US Department of Labors OSHA to hold meeting of National Advisory Committee on Occupational Safety and Health

3 new members appointed and 5 members re-appointed

WASHINGTON The U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration will hold a meeting of the National Advisory Committee on Occupational Safety and Health June 19-20 in Washington. Secretary of Labor Hilda L. Solis has announced the appointment of three new committee members and the re-appointment of five members.

Established under the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970, NACOSH has advised the secretaries of labor and health and human services for nearly 40 years on worker safety issues. The committee meets at least twice a year and members are appointed for two-year terms. The newly appointed and re-appointed members join four other members.

A tentative agenda includes remarks from the assistant secretary of labor for occupational safety and health and the director for the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health; discussions on globally harmonized systems and emerging issues; a presentation on OSHA's fall prevention campaign; and NACOSH work group reports. A final agenda will be made available at http://www.osha.gov/dop/nacosh/nacosh.html.

On June 19, the injury and illness prevention programs and the record keeping work groups will meet at 1:30 p.m. and 2:30 p.m. EDT, respectively. OSHA has established a new effectiveness measures work group to provide NACOSH with recommendations on measuring the effectiveness of OSHA's strategies, programs and activities, and it will meet at 3:30 p.m. EDT. Committee and work group meetings will be held in Room N-3437 A/B/C, U.S. Department of Labor, 200 Constitution Ave. NW, Washington, D.C. 20210.

NACOSH meetings are open to the public. Individuals wishing to submit comments or requests to speak may do so electronically at http://www.regulations.gov. Submissions, which should not exceed 10 pages, also may be faxed to the OSHA Docket Office at 202-693-1648 or mailed to the OSHA Docket Office, Docket No. OSHA-2012-0019, Room N-2625, U.S. Department of Labor, 200 Constitution Ave. NW., Washington, D.C. 20210. Comments and requests to speak must be submitted by June 11. The Federal Register notice, which will be published on May 25, contains additional information about the meeting and can be viewed at http://s.dol.gov/S4.

Newly appointed members who serve as representatives of the public are Anne Soiza, assistant director for the Washington Division of Occupational Safety and Health in Olympia, Wash., and Mark Carleson, safety manager for Orange County in Santa Ana, Calif. Additionally, Jacqueline Agnew, a professor at the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health in Baltimore, Md., has been appointed as the committee's new health representative.

Members re-appointed for additional terms include safety representative Peter Dooley of LaborSafe in Dexter, Mich.; management representative Joseph Van Houten, senior director of worldwide environmental health and safety for Johnson & Johnson in New Brunswick, N.J.; and labor representatives William Borwegen, director of occupational health and safety for the Service Employees International Union, and Margaret Seminario, director of safety and health for the AFL-CIO, both in the District of Columbia. Linda Rae Murray, the chief medical officer of the Cook County Department of Health in Chicago, Ill., has been re-appointed as a public member and as the new chair for the committee.

Under the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970, employers are responsible for providing safe and healthful workplaces for their employees. OSHA's role is to ensure these conditions for America's working men and women by setting and enforcing standards, and providing training, education and assistance. For more information, visit http://www.osha.gov.