Untitled Document

For Immediate Release: Tuesday, October 2, 2002

Department of Labor 2002 Teamwork Award Goes to Maine Occupational Research Agenda

The following is from Labor Commissioner Valerie Landry's presentation of the award on October 2, 2002:

In 2000, with some financial support from the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, the Maine Department of Labor hosted its 1st Maine Occupational Safety and Health Research Symposium. The symposium attracted about 135 participants and 25 local, national and international presenters. The participants expressed overwhelming support for the Maine Department of Labor to proceed in developing a research agenda modeled after the National Occupational Research Agenda – and thus MORA was born.

A Steering Committee, representing a broad spectrum of the Maine safety and health community, developed the following mission statement: “To develop occupational safety and health research priorities, and guide their implementation for Maine.”
Accomplishments to date:

Inventoried and assessed the strengths and limitations of occupational safety and health data sources in Maine;
Collaborated with several other States, the Council for State and Territorial Epidemiologists and the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health in developing a guide for tracking work-related health effects and their determinants;
Partnered with the Maine Institute for Occupational Health Education (MIOHE) and the University of New England in hosting the 2001 MIOHE Annual Occupational Health Education Conference;
Developed an Occupational Research Agenda for Maine (work in progress);
MORA is now collaborating with the University of New England, Maine Institute for Occupational Health Education and the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health in hosting the 2nd Maine Occupational Safety and Health Research Symposium in 2003.
MORA members have presented at various national level occupational safety and health conferences.

MORA Steering Committee receives MDOL teamwork award, October 2002. Pictured back row, left to right: Steve Minkowsky, Workers' Compensation Board; Lynne Lamstein, MDOL; Jonathan Lepoff, MDOL, retired; Ron Dyer, DEP. Front row, Bill Peabody, MDOL; Terry Hathaway, MDOL; Labor Commissioner Valerie Landry; Governor Angus King. Missing state employee members: Brad Brown, Bureau of Insurance; John Rioux and Kim Lim, MDOL, Andy Smith, DHS.