Tuesday, August 19, 2003
Companies team up for safety
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Companies in the Tri-State are collaborating to offer general safety training for contractor employees with the assistance of the University of Southern Indiana’s Extended Services Office. Ten companies have formed the Tri-State Industrial Safety Council (TSISC) to eliminate the duplication of general safety training. Prior to establishing the council, each area company has had to provide general safety orientation for its contract workers, even if the same workers had received similar orientation while working for another company. Companies participating in the council are Alcan, Alcoa, American Electric Power, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Commonwealth Aluminum, Ferro Corporation, GE Plastics, Toyota, Vectren, and Weyerhaeuser. Charmaine McDowell, training consultant for University of Southern Indiana, facilitated the organization of the TSISC. Through her work the council has been accepted for membership in the Association of Reciprocal Safety Councils (ARSC), a national association that provides reciprocal safety education conforming to regulatory standards and industry-accepted practices. Contract workers who complete ARSC training are awarded a reciprocal badge honored by all TSISC members as well as ARSC-affiliated companies throughout the country. Companies will still provide their own site-specific safety orientation as mandated by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration. “The real value of TSISC is the willingness of these company representatives to collaborate to increase efficiency and reduce redundancy,” McDowell said. USI will offer the ARSC safety orientation program in the University Conference Center. Instructors will be experienced safety professionals. The initial program is a five- to six-hour course, which is scheduled for September 8. Workers must complete a two-hour refresher program each year. USI is authorized to issue the reciprocal badge on behalf of ARSC. The program is expected to serve more than 4,000 contract workers each year. Stephanie Lancaster, manager of safety and industrial hygiene for Bristol-Myers Squibb, chairs the council. She said the benefits of a reciprocal safety program are: reduced on-site training time, elimination of redundant training, consistent safety orientation for contractors, improvement of overall safety practices, and centralized orientation and tracking of participants. She added that it will be valuable to have USI, as an independent third party, monitor the issuing of reciprocal badges. Membership is open to all organizations in the Tri-State. Persons interested in membership can call the USI Office of Extended Services, 812/464-1863. See this release and other news from University of Southern Indiana at www.usi.edu/newsinfo/ Kathy Funke, director, News and Information Services, kfunke@usi.edu or 812/465-7050. |
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