OSHA Region 3 Director: More focus on blood-borne pathogens, trenching and recordkeeping

The following item from ChamberLinks, a publication of the West Virginia Chamber of Commerce, provides insights into OSHA’s priorities in Region 3, which includes West Virginia, Virginia, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Delaware and the District of Columbia:

The regional director for the federal Occupational Safety & Health Administration (OSHA) attended a meeting last week of the W.Va. Chamber’s safety subcommittee on July 9 at the Chamber’s offices in Charleston. OSHA Area Director Jeff Funke met July 9 with close to 25 subcommittee members and discussed a number of priority efforts under his regional authority.

Funke started off by noting that the federal stimulus package (the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009) is providing his office with added Compliance, Safety and Health Officers (CSHO) who will help oversee the regional emphasis program for bridges, roads and other infrastructure projects.

Beyond the added ARRA program, Funke also talked about the fact that the OSHA regional emphasis program will be focusing more on blood-borne pathogens, trenching, and record-keeping. In particular, he said this will focus on “abnormally low safety statistics based on SIC” and OSHA will be conducting site-specific targeting.

He also emphasized that the voluntary participation program (VPP) is not going away and his administration and his office are very committed and supportive of this program.

Finally, Funke asked for the subcommittee’s commitment on the SGE (special government employees) program, and he expressed his appreciation for having been invited to this year’s W.Va. Chamber’s HR Summit & Governor’s Safety Conference, which is set for November 3-4.

“We were very pleased and honored to have hosted Director Funke’s first meeting with safety professionals in the area,” said Don Elswick, the Chamber’s safety subcommittee chair. Elswick is with Marathon Petroleum Company.