The ABC Safety Department attended the 58th annual Governor’s Industrial Safety and Health Conference on October 7th and 8th at the TacomaConvention Center. Mike Southards, president, Governor’s Industrial Safety and Health Advisory Board, welcomed everybody to the conference, followed by Judy Schurke, director of Department of Labor & Industries. The opening session also included presenting the 2009 Lifesaving & Humanitarian Award to those nominated and deemed heroes for their swift actions during emergencies, both major and minor, in the past year.

ABC’s Safety Department, Vice President of Safety & Education Ann Jarvis and Safety Coordinator Stacie Elledge, joined by Gregorio Rodriguez from the Inland Pacific Chapter and ABC members McMullen Electric, Inc. and SD Deacon Corp. of Washington, split up to attend the many course offerings covering a variety of topics aimed to assist participants in understanding the seriousness of injuries and deaths and how to prevent them. Topics included: effective JHAs, the new crane rule coming into effect in January 2010, the consequences of drowsy driving and sleep deprivation, ergonomics, silica awareness, and workplace violence, among many others. They also took part in a lattice boom crane training simulator.

A highlight of the conference featured “The Story of Flight 232, Teamwork Under Crisis,” presented by Captain Al Haynes, the pilot for the 1989 United Airlines Flight 232, which crashed in Iowa City. The audience heard the 911 calls demonstrating the teamwork that was required and implemented that day, in which 110 of 285 passengers, along with one crew member, perished due to an engine and complete hydraulic failure resulting in the complete loss of flight controls.

Unfortunately, due to time constraints and overlapping of sessions, they missed out on the annual Forklift Rodeo, where operators faced a challenging obstacle course, but were lucky enough to witness the Pole Top Rescue. Teams for both competitions come from all over the state. A coveted trophy is awarded annually to the best team in each competition, as well as individual awards in the Forklift Rodeo.

All in all, the two-day conference was a success and the Safety Department took away a lot of helpful information to relay to our members. There were 81 fatalities, 18 in construction, and 119,788 on-the-job injuries in the year 2008.

Preventing injuries and deaths is a top priority for L&I. The ABC Safety Department is committed to continuing to bring our members the most current information needed to help keep your workers safe.