Introductory Remarks for Jim Maddux

To MACOSH

8:30 a.m. Thursday, April 29, 2010

Newport, RI

	Welcome to the fifth MACOSH meeting under the current charter, which
began September, 2008 and expires this coming September.  It’s good to
see you all.  I am Jim Maddux, Acting Deputy Director of OSHA’s
Directorate of Standards and Guidance.  Many of you on the Committee
know me from my days as the office director for maritime, when I was the
DFO for this Committee.  I am pleased to be here before you today on
behalf of Assistant Secretary David Michaels, and Dorothy Dougherty,
Director of Standards and Guidance, who were unable to be here.  They
really wanted to attend today’s meeting and hopefully will be able to
attend the next meeting.

	Since MACOSH was first chartered in 1995, the committee has made dozens
of recommendations to OSHA.  OSHA has completed work on several of those
recommendations, we are working on several more, and we are continuing
to consider others.  During this current charter the committee has
accomplished a great deal, and I’d like to recap a few of those
accomplishments: 

The committee reviewed three longshore quick cards on First Aid,
Lifesaving Facilities, and Gangway Safety.  All three cards are in the
standard quick card format with English on the front side and Spanish
translation on the reverse side.  We have copies of the published cards
here for you.

Development of a Break Bulk Cargo Handling Safety Guidance Document for
employers and employees in the longshoring industry.  Some topics
covered in this guidance product include rigging, fall hazards, and
hold-man safety rules.

A recommendation to update and review the regulations in 29 CFR 1915,
Subpart C Surface Preparation and Preservation, and a side-by-side
evaluation of those rules. 

Development of a white-paper discussing the definition of shipyard
related employment.  The paper discusses what is meant by the term
“related employment” and describes the type of work that falls under
this provision. The shipyard workgroup will be reporting on this
document today.  

Review and suggested revisions to the Safety and Health Injury
Prevention Sheets (SHIPS) Rigging Guidance Document.  

Development of an Arc Flash Guidance Document to help minimize danger
for employees working with high voltage on ships.  

Side-by-side evaluation of regulations in 29 CFR 1915, Subpart E
(Scaffolding and Fall Protection), with recommended changes, as well as
a scaffolding & staging white paper.  The shipyard workgroup will also
be presenting this issue today.

Development of Intermodal Container Repair Guidance that discusses
welding issues. The longshoring work group will be presenting their work
on this issue today.    

Development of Traffic Lane and Safety Zone Guidance Document in Marine
Terminals that was drafted to protect dock workers from moving
equipment.  

Development of a Roll-on/Roll-off guidance document designed to prevent
employee injuries at marine terminals.  This document was approved by
the Assistant Secretary’s office last week.

OSHA UPDATE

I would also like to take this opportunity to update you on some
activities at OSHA. 

The agency is continuing to step up its efforts to set and enforce
standards that will save workers’ lives.

Our emphasis on enforcement is evident in the numerous egregious cases
and penalties the agency has issued under the new Administration.  Last
year OSHA issued four egregious cases; in the first half of this year we
issued nine.

ll ― the Protecting America’s Workers Act ―  that would:

raise the ceiling on OSHA penalties

increase criminal penalties and criminal liability for employers who
knowingly endanger workers

strengthen whistleblower protections

expand the rights of workers’ and victims’ families

This focus on stronger enforcement doesn’t mean enforcement is
OSHA’s only function, but it’s 

OSHA is thinking in broader terms. Increasingly our investigations are
looking not only at specific actions or use of equipment that caused a
worker injury, but also at the overall culture of the company. We’re
examining whether employers are merely focusing on compliance, or taking
steps to improve overall performance, reduce risk, and make prevention
part of daily operations.

INACCURATE REPORTING 

We’re looking to see whether management is discouraging workers from
reporting injuries and illnesses. Studies by the GAO and others report
safety incentive programs that reward workers for reporting no injuries
— which motivates workers to hide injuries. 

Some companies suspend or fire workers if they report an injury on the
job — which transfers blame to the worker instead of the employer who
is legally responsible for worker protection.   This is intolerable. 

When we detect any effort to conceal worker injuries, OSHA will take
swift, corrective action. We will target for extra OSHA attention those
companies within high-injury industries that report suspiciously low
numbers. We will question the workers and look at the books — and they
had better be accurate. 

Gathering accurate data is only part of the challenge. We also need
up-to-date information. OSHA is looking for ways to implement 21st
century technology that can give us timely information, enabling us to
take swift, deliberate action when we detect troubling trends.

COMPLIANCE ASSISTANCE

Compliance assistance remains an important component in OSHA’s
arsenal; but, to put things in perspective, we see compliance assistance
as a critical support, not a replacement, for standards and enforcement.

We’re working especially hard to put key information in compact
publications, in multiple languages, with easy-to-understand
illustrations. These are targeted to help immigrant workers and other
hard-to-reach workers.  

OUTREACH

OSHA has held several sessions to provide the public an opportunity to
talk to the Agency.

The Agency planned the “OSHA Listens” forum. The program was Webcast
live, and transcripts of speakers’ remarks are posted on OSHA’s Web
site. Dr. Michaels listened to stakeholder views for a full day.  Many
speakers traveled long distances to participate in this forum, including
family members of workers who have been killed on the job. 

We also held a strategic planning input session through a web chat that
allowed people to get input into the strategic planning process.

Two weeks ago the Department of Labor held a Latino worker summit to
highlight the workplace safety and health challenges faced by the Latino
Community.  OSHA will be conducting a number of follow-up activities to
reach out to this community and try to improve working conditions for
them.

	As you know, yesterday was Workers’ Memorial Day, when we remember
workers who lost their lives on the job.  As part of that event,
Assistant Secretary David Michaels announced some new initiatives and
enforcement directives.  Two of these are the Severe Violators
Enforcement Program and the Revised Penalty Structure.

The Agency is pleased to have so many experienced members serving on
this committee. You’re all strong advocates for workplace safety and
health, and your advice and guidance is greatly appreciated.

As I stated earlier, the current MACOSH charter expires September 23,
2010.  The Agency is committed to rechartering this committee.  In fact,
the Agency has issued a Federal Register notice requesting nominations
to serve on the new committee.  Our goal is to have the new charter in
place either before, or immediately after the current charter expires,
so that we don’t have a delayed started up for the next committee.  We
have received several nominations and we encourage you and your
colleagues to apply.  

We have one more meeting scheduled for Long Beach, CA on July 13-15,
2010.  I would like to take a moment to emphasize how important it is
for the workgroups to complete as much as possible by the end of this
charter.  With that being said, I strongly encourage you to focus on
those projects that you feel you can complete by the end of the last
meeting of this charter. 

CONCLUSION

I commend the committee for strongly promoting health and safety in the
workplace. Thanks for your commitment, your support of OSHA when we are
doing things right, and for your candor when we need to take a second
look at our activities.

As members of this committee, you have an opportunity to make a
tremendous impact on worker safety and health in your industry. I
encourage you to stay involved in the rulemaking process, participate in
reforms, speak up at hearings and during comment periods and, of course,
continue to forward your advice to OSHA.

This is a hard working committee, and that you have already though about
the work that remains, so I’m confident that you will wrap as many of
your projects as possible.  Again, on behalf of the Agency, thank you
for all your dedication and hard work.

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