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  • Alliance Annual Report - July 2018

Gulf Coast Safety Council
Annual Alliance Report
July 2018

  1. Alliance Background

    1. Date Signed: Original signed July 17, 2009, and renewed on April 27, 2017.

    2. Evaluation Period: July 2017 through August 2018

    3. Alliance Overview

      OSHA and the Gulf Coast Safety Council (GCSC) established a collaborative relationship to foster safer and more healthful industrial workforce. This relationship provides the industrial workforce including non-English and limited English speaking employees with information, guidance, and access to industrial education training resources that will help protect employees' health and safety. In developing this alliance, OSHA and GCSC recognize that OSHA's Consultation Project partners are an integral part of the OSHA national effort.

    4. Implementation Team Members

      OSHA
      Dorinda Folse, Baton Rouge Area Office, Area Director
      Wilfred Hebert, OSHA, Baton Rouge Area Office, Compliance Assistance Specialist (CAS)
      Alexander Novas, Baton Rouge Area Office, Compliance Assistance Specialist (CAS)
      Roderic Chube, Baton Rouge Area Office, Acting Area Director

      Gulf Coast Safety Council
      Shelly Guilbeau, GCSC, Executive Director – St. Rose

  2. Implementation Team Meetings

    Team meetings were held periodically throughout the year to support the Owner Advisory Committee (OAC) of GCSC:

    • August 17, 2017
    • November 30, 2017
    • March 12. 2018

    Lunch & Learn Brown Bag meetings were held to further education and compliance in the following areas:

    • September 11th 2017 – Met to discuss future topics
    • November 8th 2017 – Hunter Safety
    • March 13th 2018 – Fixed ladder Standard
    • June 9th 2018 – met to plan future topics

    Possible topics to be considered in the future:

    • Stop Work Authority
    • Spanish Language BOP Training as reciprocal within the area
    • Combining Construction/General Industry Confined Space Standards (or not)
    • Hand Signals for moving mobile equipment (a potential new topic for BOP)
    • Technology Solutions

  3. Results

    Training and Education:

    Wilfred Hebert, Compliance Assistance Specialist assisted the Gulf Coast Safety Council to provide the petrochemical industry personnel and industry contract workers, including non-English or limited English speaking employees, with information, guidance, and access to industrial education training resources that will help protect employees' health and safety on the use, inspection and maintenance of safety harnesses and slings in the work place.

    Additional discussion and information was provided on protecting the contract workers from heat stress. OSHA Quick Cards were distributed as a means of effective communications.

    OSHA Quick Takes are emailed to GCSC and reviewed by the Program Developer. These topics are then sent to GCSC's Customer Base. The GCSC Website has a direct link to the OSHA Website for Contractor's and Owners to easily access, in addition to "daily tool box safety talks".

    OSHA's staff in Louisiana continues to provide resources for answering questions and continue to assist the alliance as needed.

    GCSC develops and distributes a quarterly Contractor Connection Newsletter to its constant contact distribution list that is over 2200 strong. Updated GCSC programs, internal news and safety topics are the bulk of the newsletter contents.

    GCSC has developed a "Supervisory Training Education Program" (STEP) (employees targeted to attend will be selected supervisors or employees with potential of becoming a supervisor).

    ARSC (associated reciprocal safety council) committee is developing a "Protect Watch Program." This program will contain combined fire watch duties, confined space attendant duties, bottle watch duties with standup instructors and hands on the appropriate equipment. (Implementation date – 3 quarter 2017)

    GCSC has developed and will begin offering a "Competent Person" program for trenching/exaction within the third quarter of 2018 to appropriate personnel – GCSC has plans to develop a competent scaffold inspection program to be offered to appropriate personnel in the near future.

    GCSC Management continues on a daily basis reaching out to a variety of work places of different environments to offer safety training services for multiple subjects. Examples are:

    • Parish field workers
    • Port of New Orleans Project
    • City of New Orleans Department of Public Works work force
    • New proposed facilities such as YCI (Yuang Chemical Inc. – Formosa – PIN Oak Oil Storage)
    • Jackson County Port Authority in Pascagoula, Miss
    • Shipyard Businesses
    • Casino Workers
    • Local public businesses

    GCSC hosted high school seniors at the GCSC office in an effort to educate the students that do not choose to go to college. The training takes place in an industrial work place setting, where GCSC representatives explain the safety training required for the work place environment.

    Promoting the National Dialogue on Workplace Safety and Health:

    The Gulf Coast Safety Council (GCSC), with support from the Alliance Safety Council became part of an application to become a host site allows GCSC to extend services in the Southern portion of Louisiana for the delivery of all OSHA Training Institute Education Center (OTIEC) courses.

    The OSHA national statistics were reviewed and discussion was held on how the process can be improved. The areas reviewed were training of owner representatives who handle contractors, pre-qualification, selection, pre-job activities, work-in-progress, and evaluation.

    Currently, GCSC is in discussions with owner/clients to make their safety manual electronically available on the GCSC web page – (password protected) with the possibly of offering access via cell phone while on job site. This would allow employee's easy access to pertinent safety information.

    GCSC promotes all safety related stand-downs distributed through OSHA web page by posting physical display signs of subjects with dates and times, in addition sending out electronically to our constant contact list.

  4. Evaluations

    GCSC interaction with owners and contractors through training and safety meetings help prevent injuries and illnesses in the work place. The collaboration with OSHA provides a visible sign of the strength of our alliance.

    The goals for the future are to strengthen the alliance through meetings with OSHA, owners and contractors to promote an incident and injury free environment in the work place. The focus will be on highlighting the emphasis on OSHA "Top Ten" injury statistics, and developing and offering courses through (OTIEC) as indicated above, as well as the Association of Reciprocal Safety Councils (ARSC).

    Additionally, emphasis will be placed on the assistance that the "OSHA Area Office" can provide in regards to training and education, in job safety and health issues.

    Sullivan Seneca, GCSC Marketing Manager, attends Contractor Safety Meeting Weekly/Monthly at each Owner Site to collaborate and offer assistance in all areas of Safety on behalf of the Gulf Coast Safety Council. Sullivan Seneca will also be visiting the OSHA office quarterly to retrieve additional information which can be distributed to GCSC Customers.

    • These meetings are attended by approximately 40/60 supervisory personnel at each meeting and GCSC representatives attend 10 meetings monthly as well as meetings held by greater New Orleans Business Round Table.

    These tables are best viewed on tablets, notebooks, or desktop computer screens.

    Type of Activity Number of Individuals Reached or Trained Topic(s)
    August 17, 2017
    November 30, 2017
    March 12, 2018
    August 9, 2018 (scheduled)

    14
    13
    11

    		 GCSC Owner Advisory Committee meet to receive input from Owners on path forward and share information with/from each other's sites
    October 11, 2017
    December 10, 2017

    16
    12

    		 Trained employees on "Protect Watch"
    November 8, 2017
    March 13, 2018

    37
    35

    		 Lunch N Learn - Hunter Safety
    Fixed Ladders
    August 10, 2017
    October 13, 2017
    January 18, 2018
    May 15, 2018

    14
    19
    22
    7

    		 Supervisor Training Educational Program - STEP
    May 3, 2018

    544

    		 18th Annual Contractor's Safety Excellence Awards Banquet held to recognize Contractors and Owner in Industry
    Several Sessions 2017-2018

    74

    		 Fire Extinguisher Training
    Train the Trainer

    2 Instructors

    		 Trenching & Excavation Competent Person – practice sessions internally

    38,500 plus

    		 720 Contractor businesses and 36 Owners participate in the GCSC Training Programs
    TOTAL

    42,000
    (approximately)

    		 Variety of safety training units

Upcoming Events

Shelly Guilbeau, President of the ARSC Executive Committee, continues to drive the updates annually of the ARSC Reciprocal training courses for the continued education of the Petrochemical workforce and has focused on life critical events. GCSC was an integral part of this work, and continues to provide the emphasis and delivery of these programs. OSHA plans to provide VPP (volunteer protection program) outreach presentation to the Petrochemical workforce. OSHA and GCSC plan to continue the alliance this year.

Report Prepared for: Wilfred Hebert, CAS, Baton Rouge Area Office, and Shelly Guilbeau, GCSC, Executive Director – St. Rose.