Nominations available for 2007 GOSH conference awards

Organizations, businesses, and individuals making extraordinary contributions to workplace safety and health in Oregon deserve recognition. The Department of Consumer and Business Services, Occupational Safety and Health Division (Oregon OSHA), in partnership with the Columbia-Willamette Chapter of the American Society of Safety Engineers, provides an opportunity to recognize safety and health leaders during the Oregon Governor's Occupational Safety and Health Conference (GOSH) in March 2007.

Award nomination forms for the 2007 GOSH conference are available on the Oregon OSHA Web site, www.orosha.org/conferences, or the Columbia-Willamette Chapter of the American Society of Safety Engineers Web site, www.assecwc.org.


Awards will be presented in four categories: Employers, Safety Committees, Associations, and Individuals. Private-sector and public-sector employers are eligible. Nominations for awards are open in the following areas:


Employers:
* Up to 30 employees
* 31 to 99 employees
* 100 to 299 employees
* 300 to 999 employees
* 1,000 or more employees

Safety Committees:
* Up to 30 employees
* 31 to 99 employees
* 100 to 299 employees
* 300 to 999 employees
* 1,000 or more employees

Note: Seasonal employers and temporary agencies may use the average number of employees for the appropriate category.

Associations:
Recognizes outstanding achievement in enhancing workplace safety and health by an association actively promoting workplace safety and health.
* Associations with dedicated loss control staff resources
* Associations without dedicated loss control staff resources

Individual:
* Health care professional
* Individual
* Industrial hygienist
* Labor representative
* Safety professional
* Specific project work team

The 2007 GOSH conference, "Safety and Health Leadership: Moving Forward," will feature more than 30 full-day workshops and 80 single-topic classes during the four-day conference designed to educate managers and workers about workplace safety and health issues. Topics include health care injury prevention, workplace health and wellness promotion, ergonomics, construction safety, workers' compensation, and risk management. Leadership consultant Robert Pater is scheduled as keynote speaker to open the conference.

Completed nomination forms must be received by October 20, 2006. Nominations are reviewed by an Awards Committee made up of safety professionals from a diverse mix of occupations, including health care, risk management, small business, public districts, trade unions, utilities and state government. Awards will be presented during the 2007 GOSH conference, scheduled for March 12-15, 2007 at the Oregon Convention Center in Portland.

The GOSH conference, presented in odd-numbered years, is a co-production of the Department of Consumer and Business Services, Occupational Safety and Health Division (Oregon OSHA) and the American Society of Safety Engineers, Columbia-Willamette Chapter (ASSE). For additional information about the awards nomination process or the 2007 GOSH conference, contact the Conferences section of Oregon OSHA, (503) 378-3272, or e-mail Oregon.GOSH@state.or.us.

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