|
 Printer-Friendly Version
Archived News Release--Caution:
information may be out of date.
For more information call: (202) 219-8151.
At 1 p.m., on Tuesday, August 1, 1995, the Occupational
Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) will receive a "Hammer" Award for its
"Maine 200" partnership program. The award is Vice President Al Gore's special
recognition of significant contributions to the National Performance Review,
President Clintonþs reinventing government effort.
Joseph A. Dear, Assistant Secretary of Labor for
Occupational Safety and Health; Elaine Kamarck, Senior Policy Advisor to the
Vice President who heads the National Performance Review; and Charles O'Leary,
president of the Maine AFL-CIO, will join company officials at the S.D. Warren
Company, a pulp and paper mill near Skowhegan. O'Leary, Bill Freeman,
OSHAþs Bangor Area Director, and James Goffi, vice president of
operations for S.D. Warren, will accept "Hammer" awards on behalf of labor,
government and business.
"In Maine, we took enforcement very seriously," said
Freeman. "We conducted wall-to-wall inspections, issuing more citations than
any one else in the country. There was only one small problem: We were having
no impact on worker health and safety. It was time for a change."
The successful program, instituted in 1993, identified 200
companies with the highest number of workers compensation claims, and offered
those employers a choice: a partnership with OSHA to improve safety and health
at their facilities, or stepped-up enforcement. All but two firms chose the
former. S.D. Warren, working in partnership with four unions, had particular
success in the program, identifying 17,000 safety and health deficiencies in
self-inspections, and working to correct them.
Ms. Kamarack said, "The common sense of the "Maine 200"
program typifies OSHA's on-going reinvention efforts and a cooperative
partnership between government, industry, and labor unions."
Results of the "Maine 200" program are stunning. Employers
were able to find and fix hazards at a rate of 14 times more than OSHA had in
the past eight years. And three out of five employers experienced a reduction
in lost work days.
"Ironically while we are in the process of reinventing
OSHA--and achieving significant successes like those demonstrated in the "Maine
200" program--Congress is moving to stop us," said Dear. "At the same time we
are in Maine celebrating this award, the House of Representatives in Washington
is considering an appropriations bill that would send a wrecking ball through
OSHA efforts to work with employers to protect the health and safety of
America"s working men and women."
Archived News Release--Caution:
information may be out of date.
| |
|
