Timber Products Attends OSHA’s Safety & Health Conferences
From October 15th to the 17th, multiple members of our Southern Oregon safety committees had the chance to attend a series of Safety Conferences in the Ashland Hills Hotel in Ashland, OR.
The event was the premier of the Southern Oregon Occupational Safety & Health Conference hosted by OSHA, in collaboration with the Southern Oregon Chapter of the American Society of Safety Professionals (ASSP), which delivered safety and health trainings, exhibits, and professional development workshops by regionally and nationally recognized keynote presenters.
A total of fifty-four team members showed up to the conference. Among them were Medford Safety Manager, Jamie Ludwig, Particleboard Safety Manager, Adam Wasinewski, Grants Pass Safety Generalist, Angie Miranda, and TRCS Safety Manager, Ashley Novak. The teams engaged with top industry leaders and attended workshops that covered various safety topics in the workplace. One of these topics was Forklift Safety presented by Grants Pass Quality Assurance Technician, Ryan Ruska:
“I received a lot of support from Timber Products as a whole while I was there along with Craig Hamelund from Oregon OSHA who is a fantastic speaker and safety individual himself” Ryan stated.
The presentation included a showing of this year’s Timber Products Forklift Skills Challenge video; an event that was acclaimed by many of the attendees and the organization. Ruska added:
“I also was able to encourage others to start Safety Skills Challenges of their own at their own facilities and look forward to hearing how they went when it happens and the learning processes and successes that came from the event.”
HR Personnel and Safety Generalist, Angie Miranda, highlighted that another focus of the conference was the topic of fostering a proactive safety culture, which resonated deeply with the attendees. Things like having a regular stretching routine before the start of a work day are deemed necessary, as this will prevent common physical injuries in all of our production facilities.
“A key takeaway from the conference was a renewed focus on our current stretching program.” She added, “With input from expert sessions, our team will be reevaluating the program’s structure and effectiveness, ensuring it aligns with best practices and better meets the needs of our employees.”
The conferences were given throughout the three days, alongside a series of workshops covering topics such as Safe Forklift Operations, Management in Safety Committees, and OSHA’s new penalty structure, among others. In addition, the event also featured an Award Ceremony featuring Craig Hamelund, giving awards to multiple Safety Committee members in different fields.
With great enthusiasm, the teams representing Timber Products brought back valuable career lessons after attending the ASSP conferences. All attendees will work on applying the teachings they gained in their respective roles and will continue to create a more productive and safer workplace. All members are excited to attend next year with more insights to share and to learn from other members of the ASSP and OSHA.
