Document ID: OSHA-2012-0006-0017
Agency: osha
Document Type: Supporting & Related Material
Title: 
Posted Date: 2012-11-30T05:00Z

Table of Contents

SECTION I  -  Meeting Overview	2
Tentative Agenda	2
SECTION II - FACOSH Activities	3
A.  Old Business	3
1.  FACOSH Meeting Materials for May 3, 2012 General Meeting.	3
2.  Emerging Issues Subcommittee - Permissible Exposure Limits (PELs).	3
3.  Training Subcommittee.	3
4.  Program & Other Updates from the Office of Federal Agency Programs (OFAP).	4
B.  New Business	6
FACOSH Nominations	6
Federal Safety and Health Managers' Meeting	6
Recordkeeping and Federal Agencies.	6
Revitalizing Field Federal Safety and Health Councils	6
SECTION III - Attachments	7
A.	Federal Advisory Council on Occupational Safety & Health May 3, 2012 Meeting Minutes, Certified
B.	Training Subcommittee Report  -  Recommendations for Consideration by the Secretary of Labor on Uniform Occupational Safety & Health Training Guidelines for the Federal Government
C.	Training Subcommittee Report, Appendix A:  Occupational Safety & Health Training Guidelines for Federal Employees
D.	Training Subcommittee Report, Appendix B:  Standard Operating Procedures for Safety & Health Training
E.	OPM MEMORANDUM, dated June 25, 2012, Report on Recommendations for OPM Consideration on the GS-0018, Safety & Occupational Health Management Job Series
F.	OSHA MEMORANDUM, dated August 13, 2012, Additional Information on the FACOSH Recommendations for the GS-0018, Safety & Occupational Health Management Job Serie
G.	OSHA Regional Administrator Contact Information
H.	FFSHC Award Recipients for Calendar Year 2011
I.	DRAFT:  Recommended Improvements for the Field Federal Safety & Health Council Program
SECTION I  -  Meeting Overview

Agenda (AMENDED)
                                       
     Federal Advisory Council on Occupational Safety & Health (FACOSH)
                                       
                               October 18, 2012
                                       
                                  N-4437, A-D
                                       
                                1 pm - 4:30 pm

CALL TO ORDER
      Administrative Items
      Member Introductions

INFORMATIONAL
      May 3, 2012 Meeting Minutes
      Secretary of Labor's Report to the President
      FACOSH Member Nominations
      Recordkeeping Rule Change
      OPM and FACOSH's Recommendations (GS-0018 Job Series)
      
OLD BUSINESS
      
      FBPTA Work Group Report/ Recommendations: GSA's Action Plan (GSA)
      
      Training Subcommittee Reports
      Federal Buildings Personnel Training Act Workgroup
      Model Career Management Plan Workgroup
      Uniform Safety & Health Training Guidelines Workgroup (Vote required)
            
NEW BUSINESS

      Revitalizing Field Federal Safety & Health Councils (EPA-led discussion)(Vote anticipated)
      E-COMP, and Protecting Our Workers, Ensuring Reemployment (OWCP)

PUBLIC COMMENT (Time Allowing)

NEXT MEETING (April 2013 Timeframe)

CLOSING REMARKS

SECTION II - FACOSH Activities

A.  Old Business

1.  FACOSH Meeting Materials for May 3, 2012 General Meeting.
Meeting materials for the May 3, 2012 FACOSH general meeting are available through the www.regulations.gov website by entering docket number "OSHA-2012-0006" into the key word search field.  In summary, during this meeting, FACOSH deliberated upon and voted to accept, a) the Emerging Issues Subcommittee  -  Permissible Exposure Limits revised recommendations 1, and 2 (Please note that at a previous meeting, the Council accepted the Subcommittee's recommendation 3.); and b) the Training Subcommittee's Federal Buildings Personnel Training Act Workgroup Report, and its corresponding recommendation.  In addition, FACOSH received updates from the Training Subcommittee workgroups concerning uniform training, and training specifically for safety professionals (GS-0018 job series employees).  The FACOSH Chair provided an update on the proposed Recordkeeping Rule changes, and the proposed updates to OSHA's guidance on workplace violence in health care settings (Please see Attachment A for the May 3, 2012 certified meeting minutes.).

2.  Emerging Issues Subcommittee - Permissible Exposure Limits (PELs).

Labor Co-Chair: William "Chico" McGill
International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW)

Management Co-Chair:	 Vacant

Update since the May 3, 2012 FACOSH Meeting:
None at this time.

3.  Training Subcommittee.

Labor Co-Chair:	 William Kojola
American Federation of Labor - Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO)

Management Co-Chair:	 Dennis Bushta
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)

Update since the May 3, 2012 FACOSH Meeting:
1. Secretary Solis approved the Council's Federal Buildings Personnel Training Act Workgroup Report and recommendation.  2. The training workgroups have continued to work on their topics.  3. The Subcommittee plans to present its report, Recommendations for Consideration by the Secretary of Labor on Uniform Occupational Safety & Health Training Guidelines for the Federal Government, to FACOSH for review (Please see attachments B, C, and D).  The report contains a list of recommendations, for OSHA and the Office of Personnel Management (OPM), regarding the development of occupational safety and health (OSH) training guidelines for all staff levels in the Federal Government.  FACOSH will vote to approve the report and its recommendations.  4. The Subcommittee also plans to provide a status update of its progress in developing a model career management plan for the GS-0018 job series, and on the development of training for federal building personnel.

OPM has been provided with FACOSH's recommendations for improving the qualifications standard for the Safety and Occupational Health Management job series.  (Please see attachments E, and F).  The Agency has been asked to review the recommendations which require its action, and develop an action plan, and timeline for evaluating the GS-0018 job series recommendations.  OSHA is continuing to work with OPM regarding the Council's recommendations.

Required Vote:  Tentatively, FACOSH will deliberate upon and vote to accept/not accept the Uniform Training Guidelines workgroup's report and recommendations.  No other votes on the Training Subcommittee workgroups' activities are anticipated.

4.  Program & Other Updates from the Office of Federal Agency Programs (OFAP).

Federal Advisory Committee Act Comprehensive Annual Report of FACOSH Activities.
FACOSH is governed by the Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA) of 1972, and OFAP routinely updates the FACA Database with the Council's activities.  The FACA database is used by federal agencies to continuously manage an average of 1,000 advisory committees government-wide.  The database is also used by the Congress to perform oversight of related Executive Branch programs, and by the public, the media, and others, to stay abreast of important developments resulting from advisory committee activities.  Among other requirements, FACA requires that the sponsoring federal agency submit a comprehensive annual report through the Department's Committee Management Officer (CMO).  Please note that OSHA has submitted the comprehensive annual report outlining FACOSH's fiscal year (FY) 2012 activities.  Once made publically available through the Department's CMO, it can be viewed at the FACA site, at http://fido.gov/.

Federal Agency Targeting Inspection Program (FEDTARG).
OSHA Regions are in the process of completing FEDTARG 2012 inspections.  The 2013 directive is in the concurrence process.  Once it has received the FY 2012 workers' compensation data from the Office of Workers' Compensation (OWCP), OFAP will identify those federal agencies for inspection under the FEDTARG 2013 program.  We anticipate receipt of the OWCP data in the November  -  December 2012 timeframe.  The OSHA Regions will be provided the 2013 directive and their primary inspection lists shortly thereafter.

Federal Agency Safety & Health Training Week (FEDWEEK) 2012.
FEDWEEK was held July 31 - August 2, 2012 at the OSHA Training Institute (OTI).  The training consisted of nine seminar topics, including: Office Ergonomics, Electrical, Indoor Air Quality, Bloodborne Pathogens, Hazard Communications - Aligning with GHS, Safety & Health Management Systems (SHMS), Hearing Conservation, Recordkeeping, and Workplace Violence.  110 students participated, and accounted for 490 seminar registrations.  The students, from 66 federal agencies and sub-agencies, applauded the training provided.

Field Federal Safety and Health Councils (FFSHCs).
Currently, there are 39 active FFSHCs operating across the country.  Federal agency personnel interested in participating in or establishing a FFSHC should contact the OSHA Regional Administrator in their respective region (Please see Attachment G).  The EPA will lead a discussion on revitalization strategies.
FFSHCs Award Winners.
This year, due to two tied scores in Category I, eleven Councils received FFSHC National Office awards for calendar year 2011.  The awards were distributed to the Regional Offices of the winning councils (Please see Attachment H).

The Secretary of Labor's Report to the President on Federal Department and Agency Occupational Safety and Health Program Activities

2011 Report.  The FY 2011 Secretary of Labor's Report to the President is in the concurrence process.

2012 Request for Information.  The request for information for the 2012 Report was sent to federal agencies on August 23, 2012.  Agencies are required to submit their reports to OFAP no later than January 1, 2013.  Similar to last year's agencies' reports, the FY 2012 Secretary of Labor's Report to the President will include information on injury and illness rates, fatalities and/or catastrophes, and employee training.  However, the 2012 agency report request sought more information on federal agency's safety and health management systems (SHMS).  To this end, each agency is asked to complete a short self-evaluation of its SHMS, and to provide an overall rating of its SHMS with a justification of the rating.  Agencies with Certified Safety and Health Committees are required to complete an additional appendix on this topic.  Details regarding fatalities and catastrophes have also been requested.
SECTION II - FACOSH Activities

B.  New Business

FACOSH Nominations
As is required by FACA, OSHA published a Federal Register notice seeking nominations for FACOSH membership to fill six anticipated vacancies, three management and three labor member positions.  The nominations package has been submitted to the Secretary of Labor for her consideration.

Federal Safety and Health Managers' Meeting
OFAP is in the midst of planning a no-cost to attend, half-day managers' meeting specifically for federal agency OSH managers and professionals.  It is expected that the proposed meeting would serve as an impetus to a future federal training conference.  The initial vision is to motivate OSH managers by inviting prominent OSH professionals to share their success stories, and offer an overall positive message.  OFAP anticipates scheduling a highly-technical general session, possibly presented by NASA, and breakout sessions to facilitate collaboration between federal agency OSH managers on safety and health issues affecting agencies.  Advance registration will provide attendees the opportunity to register for specific work group(s) of interest.  It is being planned that at the conclusion of the breakout sessions, a representative from each group would be asked to summarize their findings and recommendations.  Once finalized, OFAP will publicize the meeting's particulars to FACOSH members.

Recordkeeping and Federal Agencies.
Regarding the Recordkeeping Rule change  -  OSHA has submitted the proposed rule change to the Office of Management & Budget (OMB) for their review.  Currently, OFAP is working through the comments received from federal agencies and OMB.

Revitalizing Field Federal Safety and Health Councils
For over 60 years, field federal safety and health councils (FFSHC) have worked to promote and assist with cooperative exchanges of OSH information among local federal establishments.  In recent years, many of these FFSHCs have become less active.  Contributing to the decline in FFSHC participation is the perception that councils provide little value in support of federal agencies OSH responsibilities.

To make the FFSHC program more effective, several strategies may be worth considering, including: 1) FFSHC participation be promoted among all federal agencies; 2) FFSHCs receive sufficient resources to function; 3) the FFSHC National Award process be refocused to effectively measure how successful councils are in terms of meeting the needs of participating agencies; 4) Federal Executive Boards, and Federal Executive Associations encourage participation in FFSHC activities; and 5) the FFSHC Operations Manual be updated accordingly.  These and other strategies are outlined in the draft document - Recommended Improvements for the Field Federal Safety & Health Council Program (Please see Attachment I).  You may find the document useful as the EPA leads a discussion on revitalization strategies.
SECTION III - Attachments

   A. Federal Advisory Council on Occupational Safety & Health May 3, 2012 Meeting Minutes, Certified

   B. Training Subcommittee Report  -  Recommendations for Consideration by the Secretary of Labor on Uniform Occupational Safety & Health Training Guidelines for the Federal Government

   C. Training Subcommittee Report, Appendix A:  Occupational Safety & Health Training Guidelines for Federal Employees

   D. Training Subcommittee Report, Appendix B:  Standard Operating Procedures for Safety & Health Training

   E. OPM MEMORANDUM, dated June 25, 2012, Report on Recommendations for OPM Consideration on the GS-0018, Safety & Occupational Health Management Job Series

   F. OSHA MEMORANDUM, dated August 13, 2012, Additional Information on the FACOSH Recommendations for the GS-0018, Safety & Occupational Health Management Job Series

   G. OSHA Regional Administrator Contact Information

   H. FFSHC Award Recipients for Calendar Year 2011

   I. DRAFT:  Recommended Improvements for the Field Federal Safety & Health Council Program