MORA Meeting Minutes

October 8, 2008:

Minutes:

MINUTES MORA October 8, 2008

Attending: Carol Eckert, Leslie Walleigh, Kim Lim, Ivan Most, Desi-Rae Severson, Kathy Schulz, Peter Doran, Ruth Lawson-Stopps, Linda Huff, and Terry Hathaway.

Call to Order. Carol Eckert called the meeting to order at 10:08 a.m. in the Frances Perkins Conference Room, Central Maine Commerce Center. Introductions were made as Ruth Lawson-Stopps, Director, Maine Asthma Program, attended the meeting.

Approval of September 10, 2008 Minutes. Ivan Most made a motion to accept the September 10, 2008 minutes as written. Peter Doran seconded the motion. Vote, unanimous.

Presentation – Maine Asthma Phoenix Program – Desi-Rae Severson. Desi-Rae did a power-point presentation on the Maine Asthma Phoenix program, which was held on May 29, 2008. The Phoenix program’s major purpose was to bring everyone together with the Phoenix agenda and to establish a new Asthma Council, which met on September 25th. They hope to develop a state-wide plan regarding asthma. Desi-Rae handed out “The Burden of Asthma in Maine”, a 2008 publication. Ruth added some statistics regarding asthma in Maine: rates are higher, nine percent of adults in Maine have asthma, absenteeism and unemployment rates higher due to asthma, and one out of four believe work has worsened asthma. Ruth will forward hand-outs. Ruth is asking for feedback as the plan is to adopt state-wide standards for indoor air quality. There will be a council meeting and will be looking for folks to work with this group. Leslie Walleigh said that there is an MOU (Memorandum of Understanding) between the Bureau of Labor Standards (Maine Department of Labor) and the Maine Center for Disease Control (Department of Health and Human Services). Further discussion followed. At the next MORA meeting, Desi-Rae will bring data. Discussion on how MORA Ruth asked if a presentation should be made to PDAG. Leslie Walleigh suggested a “joint” meeting – PDAG would meet 9:00 to 10:00, 10:00 to 11:00 would be a presentation, and MORA would meet 11:00 to Noon.

Jackson Lab Conference Update – Ivan Most. Ivan said that a conference call to Jackson Lab regarding the genetics conference would take place later this month. He will update MORA at the November meeting.

NORA Meeting Presentation – Ivan Most. Ivan’s presentation was “Advancing the National Manufacturing Sector Agenda”. Other handouts included “Intermediate Goals: the Output to Outcome Connection”, a draft preliminary public comment version of the National Occupational Research Agenda (NORA) “National Agenda for Safety and Health in the Manufacturing Sector”, and an article entitled, “Lean Manufacturing: Unexpected Benefits for Accident Prevention”. Ivan explained that NORA is now SIC (Standard Industrial Classification) driven rather than illness driven. Ivan included how the council can advance the Manufacturing agenda, how the council can reach out to potential partners to advance these goals, what types of activities could the council recommend, and other considerations. Also, Ivan will be writing a summary letter to Leslie Manning for a small amount of money from MORA’s grant, which would be used to lead to a larger grant, perhaps from Harvard. He will explain what this research project will be and why it needs funding to go towards major research.

PDAG Update – Leslie Walleigh. Leslie summarized that the last PDAG meeting concentrated mostly on M.O.’s (medical only) and that Leslie Manning would be reporting further at the next PDAG meeting.

MIOHE Grants – Carol Eckert. Carol handed out a draft “Grant Ad”, which will be passed on to labor unions, colleges, and universities. MORA reviewed the draft and made further suggestions. Upon revision, the ad will be sent to Leslie Manning. The grant committee is comprised of Carol Eckert, Leslie Manning, and Jonathan Lepoff.

Other. At the next meeting, there will be a presentation on the occupational poisoning project conducted by the New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services. Terry will contact Karla Armenti to confirm.

Next Meeting – Wednesday, November 12, 2008. The next regularly scheduled MORA meeting for Wednesday, November 12, 2008, 10:00 a.m. to Noon, Frances Perkins Conference Room, Central Maine Commerce Center.

Adjournment. Carol Eckert adjourned the meeting at 12:03 p.m.

/tmh