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Archived News Release--Caution: information may be out of date.

OSHA Press Release: Secretary Herman Names Byron K. Orton, Iowa Labor Commissioner to NACOSH, in Time for Feb. 12 Meeting in Washington, D.C. [01/15/1998]

For more information call: 202) 219-8151

Secretary of Labor Alexis M. Herman today announced the appointment of Byron K. Orton, Iowa Labor Commissioner, to serve as a public representative on the National Advisory Committee on Occupational Safety and Health (NACOSH).

Orton is responsible for the Occupational Safety and Health Administration-approved state plan in Iowa and also is a member of the Occupational Safety and Health State Plan Association.

Orton succeeds Kenneth Zeller, who resigned from NACOSH at the time he resigned as Indiana Commissioner of Labor and head of the Indiana State OSHA program. Orton will attend the next meeting of NACOSH, to be held Feb. 12, 1998, in Washington.

He was nominated for NACOSH membership by Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad. Branstad said that as head of the Iowa occupational safety and health program since 1995, Orton has worked closely with federal OSHA to ensure that workers in Iowa are protected on the job. Orton also has worked diligently to foster cooperative partnerships with Iowa’s employers to enhance voluntary compliance with occupational safety and health standards. Before that he served the workers’ compensation community as Iowa’s industrial commissioner. He has served on numerous state, national and international boards and commissions in the arena of employment law and occupational safety and health.

The Feb. 12 NACOSH public meeting will be held in Room N-3437 A-C of the Frances Perkins Department of Labor Building, 200 Constitution Ave., NW, Washington, D.C., from 9 a.m. to approximately 4:30 p.m.

The agenda will include:

• A brief overview of current activities in the Occupational Safety and Health Administration and the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health;
• A discussion of incentive and disciplinary programs in the workplace;
• Updates on the implementation of the Cooperative Compliance Programs and the 11© (whistleblower) task force;
• A report on the ergonomics stakeholder meetings;
• A discussion of definitions and criteria for safety and health programs; and
• reports from NACOSH’s workgroups.

Written data, views or comments for consideration by the committee, preferably with 20 copies, may be submitted to Frank Frodyma, Acting Director of Policy, OSHA, Room N-3641, 200 Constitution Ave., NW, Washington, D.C., 20210 (phone: 202-219- 8021, extension 102; fax: 202-219-4383; e-mail frank.frodyma@osha-no.osha.gov).

Submissions received prior to the meeting will be provided to the members of the committee and will be included in the record of the meeting. There is usually insufficient time for oral presentations by the public, but the committee chairman will determine whether or not time permits. Any request to make an oral presentation should state the amount of time desired, the capacity in which the person would appear, and a brief outline of the presentation.

Individuals with disabilities who need special accommodations should contact Theresa Berry (phone: 202-219-8615, ext. 106; fax: 202-219-5986) one week before the meeting.

The 12-member NACOSH has two members representing management, two members representing labor, two members representing the occupational health professions, two members representing the occupational safety professions and four members representing the public. Two of the health representatives and two of the public members are designated by the Secretary of Health and Human Services, although actual appointment of these members, as well as all other members, is by the Secretary of Labor. The members serve two-year terms.

Notice of the meeting is in the Thursday, Jan. 15, 1998, Federal Register.

Archived News Release--Caution: information may be out of date.