BREAKING NEWS

Department of the Interior announces FY 2010 Occupational Health and Safety Conference in Baltimore, Maryland.

The Department-wide occupational health and safety training conference for full time and collateral duty occupational health and safety professionals will be held the week of June 14-17, 2010, in conjunction with the American Society of Safety Engineer’s (ASSE) conference in Baltimore, Maryland. The conference will provide the Department of the Interior’s (DOI) occupational health and safety community with an opportunity to attend relevant training, network with peers, learn from experts, and share best practices. The training conference will be a partnership with ASSE. The DOI participants will be able to attend ASSE’s three day conference that includes technical sessions, key note speeches, and exhibits. DOI participants will have a fourth day for a DOI specific track, with an opening and all hands meeting in the morning and bureau/office break out sessions in the afternoon. For more information contact your bureau or office safety and health manager.

Welcome to SafetyNet

The Department of the Interior’s Occupational Health and Safety Program supports the Department’s Mission to protect and provide access to our Nation's natural and cultural heritage by:

Keeping employees and volunteers well,
Keeping employees and volunteers on the job, and
Reducing accident related losses.

IN FOCUS

Presidential Safety, Health and Return to Employment SCORECARD - First, Second and Third Quarter Cumulative, FY 2009

Presidential Safety, Health and Return to Employment SCORECARD First, Second and Third Quarter Cumulative, FY 2009
OSHA/OWCP Scorecard Elements	IA	BLM	BOR	FWS	NPS	OSM	USGS	DOI Other	DOI	DOI Goal
Total Case Rate	5.57	6.68	4.65	5.37	8.13	0.77	2.17	1.34	5.57	6.08
Lost Time Case Rate	2.81	1.55	1.36	1.16	3.49	0.00	0.41	0.38	1.97	2.32
Timeliness	42.7	91.1	83.5	82.1	88.0	100.0	96.7	Not Avail	81.8	60.0
Lost Production Days	67.5	37.9	35.1	25.8	71.7	0.00	9.0	Not Avail	44.8	55.5

Total Case Rate: Reduce the total number of injury and illness cases reported to the Office of Workers’ Compensation programs (OWCP) by 3%.

Lost Time Case Rate: Reduce the number of injury and illness cases where employees missed work reported to the Office of Workers’ Compensation programs (OWCP) by 3%.

Timeliness: Improve timeliness of filing workers’ compensation claims by 5%.

Lost Production Days: Reduce the rate of lost production days (days away from work due to work related injuries or illnesses) by 1%.

ANNOUNCEMENTS

Executive Order 13513, Federal Leadership on Reducing Text Messaging while Driving

On October 1, 2009, the President signed Executive Order 13513 banning Federal employees drive Government owned, Government-leased, or Government-rented vehicles (collectively, GOV) or privately-owned vehicles (POV) on official Government business, and some Federal employees use Government-supplied electronic devices to text or e-mail while driving. A Federal Government-wide prohibition on the use of text messaging while driving on official business or while using Government-supplied equipment will help save lives, reduce injuries, and set an example for State and local governments, private employers, and individual drivers. This policy is extended to cover Federal contractors in order to promote economy and efficiency in Federal procurement. Federal contractors and contractor employees who refrain from the unsafe practice of text messaging while driving in connection with Government business are less likely to experience disruptions to their operations that would adversely impact Federal procurement.

OSHA begins NEP on Recordkeeping

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) announced earlier this month that they will begin their National Emphasis Program (NEP) on recordkeeping of worker injury and illness data to ensure accuracy in reporting.
Accurate and honest recordkeeping is vitally important to successfully managing injuries and illnesses. Recofdkeeping information is not only used by OSHA to determine which workplaces to inspect, but it is an important tool DOI supervisors and managers can use to identify health and safety problems in their workplaces.
The NEP will focus on industries and agencies with above average injury and illness rates and the inspection will include record reviews, employee interviews and limited safety and health inspections.

For more information, please visit: www.osha.gov/pls/oshaweb/owadisp.show_document?p_table=NEWS_RELEASES&p_id=16488.

Applied Ergonomics Conference Coming to San Antonio this Spring

With the new administration focusing on ergonomics, now more than ever DOI bureau and office managers should learn more about ergonomic programs. The Applied Ergonomics Conference and Expo, taking place in San Antonio, March 22-25, 2010, is an opportunity to gain a comprehensive look at ergonomics with speakers, sessions, roundtable discussions and an exposition. For more information on the conference, please visit: www.iienet2.org/Ergo/Conference.

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Six-month fatality numbers down in 2009

The number of motor vehicle crashes in the first six months of 2009 reached its lowest level since 2005, according to a report released Oct. 9 by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Early estimates show about 16,626 people died in motor vehicle crashes in the first half of 2009 – a decrease of about 7 percent from the 17,871 fatalities during the same period in 2008. The number of vehicle miles traveled dropped by 1.7 percent during the first quarter and increased by 0.7 percent in the second quarter. Additional estimates show:

The fatality rate for the first half of 2009 declined to 1.15 fatalities per 100 million vehicle miles traveled – down from 1.23 fatalities per 100 million VMT in the first six months of 2008.
February saw the largest decline in fatalities during the first half of 2009 – a 16 percent decline. Researchers noted that 2008 was a leap year, and 95 fatalities occurred during the extra day.

DOL Designates Acting DASHO

The Department of the Interior Designated Agency Safety and Health Official, Rhea Suh, has designated Andrew Jackson, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Human Capital, Performance

and Partnerships as the Acting DOI DASHO. Mr. Jackson will be performing the DASHO duties on Assistant Secretary Suh’s behalf for DOI until further notice.