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Fairfax, VA - The American Industrial Hygiene Association (AIHA) will hold a phone-in town hall meeting on Tuesday, February 2, 2010, at 1 p.m. ET to solicit feedback from its members as it prepares to attend the "OSHA Listens" event where OSHA will obtain information from the public on key issues facing the agency. To participate in the town hall meeting, dial 1-866-339-1399 and enter the meeting code *1244113*, including the asterisk before and after the code.

When the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) holds its meeting on February 10 in Washington, D.C., stakeholders and others will have the opportunity to present comments and recommendations.

"AIHA is very excited to be able to appear and present our thoughts to OSHA. I am hoping folks will take a few minutes to review the following questions, participate in our town hall meeting, and present comments, so we will have a broad view of what to say at this meeting and make sure we are representing our members accurately," said AIHA President Cathy L. Cole, CIH, CSP.

"AIHA is also reaching out to our volunteer groups' via a survey on the topic," added David R. Hicks, CIH, CSP, CHMM, AIHA's Senior Manager of Volunteer Engagement.

In particular, the agency invites input on the following:

• What can the agency do to enhance and encourage the efforts of employers, workers, and unions to identify and address workplace hazards?
• What are the most important emerging or unaddressed health and safety issues in the workplace, and what can OSHA do to address these?
• How can the agency improve its efforts to engage stakeholders in programs and initiatives?
• What specific actions can the agency take to enhance the voice of workers in the workplace, particularly workers who are hard to reach, do not have ready access to information about hazards or their rights, or are afraid to exercise their rights?
• Are there additional measures to improve the effectiveness of the agency's current compliance assistance efforts and the on-site consultation program to ensure that small businesses have the information needed to provide safe workplaces?
• Given the length and difficulty of the current OSHA rulemaking process, and given the need for new standards that will protect workers from unaddressed, inadequately addressed, and emerging hazards, are there policies and procedures that will decrease the time to issue final standards so that OSHA may implement needed protections in a timely manner?
• As we continue to progress through a new information age vastly different from the environment in which OSHA was created, what new mechanisms or tools can the agency use to more effectively reach employers and high-risk employees with training, education, and outreach? What is OSHA doing now that may no longer be necessary?
• Are there indicators, other than work site injuries and illness logs, that OSHA can use to enhance resource targeting?
• In the late 1980s, OSHA and its stakeholders worked together to update the Permissible Exposure Limits (PELs) (exposure limits for hazardous substances; most adopted in 1971), but the effort was unsuccessful. Should updating the PELs be a priority for the agency? Are there suggestions for ways to update the PELs, or are there other ways to control workplace chemical exposures?

To participate in the town hall meeting, dial 1-866-339-1399 and enter the meeting code *1244113*, including the asterisk before and after the code. For those who are unable to call in but would like to provide feedback, summarize your comments and forward to Aaron Trippler, AIHA's Government Affairs Director, at atrippler@aiha.org.

SOURCE: The American Industrial Hygiene Association (AIHA)