockett told the Steering Committee that he had spoken with Ed Gorham and Ned McCann. They are looking for an update for the MORA Steering Committee.  The MORA Steering Committee is looking for a member from organized labor.  Leslie Walleigh asked what kind of data do labor unions use to track injuries.  Ivan Most said we’re looking for specific interventions for musco-skeletal and ergonomics supported by data and research.  Lynne Lamstein asked what are organized labor’s concerns?  Ruth Lawson-Stopps said that we are looking at sources of data as a beginning stage to make better data available for research.

Meeting Date for Paul Dionne (Executive Director, Workers’ Compensation Board).

Steve Minkowsky is trying to set up a meeting with the Data Committee and Paul Dionne for Tuesday, October 16, 2001.  This will provide the Data Committee a chance to revisit the First Report of Injury and the OSHA mandate for Forms 300 and 301.  Steve Minkowsky said that If the Workers’ Compensation Board amends the current First Report, then it would be acceptable in lieu of the 301 form.  This has been tabled to the October 16^th Workers’ Compensation Board Meeting. Steve Minkowsky said that a letter had been written to Steve Laundrie, Bureau of Labor Standards, to explain to the Workers’ Compensation Board the OSHA mandate, which will be in effect January 1, 2002.  Mr. Minkowsky reported on the IIABC (Industrial International Association of Boards and Commissions) Conference.  He presented the Annual Compliance Report at this conference, making insurance carriers public.  Wisconsin and Maine were named “best practice” states.

Dr. Andy Smith, Bureau of Health.  Dr. Smith is a toxicologist with the Bureau of Health.  Peter Doran told the Steering Committee that he had written a letter to Dora Mills inviting her or her representative to meet with us.  He also requested that we were looking forward to having a regular representative appointed to this Committee.  Dr. Doran received a phone call from Ms. Mills stating that Dr. Smith would be the designated representative.  Dr. Smith gave a brief history of his office, stating that in 1997 or 1998, the occupational health registry and the cancer registry were moved to another division.  The Occupational Health Registry is doing an outreach to hospitals to let them know that the Occupational Health Registry is still there. The first quarter is to get the program up and running; the second quarter will be establishing the database. Dr. Smith prefers to reach out and is willing to accept recommendations from the MORA Steering Committee.  Ruth Lawson-Stopps is willing to bring Dr. Smith up to speed with the Steering committee.  Data could be missing as Workers’ Compensation only does claims for lost work time.  The Bureau of Labor Standards and Workers’ Compensation has a cooperative agreement as does the Bureau of Labor Standards and the Bureau of Health.

Norm Anderson (American Lung Association).  Mr. Anderson spoke about the initiatives of the American Lung Association of Maine (ALAM). He handed out a report entitled, “Lung Health Indicator Report”.  Mr. Anderson reviewed the material in the report.  The American Lung Association has a strong commitment to occupational health.  In Maine, there is a high prevalence of adult asthma.  Mr. Anderson pointed out some of risk factors, i.e., behavioral, environmental, and occupations.  There is an ALAM website, mainelung.org.  Maine schools have indoor air quality problems.  There is a revolving renovation fund, through Department of Education, to correct roof leaks, indoor air quality, etc.  Out of 700 schools in Maine, 300 to 400 have applied. The concern is how to put data together in a meaningful way to include risk factors and prevention education and policy.

Data Committee Meeting with Labor Committee - Steve Minkowsky.  Mr. Minkowsky has set up a meeting with Senator Beth Edmonds, Senator George Bunker, Senator Beverly Daggett, Pat Damon (Chief of Staff for Representative Patrick Colwell), and Andrea Quaid advisor for Representative Mike Michaud).  The meeting will be this Friday, October 12, 2001 from 9:00 AM - 10:00 AM at the State House.  Peter Doran will introduce everyone present and will describe MORA, its rationale and why we feel data is important.  Mr. Minkowsky further explained that it would be difficult to get bills into the Legislature’s short session.

Final Plans for the MEMIC Comp Summit, November 9^th Presentation.  Dan Cote explained that this is a two-day symposium for their customer base, 20,000 policy-holders.  There will be 350 to 400 people present.  Lynne Lamstein suggested a one-page flier with information from the MORA brochure, printed on MORA letterhead, for a handout.  The panel will consist of Barber Foods, City of Portland, and Sugarloaf.  They will be before the entire group for 45 minutes, with no opportunity for questions; however, the panel and MORA Steering Committee (Peter Snell, Lynne, Ivan Most, Denise Dumont, and Peter Doran) will be around during the day to answer any questions. 

MORA Letterhead.  Terry Hathaway presented a draft of the MORA letterhead; the letterhead is in blue. The Steering Committee approved the letterhead, MORA centered on the top of the page, and the Steering Committee member’s names, affiliations, and phone numbers (also in blue) are listed on the left hand-of the stationery.  Also, Ms. Hathaway presented a draft of the letter that will be going out to MORA Interested Parties for the big MORA meeting to be held on November 14, 2001, 9:00 AM - Noon, at MEMIC in Portland.   She will go ahead and send that out, along with a map and written directions to MEMIC.

Agenda for MORA Group Meeting on November 14^th. Scheduled agenda items include representation, Report at UNE O/H meeting, Data driven work with subcommittee, Data Committee Report (Ruth Lawson-Stopps), and Conference 2003 Committee (Ivan Most).

Consultant for Feasibility Study.  Peter Doran sent a letter to Janet Waldron, Commissioner of the Department of Administrative & Financial Services regarding the consultant selected to do the $125,000 Feasibility Study.  The MORA Data Committee would like to meet with the consultant.  The consultant chosen is Jacqueline Carson of Berry, Dunn, Neill & Parker.

Overview of Data Committee - Ruth Lawson-Stopps.  Ms. Lawson-Stopps presented the following overview:       

1.   There’s a big hole in that we only have data and lost time injuries and want to see medical only First Reports.

2.   Recommendation that information be transferred electronically could capture a lot.

3.   51/52 are two questions on the First Report when and how injuries happened. There’s no checks and balances.

4.   Occupational disease:  will be meeting with Dr. Andy Smith.

5.   Maine Cancer Registry - to see what the person’s employment is (Margaret Parsons).

6.   Prevention - resources further down the road.

7.   Meetings with Michael Frett (Bureau of Labor Standards) and Eric Cioppa (Bureau of Insurance).

The next meeting of the MORA Steering Committee will be Wednesday, November 14, 2001 from 9:00 AM - Noon at MEMIC in Portland.

Meeting adjourned at 12:05.

Respectfully Submitted,

Terry M. Hathaway

Secretary