“Injury PreventIon In AlAskA - no one left BehInd”
32
years of
occupational
safety & health
Photo/Courtesy/stG InC.
A trio of wind turbine blades are unloaded by STG Inc. of Anchorage for the company’s 2012 project constructing a pair of 900-kilowatt towers for Kotzebue Electric Association.
32nd
MArch 18-20, 2013 AnchorAge, AlAskA
egAn cIvIc And conventIon center
Page 2 • 32nd Annual Governor’s Safety and Health Conference
Find your place. Earn a two-year degree in the only Occupational Safety & Health program in the state, at KPC’s Anchorage Extension Site. Interested in a bachelor’s degree? Thanks to an articulation agreement with Montana Tech of the University of Montana, KPC’s associate of applied science degree meets the first two-year’s requirements for their bachelor of science in OSH.
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32nd Annual Governor’s Safety and Health Conference
• Page 3
Alaska Journal of Commerce STATE CAPITOL PO Box 110001 Juneau, Alaska 99811-000 I 907-465-3500 fax: 907-465-3532
Telephone: 907-561-4772 Fax: 907-563-4744 www.alaskajournal.com Regional Vice President
Governor Sean Parnell
550 West Seventh Avenue, Suite 1700 Anchorage, Alaska 9950 I 907-269-7450 fax 907-269-7461 www.Gov.Alaska.Gov Governor@Alaska.Gov
STATE OF ALASKA
Lee Leschper Managing Editor
Andrew Jensen (907) 275-2165 editor@alaskajournal.com Production
Maree Shogren (907) 275-2162 ads@ftp.alaskajournal.com Layout Designer
Nadya Gilmore (907) 275-2163 Reporter
Tim Bradner (907) 275-2159 Reporter
Elwood Brehmer (907) 275-2161 Reporter
Molly Dischner (907) 275-2158 Advertising Director
Tom Wardhaugh (907) 275-2114 Account Executives
Ken Hanni (907) 275-2155 Steve Sauder (907) 275-2153
●
We shall strive to be number one in reputation with our customers and our employees.
We must make a profit.
We shall share our successes and profits with our employees. Our goal is to build a company that provides a service or builds a project to the complete satisfaction of its customers. Work can be taken away from us in many ways, but our reputation is ours to lose.
We shall strive to Our be reputation number isone in reputation with our customers and our employees. the key that will open doors to new business in the future. We must perform safely. We must provide quality performance. We must make a profit. We shall share our successes and profits with our employees. Work can be taken away from us in many ways, but our reputation is ours to lose. Our reputation is the key that will open doors to new business in the future.
KENAI INDUSTRY EDUCATION FORUM
Thanks to our customers and employees, we’ve been We must perform safely. provide quality performance. privileged We to must serve Alaska’s oil industry for over 40 years.
●
Our goal is to build a company that provides a service or builds a project to the complete satisfaction of its customers.
KENAI INDUSTRY EDUCATION FORUM
40 Years...
Thanks to our customers and employees, we’ve been privileged to serve Alaska’s oil industry for over 40 years.
[ PAGE 36 ] FEBRUARY 15, 2013
[ PAGE 36 ] FEBRUARY 15, 2013
40 Years...
Page 4 • 32nd Annual Governor’s Safety and Health Conference
Safe opportunities for Alaska workers By Dianne Blumer Commissioner, Alaska Department of Labor & Workforce Development
Alaska and its workers have fared better through the past five years than most of our fellow Americans. We’ve not been untouched by the powerful forces that rocked the national economy. However, the unique structure of our economy positioned us to weather the storm. Employment has continued to grow throughout the state, particularly in Anchorage and statewide in
www.alaskajournal.com
key categories such as health care. We added 5,300 jobs in 2012 as total employment grew 1.6 percent and we anticipate 4,200 new jobs in 2013, a modest growth of 1.2 percent. However, there are still storm clouds on our horizon. Alaska remains dependent on oil and gas production for the majority of state revenue. The double-edged sword of high oil prices has softened the hit from continuing decline, but in 2011 the amount of oil flowing through the Trans-Alaska Oil Pipeline was the lowest since the first full year of production — 212 million barrels, which is less than a third of 1988’s production high. The Parnell administration continues to focus on filling our pipeline and creating a stable, competitive environment that will attract new investment and reinvestment. Alaska will not be immune to the hard choices being made at the federal level as we are strongly affected by federal spending, both for our jobs and the numerous federal projects built in the state. We can expect to see our share of hardship and cuts in both federal funding and payroll. This may include federal jobs that remain unfilled as Alaskans retire. It may also affect the Alaska-based armed forces, whose role and sacrifices are not diminished but whose funding may be hit equally hard. The Parnell administration is taking steps to keep Alaska “solid.” Though Alaska has a Triple AAA bond rating, more than $16 billion
Safety iS at the forefront of everything we do.
in budget reserves, and about $43 billion in the Permanent Fund, Gov. Sean Parnell has proposed a 2014 budget of $12.8 billion that is $1.1 billion less than the current state fiscal year, holding operating budget
expand programs that train new workers, including young Alaskans starting their careers, Alaskans with disabilities and returning veterans eager to move into the civilian workforce. We’ll continue to focus on safety in
The Alaska Department of Labor and Workforce Development’s programs are making a difference for Alaska families. In the coming year, we’ll continue to provide quality services to Alaskans looking for a new or first job. Each year, tens of thousands of Alaskans find new jobs or training for new careers through our 21 Alaska Job Centers.
growth at 0.8 percent. The administration will work with the Alaska Legislature to set a self-imposed, reasonable spending limit that will be the key to successful and sustainable spending. The Alaska Department of Labor and Workforce Development’s programs are making a difference for Alaska families. In the coming year, we’ll continue to provide quality services to Alaskans looking for a new or first job. Each year, tens of thousands of Alaskans find new jobs or training for new careers through our 21 Alaska Job Centers. We’re looking for efficient ways to
the workplace through programs like the Voluntary Protection Program and the Safety and Health Achievement Recognition Award, which recognize the safest Alaska workplaces. On behalf of Gov. Parnell and the Alaska Safety Advisory Council, I invite you to join us at the 2013 Governor’s Safety and Health Conference, March 18-20 at the Egan Center in Anchorage. Focusing on safety and health issues, the conference training and networking opportunities illustrate a strong commitment and partnership between industry, government and labor organizations.
32nd Annual Governor’s Safety and Health Conference
• Page 5
Workplace safety improved in 2012 with fewer fatalities By Elwood Brehmer Alaska Journal of Commerce
The Alaska workplace was safer last year, particularly in occupations monitored by the State Labor Standards and Safety Division. Workplace fatalities in those jobs fell by two-thirds to three deaths during the State of Alaska’s 2012 fiscal year, compared to nine in 2011, according to the Alaska Department of Labor and Workplace Development. “We’re at a level that’s low enough that it can be difficult to put your finger on exactly why we went from nine to three in the last year,” Labor Standards and Safety Division Director Grey Mitchell said. Overall, work-related fatalities in the state fell by one, to 38, in fiscal year 2011, the most recent data available from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. The overall numbers in Alaska the last two years are more than double the fiscal 2009 total of 17 fatalities, but continue a larger 20year trend of reducing work-related deaths. In 1992, there were 91 such fatalities — and by 2002 the number had fallen to 42. The trend a safer workplace in Alaska is the result of a combination of efforts by state and federal agencies, Mitchell said. State consultation efforts in incident-prone industries such as seafood processing have helped employers be preemptive in taking safety measures, he said. “I think a lot of employers have also recognized that it’s in their best interest to do a better job with safety and health,” Mitchell said. Nationwide, BLS reported an average of 3.5 civilian deaths per 100,000 full-time equivalent workers in FY2011. In Alaska, the rate was 11.2. Of the 38 workplace fatalities in fiscal 2011, half occurred in the fishing and transportation industries. Fishing accounted for 10 fatalities; and nine were in the trade and transportation sector. Air transportation accounted for five of the nine. Mitchell said the nature of Alaska’s workplace makes it difficult for the state to have a workplace fatality rate similar to more urbanized states. “Alaska has a small population and a high percentage of resource development jobs. We have industries in Alaska that are high-hazard industries and those industries seem to hold the pattern,” he said. AKOSH, or the Alaska Occupational Safety and Health program is part of the State Department of Labor, and is centered around the fact that “the location, geography and demography of the state results in work sites and practices that are unique to Alaska,” according to the program’s mission statement. AKOSH is currently working on a five-year plan to increase workplace safety in the occupational areas it oversees. The program has a target rate of 0.99 workplace fatalities per
100,000 workers that it hopes meet during the period of fiscal years 2009-13. The rate through the first four years of the period is 1.82 fatalities per 100,000 workers. The federal Occupational Health and Safety Administration and the Coast Guard share oversight of marine activity. The Mine Safety and Health Administration works with AKOSH to cover mining work in Alaska. Nonfatal occupational injury rates have held steady in Alaska over recent years. In fiscal 2011, the nonfatal injury rate was 4.5 incidents per 100 fulltime workers per year, the same as 2010, and down slightly from 4.6 in 2009. The national rate for such incidents in 2011 was 3.5, continuing a downward trend from 4.2 accidents per 100 full-time employees in 2006, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Not surprisingly, the laborintensive outdoor occupations of agriculture, fishing, forestry and hunting had the highest incident rate at 15.5. The mining industry, on the other hand, had only 1.1 in-
Photo/Courtesy/Osborne Construction
The daily safety meeting is held by Osborne Construction at a major military housing construction project at Eielson Air Force Base during 2011. Rates for fatal accidents and injuries in the Alaska workforce continue to decline, according to the most recent state and federal data.
jury incidents per 100 workers. In total, natural resource extraction
jobs had an incident rate of 1.7 per 100 workers.
Elwood Brehmer can be reached at elwood.brehmer@alaskajournal.com.
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Page 6 • 32nd Annual Governor’s Safety and Health Conference
Accident victim lost arm, gained a message By Elwood Brehmer Alaska Journal of Commerce
Editor’s note: Kina Repp will be the keynote speaker at the 2013 Governor’s Safety and Health Conference. Kina Repp came to Alaska looking for work. She was a student at Eastern Washington University and along with a friend had traveled to the village of South Naknek in the heart of the Bristol Bay region to work in a fish canning plant for the summer. Repp, like so many other young people, wanted an Alaskan adventure, but before she was able to finish her first morning of work she was involved in an accident that would change the course of her life. A conveyor belt Repp was cleaning was inadvertently turned on. The machine grabbed her arm and, quite plainly, began pulling her apart. Before she could be freed from the machine, Repp’s left
arm had been crushed. “I started at 8 o’clock on June 23, 1990, and by 8:40 I had already lost my arm,” Repp recalled. After being flown to Seattle, Repp spent the better part of two months at Harborview Medical Center as doctors reconstructed her shoulder. Not only did the machine take her arm, it left her with a collapsed lung and a neck injury from being pinned against the side of the conveyor. Repp said the accident left her grateful to be alive rather than depressed about what happened. She had nearly been killed, and she did her best to remind herself that she still had one arm and two legs, she said. A quote from her grandmother provided perspective for Repp. “She said, ‘If you look for good, you’re going to find it. If you look for bad, you’ll find that, too,’” Repp said. Lisa Putnam-O’Rear, Repp’s longtime friend and her travel companion to South Naknek, said Repp’s positive nature
sets her apart. “I just knew the first day that I saw her in the hospital that she was going to react to this differently than anyone else would’ve. Her strength and her courage and her message was from day one,” Putnam-O’Rear said in a video on Repp’s website. At the time of her accident, Repp was 20 years old and eager to do whatever it took to earn money for her upcoming junior year at Eastern Washington. Her base pay at the cannery was to be $10 an hour, Repp said — an excellent wage for a college student in 1990. However, untold amounts of money could be made working overtime hours once the salmon began returning en masse and activity at the facility ramped up. Overtime priority was given to those with a good work ethic. It was an eagerness to impress her bosses that put her in a dangerous situation, Repp said and her mantra doesn’t allow her to place blame on anyone else for
what happened. “Safety has to be about you, individually,” Repp said. “It has to be a personal choice because we are really our own last line of defense when it comes to safety. Minute to minute decisions dictate personal safety.” Repp was released from Harborview shortly before the beginning of the school year and her doctors urged her to take time to recuperate before returning to class. For her, that was not an option. So in the fall of 1990, Repp returned to school to continue studying for a degree in education. “It was hard to even walk across campus. I was tired and I was hurting,” Repp remembered. She felt she needed to get back to her life as quickly as possible; otherwise, she may never have gone back. In the midst of managing her college courses — a task difficult enough on its own — Repp had to retrain herself for tasks that used to be an afterthought. “There was definitely a lot of times when I struggled with things. I didn’t want to have to relearn how to do everything. I remember having a really bad attitude about having to relearn to tie my shoes,” she said. Eventually the struggles became challenges and the challenges became addictive, Repp said. “I would find things to practice — to see if I could do it,” she said. A cheerleader, musician and pilot in high school, Repp dove right back into her active lifestyle after her recovery. In recent years Repp
has learned to water-ski and play softball with one arm. In 2002, she carried the Olympic torch on its way to Salt Lake City. She has completed 13 marathons and hopes to run more once she figures out how to balance her new schedule as a public speaker. Previously, she had been teaching science to grade school children in Cheney, Wash. Repp has been sharing her story with business and school groups across the country since September 2011 when a friend asked her to speak to his employees about keeping in mind what’s most important. The speaking comes naturally to her, she said, because she simply tells her story. Repp calls her presentation Safety Done Right. “I think that’s part of what makes my message different is that it’s not just a safety message. It’s also a message of being positive and having a good attitude and overcoming adversity,” Repp said. Now a mother of four, Repp said she really tries to stress the importance of remembering workers’ rights to high schoolage groups who are just entering the workforce. “One of the things that I frequently say when I’m speaking is that this whole story — it could be a tragedy, but we all have the ability to give it purpose if we make safety personal. Then we really can turn the story into a message of victory.” Elwood Brehmer can be reached at elwood.brehmer@alaskajournal.com.
Photos/Courtesy/Kina Repp
Kina Repp came to Alaska in 1990 to work at a processor during the summer salmon season, but lost her left arm in an accident during her first hour on the job. Since then she has finished her college education, run 13 marathons, carried the 2002 Olympic Torch for the Salt Lake City Games and now shares her message about safety around the country.
32nd Annual Governor’s Safety and Health Conference
• Page 7
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Page 8 • 32nd Annual Governor’s Safety and Health Conference
32nd Annual Governor’s Saf 18 MARCH • 2013 • DAY 1 START TIME
Full-day Workshop OSHA 10-Hour General Industry
Full-day Workshop OSHA 10-Hour General Industry
Full-day Workshop Safety Trained Supervisor Preparation
START TIME
Full-day Workshop OSHA 10-Hour Construction Industry
ROOM
Lower Level Room 3
Lower Level Room 4
Lower Level Room 5
ROOM
Lower Level Room 3
7- 8 a.m. REGISTRATION 7 a.m. - 8 a.m. Street Level 8:00 OSHA 10-Hour OSHA 10-Hour Safety Trained Supervisor Construction General Industry Exam Preparation 8:15 Teri Maxwell/Seth Wilson Paul Moyer/Rob Wright Course Daniel J Snyder 8:30 Alaska OSH Alaska OSH Performance Based Consulation & Training Consultation & Training Safety LLC 8:45 9:00 BREAK 9 a.m. - 9:15 a.m. 9:15 Safety Trained OSHA 10-Hour OSHA 10-Hour 9:30 Supervisor Exam Construction General Industry Preparation Course 9:45 (continued) (continued) (continued) 10:00 10:15 BREAK 10:15 a.m. - 10:30 a.m.
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OSHA 10-Hour Construction (continued)
OSHA 10-Hour General Industry (continued)
Safety Trained Supervisor Exam Preparation Course (continued)
LUNCH HOUR
on your own 11:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. OSHA 10-Hour Construction (continued)
OSHA 10-Hour General Industry (continued)
Safety Trained Supervisor Exam Preparation Course (continued)
BREAK 1:30 p.m. – 1:45 p.m. OSHA 10-Hour Construction (continued)
OSHA 10-Hour General Industry (continued)
Safety Trained Supervisor Exam Preparation Course (continued)
BREAK 2:45 p.m. – 3 p.m. OSHA 10-Hour Construction (continued)
OSHA 10-Hour General Industry (continued)
Safety Trained Supervisor Exam Preparation Course (continued)
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Full-day Wo OSHA 10-H General Ind
Lower Le Room
REGISTRATIO
WELCOME, OPENING “Changing Face of O Dr. Margaret K
BREAK OSHA 10-Hour Construction (continued)
OSHA 10-H General Ind (continue
REFRESHMENT BREAK OSHA 10-Hour Construction (continued)
OSHA 10-H General Ind (continue
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32nd Annual Governor’s Safety and Health Conference
• Page 9
fety and Health Conference 20 MARCH • 2013 • DAY 3
3 • DAY 2
orkshop Hour dustry
evel 4
Safety at Work, Home and Play Track
Employer Resources Track
Lower Level Room 5
Lower Level Room 2
ON 7 a.m. - 8 a.m. Street Level
G REMARKS AND KEYNOTE SPEAKER Occupational Safety and Health” Kitt, Deputy Director NIOSH
K 9:15 a.m. - 9:30 a.m.
Hour dustry ed)
Living the Good Life in Alaska: Alaska’s Changing Injury Profile, 2001-2010 D. Hull-Jilly & A. Bowlus AK Dept. HSS
Alaska OSH Enforcement Overview Phillip Jensen Alaska OSH Enforcement
K - VENDORS’ HALL 10:30 a.m. - 11 a.m.
Hour dustry ed)
Interactive Winter Safety Program Debra McGhan North America Outdoor Institute
Small Employers Resources Mark Baumgartner Alaska OSH Consultation & Training
LUNCH HOUR VENDORS’ HALL 12 p.m. - 1 p.m.
Hour dustry ed)
Cold Water Boating Kelli Toth Alaska Office of Boating Safety
Alaska OSH Whistleblower Protection Act Daniella Pereyra Alaska OSH
K - VENDORS’ HALL 2 p.m. – 2:30 p.m.
Hour tion ed)
Your Gift of Fear - You Already Possess the Best Self-Defense Glen Klinkhart Digital Securus LLC
Business Continuity Planning 101 Brandon Jacob Magestro MHA Consulting Inc
K - VENDORS’ HALL 3:30 p.m. – 4 p.m.
fety/ ction rson OSH & Training
Welding Safety Lou Alvord, Airgas
Creating a Safety Culture A Winning Investment in People and Profits Mary P. Quin NMS
NSORS APPRECIATION RECEPTION
START TIME ROOM
Safety and Health Track I
Safety and Health Track II
Safety at Work, Home and Play Track
Employer Resources Track
Half-Day Work Shops Youth Safety Track
Lower Level Room 3
Lower Level Room 4
Lower Level Room 5
Lower Level Room 2
Lower Level Room 6
7- 8 a.m. REGISTRATION 7 a.m. - 8 a.m. Street Level 8:00 GENERAL SESSION - “SAFETY BEYOND PPE” 8:15 Kina Repp 8:30 LaPerouse Room - Street Level 8:45 9:00 REFRESHMENT BREAK - VENDORS’ HALL 9 a.m. - 9:15 a.m. Introduction to Stopping Noise-Induced 9:15 Safety on the Inside: Alaska Workers’ Safety in the Workplace AK OSH 10-hr Seafood Hearing Loss in the Food for the Brain, Compensation System for Young Workers 9:30 Industry Class Workplace: Three Case Studies Bones and Heart Michael P. Monagle Elaine Banda Mike Buck & Guest Brad Witt, M.A. Director 9:45 Alaska OSH Rikki Keen Health & Director, Division Of Speakers Alaska OSH of Hearing Conservation Wellness Dietitian Worker’s Compensation Consultation & Training 10:00 Consultation & Training Honeywell Safety Products 10:15 REFRESHMENT BREAK - VENDORS’ HALL 10:15 a.m. - 10:30 a.m. Introduction to 10:30 Traumatic Brain Please, Don’t Workers’ Compensation Careers in Healthcare AK OSH 10-hr Seafood Injury Evidence Sneeze on Me Fraud and Employer 10:45 Tammy Williamson Industry Class Based Medicine Sandra Woods, Nurse Failure to Insure Mike Buck & Guest AK DOL&WD 11:00 Roland Torres, Alaska Manager, Mat-Su Rhonda Gerharz Speakers Alaska OSH Youth Job Center Public Health Center Workers Compensation 11:15 Consultation & Training Native Medical Center 11:30 11:45 LUNCH NOON AWARDS PRESENTATIONS 12:15 11:30 a.m. - 1 p.m. 12:30 12:45 Work Related Aviation Implementing an In1:00 Competent Person Crashes in Alaska - What Selecting a Comfortable Emotional Intelligence: Vehicle Monitoring Personal Flotation Training Have We Learned, and 1:15 Serving the Whole System Program: A Guide What Can We Do To Stay Device for Your Work Dave Roller for Oil and Gas Extraction Christine M. West 1:30 Safe? Mary B. O’Connor, Environment United Rentals Industry Jennifer M. The BusinessMD CDC/NIOSH Alaska Devin Lucas, NIOSH Trench Safety Lincoln PhD, CDC/NIOSH 1:45 Aviation Safety Program 2:00 BREAK 2:00 p.m. – 2:15 p.m. 2:15 Rigging Practices, Disasters - Surviving as An Approach to Safety Root Cause / Procedures and a Business, Family Management: Growing 2:30 Safe Conclusions Techniques and Individual Your Business in 2013 Ann Lindsey 2:45 Phillip Galloway TC Wilson & C.V. and Beyond Lindsey Consulting ASRC Energy Services Bledsoe, AK Prepared Brian Walden, SLP Alaska 3:00 3:15 BREAK 3:15 p.m. – 3:30 p.m. Electrical Safety 3:30 Confined Space Federal OSHA Updates Mike Schowen, Objects at Heights 3:45 David Roller Scott Ketcham Alaska USA Federal Michael J. Bazal Credit Union, Skip United Rentals US Department 4:00 Ergodyne Boomershine, Alaska Trench Safety of Labor 4:15 IBEW Local 1547 4:30 4:45 5:00 5:15
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Page 10 • 32nd Annual Governor’s Safety and Health Conference
Excellence in workplace safety Department of Labor & Workforce Development
The Alaska Department of Labor and Workforce Development’s Alaska Occupational Safety and Health Section recognizes Alaska employers who are exhibiting excellence in workplace safety. But the ultimate goal is to reduce accidents and related costs, and increase productivity with less down-time and improved employee morale. While there is an Enforcement Section that performs inspections based on complaints and targeted programs, and citations for serious violations, it’s the Consultation and Training section that proactively works with employers that request on-site inspections and training.
investigations or other significant incidents will result in an enforcement inspection. Participation in the program is voluntary and there are 12 sites in Alaska with the VPP designation, which is for employers with more than 250 on-site or more than 500 in a corporate location. • • • • • • •
VPP The Voluntary Protection Program recognizes and promotes effective workplace safety and health management through a cooperative program between a company’s management, employees and Alaska Occupational Safety and Health. Once a workplace is recognized as a VPP recipient, it isn’t subject to programmed enforcement inspections for five years. Enforcement regulations remain in effect, however, and cases of employee complaints, accident
• • • • •
Alaska Clean Seas ASRC Energy Services Grind & Inject Plant and Oily Water Injection Facility BP Exploration (Alaska) Central Power Station BP Exploration (Alaska) Gas Plants - Central Compression Plant & Gas Facility Bristow Alaska Inc. ConocoPhillips Alaska, Inc. – Alpine Field - Alp 15 – Alpine Operations ConocoPhillips Anchorage Office Tower Conoco Phillips Alaska, Inc. Beluga River Unit, Alaska ConocoPhillips Alaska Inc Kuparuk Area Fairbanks Memorial Hospital Insulfoam, Inc (Premier industries) UniSea, Inc.
SHARP The Safety and Health Achievement Recognition Program is also a federal recognition program, administered by the Alaska Occupa-
tional Safety and Health Section in the department’s Labor Standards and Safety Division. This program is similar to the VPP, but for smaller employers. Participating employers are excused from programmed AKOSH enforcement inspections during the recognition period. However, employee complaints, accident investigations or other significant incidents will result in enforcement action. The entities that have partnered with AKOSH and achieved SHARP status are likely to experience fewer workplace accidents and reduced workers’ compensation insurance costs. • City of Kenai Wastewater Treatment Plant • Theodore Barton, MD, Soldotna • Fairbanks Community Food Bank • Internal Medicine Associates, Anchorage • Juneau Pioneer Home • Municipality of Skagway’s Dahl Memorial Clinic • Municipality of Skagway’s Recreation Center • NMS, Juneau • Parker Drilling Company Training Center, Anchorage • Spruce Park Auto Body, Inc., Anchorage • Trident Seafoods Akutan Plant • Trident Seafoods Kodiak
Program educates teens on job safety at no cost to schools The Alaska Occupational Safety and Health’s Youth Employment Safety and Training program is partnering with Alaska schools to educate young people on workplace safety, with the goal of decreasing teen injuries and fatalities on the job. AKOSH is a part of the Alaska Department of Labor and Workforce Development’s Labor Standards and Safety Division. At no cost to schools, an AKOSH’s youth trainer conducts safety presentations and training exercises at middle schools and high schools statewide. The trainer establishes industry-specific curricula ranging from basic workplace safety to specific certification programs to help Alaska’s youth become more employable. More than 16,000 Alaska teens in 58 schools across the state have been trained. When the program started in 2008, there were 169 recordable incidents. In 2011 that was down to 24 recordable incidents. A youth trainer also conducts outreach to students enrolled in non-tra-
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ditional schools, such as Alaska Job Corps, Alaska Military Youth Academies and youth correctional facilities. Topics include avoiding workplace injuries, how to report a safety violation to a boss and rights and responsibilities. Students gain an understanding of the benefits and importance of safe and healthy work practices both on the job and at home. A future goal of the program is to expand the delivery of services to students living in rural Alaska. Other program goals include developing a youth safety and health scholarship and implementing a youth workplace violence awareness program. For information about a youth representative speaking to students at any Alaska middle school or high school, call Alaska Occupational Safety and Health Youth Safety at 800-656-4972 or email the Youth Training Coordinator at Elaine.Banda@ Alaska.Gov. For more information about youth safety go online http://Labor.Alaska. Gov/lss/oshhome.htm.
21313 MPFC OCC Health AD 10.25x15.5 copy.pdf
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32nd Annual Governor’s Safety and Health Conference
• Page 11
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Page 12 • 32nd Annual Governor’s Safety and Health Conference
What can Alaska learn from Montana on workers’ comp costs? By Gary Strannigan Assistant Vice President, Liberty Mutual Group
Editor’s note: This article originally ran in the February edition of the Alaska State Chamber of Commerce Business to Business quarterly newsletter as part of the organization’s effort to raise awareness for one of the top priorities of its Legislative Affairs subcommittee. Okay, so it’s not really the kind of thing we should raise a huzzah for. Alaska is, once again, No. 1. Only in this case, it’s a bad thing. If we were talking about a golf tournament, Alaska would receive the “flying divot award” for Strannigan worst score. The industry bible for comparative workers’ compensation data is the biennial Oregon Study. The 2010 edition listed Montana as the most expensive state in the nation for workers’ compensation insurance. However, in 2011, after a few years invested in arriving at an agreeable compromise, the Montana legislature enacted HB 334. In a bipartisan effort, the GOP majority legislature working with Democratic Gov.
Brian Schweitzer assembled a package of reforms that the National Council of Compensation Insurers estimated would reduce workers’ compensation premiums 20 to 44 percent. And it has worked. Liberty Northwest was planning to request a 12 percent average premium increase in July 2011 due to adverse cost trends. Instead, as a direct consequence of HB 334, LNW submitted a 20 percent reduction. Now, with the release of the 2012 edition of the Oregon Study, Montana has fallen from its perch at No. 1, all the way down to No. 8. You guessed it: Alaska is now ensconced as the No. 1 most costly workers’ compensation state in the country. Two questions come to mind: why is this important? And what did Montana do to reduce their comp premiums? First, make no mistake; this is a competitiveness issue for Alaska. While the Alaska legislature has wrestled with the oil tax question, Alaska has been overtaken by North Dakota and Texas as the top oil producing states. According to the 2012 Oregon Study, North Dakota is the least expensive workers comp state in the country with average premiums merely 1/3 that of Alaska’s. Texas, having also enacted comp reforms, has fallen on the Oregon
Study list from No. 12 in 2010 all the way down to No. 38 in 2012; with average costs per worker at about half that of Alaska. Second, the new Montana law shortens the period in which workers can receive medical benefits and allows employers to specify which doctors they can see and how well those doctors are compensated. If an employee is injured on a break
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while away from the workplace, the employer is no longer likely to be on the hook for lost wages and medical expenses. Based on what we learned from both the Texas and Montana reforms we know this: a workers’ compensation system that functions best for employers and injured workers with the most effective care and most meaningful return-to-work outcomes utilizes a combination of evidence-based treatment guidelines, returnto-work guidelines, direction of care, fee guidelines based on federal benchmarks, and an effective and streamlined dispute resolution mechanism. While the details of any such plan can make or break the system, these are the broad brushstrokes that we must start with in order to improve the state’s broken workers’ compensation system. In both Texas and Montana, reform of their broken work-
ers’ compensation systems was achieved because the business community united behind this singular legislative priority. Their governors and legislators then embraced the reforms. We can do it here, but it is up to the Alaska business community to emphasize the importance of the issue. Reducing workers’ compensation costs for Alaska employers is a top competitiveness issue. Montana and Texas have demonstrated that meaningful reforms can be achieved. Upon conclusion of the oil tax debates this legislative session, Gov. Parnell should waste no time and begin assembling a series of workers’ compensation reform recommendations for consideration and enactment by the 2014 legislature. Or perhaps Alaska will repeat as number one. Alaskan employers and workers alike should join me in hoping not.
32nd Annual Governor’s Safety and Health Conference
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MEDICAL SERVICES • SAFETY • TRAINING HIRING • RECORD MANAGEMENT
We have what it takes to make your employees shine. Beacon provides all the services your company needs for healthy, well-trained employees.
• Safety services • Training • Occupational medicine • Remote/on-site medical services • Drug and alcohol testing • Personnel records management to stay in compliance
For more information, visit our website www.beaconohss.com 800 Cordova St., Anchorage, AK 99501
Tel: 907-222-7612
Page 14 • 32nd Annual Governor’s Safety and Health Conference
2012 Governor’s Safety and Health Conference Award winners
Photo/Courtesy/Granite Construction Co.
Workers from Granite Construction Co. perform an improvement project at Lake Hood during 2012. The company was also honored last year with one of the Governor’s Safety Award of Excellence. The 2013 winners will be announced during lunch on March 20. Alaska Department of Labor and Workforce Development
Governor’s Special Achievement Awards This award is presented for special outstanding achievements in the field of safety and health. Nominees must show a significant and measurable impact on the community, or must have made documented contributions or enhancements to the field of safety and health. • The Alaska Avalanche Information Center has developed a statewide avalanche information network that provides avalanche data to the general public. The information is used by Alaskans enjoying the backcountry on skis or snow machines, and also includes travelers, workers and other members of the public. This group was also instrumental in developing and hosting Alaska’s first avalanche conference. Especially at this time of year, avalanches are a part of life in Alaska and the need for information and awareness is critical. The Avalanche Center provides public awareness of avalanche conditions and provides individuals with the tools they need to make safe decisions while recreating, working or traveling throughout Alaska. • The North American Outdoor Institute’s innovative outdoor safety education programs have been delivered to more than 10,000 Alaskans through public schools, community awareness presentations and private companies. Participants learn and practice activities such as shelter building, fire safety and avalanche awareness. Training combines practical skills with challenging real-life situations where participants work together to overcome hazards such as
avoiding wildlife confrontations and addressing wilderness medical emergencies. Class attendants report a greater awareness to their environment and the recognition of the need to properly prepare for any adventure. • For almost 40 years, “Safety Herb” Everett has made Alaska a safer place to live and work. After retiring from the U.S. Air Force as a safety specialist in 1989, he was a safety engineer for the Valdez Oil Spill cleanup. As director of Safety and Training for Westmark Alaska from 1991-2011, he significantly reduced injury and illness rates for the company, improved employee safety, saved the company in workers’ compensation costs and helped to avoid employee pain and suffering from workplace injuries. Everett promoted the safety profession in Alaska by mentoring high school and college students. He has been actively involved in local, national and world safety communities over the last 20 years, serving as chairman of the Alaska Safety Advisory Council, past-president and dean of Ambassadors of the Veterans of Safety and a member of the World Safety Organization Board of Directors. He is a founding member, past-president and board member emeritus of the Denali Safety Council.
Governor’s Safety Award of Excellence This recognition is awarded to a group that has demonstrated excellence in safety and health systems that protect employees. Companies must show there is management commitment, employee involvement and a documented system for hazard analysis and hazard reduction. • Granite Construction Company is one of the na-
Photo/Courtesy/Alaska Avalanche Information Center
An instructor from the Alaska Avalanche Information Center conducts training during March 2012 near Valdez. The Center was honored with a Governor’s Special Achievement Award in 2012.
tion’s largest heavy civil contractors with two permanent asphalt hot plants, five aggregate pits, two portable crushing plants and two asphalt hot plants located in Alaska. Granite Construction employees participate and contribute to the accident prevention efforts and return home each day injury free. In 2011 Alaska Region of Granite Construction was formally accepted as an Alaskan CHASE partner by the State of Alaska Department of Labor and Workforce Development. • At Cornerstone Gen-
eral Contractors, providing a safe, injury-free work environment for everyone is one of the company’s principles that guide the attitude, character and behavior of the employees. Management leads by example and conducts audits at jobsites on a daily basis. The company has shown an improvement in both Total Case Incident Rate and a Days Away, Restricted or Transferred rates. In 2010, 40 employees worked a total of 90,000 hours with no lost time or restricted work days. • CH2M Hill Engineering has not had an Occupa-
tional Safety and Health Administration recordable or Lost Time Injury in any of the last three years. The company has maintained a Total Case Incident Rate and a Days Away, Restricted or Transferred rate of zero. Management leads the way by actively participating in daily safety meetings. The company developed a hazard analysis program involving employees through the use of Pre-Task Safety Planning Cards that break down the hazards at that specific location, at that time, for that task and the job is planned accordingly.
32nd Annual Governor’s Safety and Health Conference
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INTERNATIONAL BROTHERHOOD OF ELECTRICAL WORKERS LOCAL 1547
Safety First. Back in the 1890’s when the IBEW was founded, safety standards were non-existent within the electrical industry. One out of every two power linemen died on the job, Safety standards are the foundation of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Union. Be Union. Be Safe.
Page 16 • 32nd Annual Governor’s Safety and Health Conference
TeamsTers LocaL 959 KeePING aLasKaNs saFe Statewide Offices:
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