OSHA Area Director, Dorinda Folse will be on hand to lead an informative session on “What's New from OSHA? Learn about what areas the local OSHA office will be focusing on during the new year; ask questions about OSHA regulations and find out where to get the information you need from OSHA.

OSHA’s Alex Novas will provide an overview of OSHA's Recordkeeping Rule, with emphasis on identifying the requirements for injury and illness recordkeeping, posting and reporting; determining the recordability of an incident; and familiarization with recordkeeping forms.

Eric Bertolet from TopCor and Safe Nation Radio will give a presentation using information from the book “Aggression in the Workplace” by Dr. Marc McElhaney This session will alert managers and supervisors to common mistakes businesses make concerning workplace violence. It will outline prevention methods and discusses how to deal with threats, conduct firings safely, defuse angry employees and handle stalkers. During this session you will receive a sample workplace violence policy along with a questionnaire to help managers assess a person’s potential for violence.

With the deadline approaching in the Baton Rouge area, there are still many unanswered questions regarding the Transportation Worker Identification Credential.  Join representatives from the enrollment and enforcement sectors of TWIC as we help to answer some of those questions, give you some tips on applying for your TWIC card and discuss the future of the program.

Steve Varnado of Professional Safety Associates will give you a comprehensive overview of the "gas testing" component for Confined Space Entry or other work where gas testing is needed.

Specific items covered include: why we perform gas testing; an overview of potentially hazardous conditions; key definitions a gas tester must know; effects of oxygen deficiency and toxic exposures on the body; characteristics of materials; sampling techniques; potential problems when sampling; limitations of oxygen and combustible gas instruments; and detector tubes use / limitations

Join Jeff Simmerman and Keith Savoie from Environmental Resources Management as they provide you with a brief synopsis of the new homeland security regulatory requirements identified for chemical companies including some of the challenges associated with those regulations.

The petro-chemical industry is investing more money and more time into training than ever before. But perhaps some of the most important training is being overlooked by many plant sites and corporate board rooms...dealing with the media during an emergency. But not only emergencies that kill or physically injure. A picket line or protest march can turn into a real emergency…if you are not prepared. Pro-active planning is the key. The time to interact with members of the electronic and print media should be long before a crisis occurs. Join former news reporter John Voinche' and WAFB's Phil Ranier and learn what to say and how to say it during this session.

How do you effectively deal with the constant deadlines, conflicting priorities, meetings, as well as the other time challenges that you are faced with on a daily basis? With this program you will gain an understanding and ability to be a better time manager. You will discover your present time management strengths as well as the areas needing improvement. As a result, you will leave with a strategy and action plan to develop and implement more effective time management skills in your life.- presented by Dr. Jerry Teplitz.

The SWITCHED-ON MANAGEMENT seminar is a powerful, research validated approach for creating more success as a manager through direct brain re-education. In this session, you will learn a two minute technique to stop negative situations from getting you down. You will also experience switching your brain on for being a leader. This will enable you to "switch-on" your central nervous system by creating an internal fusion for greater management effectiveness. - presented by Dr. Jerry Teplitz.

Lisa Oubre, Safety Council Vice President of Community Services & HR will share some surprising data and processes on how an effective, engaging off-the-job safety program can help your company’s bottom line by reducing absenteeism & medical costs and increasing productivity. Statistics show that 60% of the injuries that keep your employees off-the-job occur away from work. For the past 30 years, great emphasis has been placed on decreasing on-the-job safety incidents and deaths. This emphasis has produced GREAT results and is now being used to emphasize safety 24/7. An attitude towards safety shouldn’t stop as you exit the workplace. The same safety rules apply at home as well as at work.

Mike Parker from NRG Energy will give you some insight into why recognition and incentive programs should be considered within your safety program and how they add value. We will also discuss the right and wrong ways to provide recognition and the types of recognition that have more value than others.

Sarah Taylor of Gulf Coast Occupational Medicine will provide you with an overview of the process involved in the selection, testing, processing, reviewing, and reporting of an employee drug screen. A discussion of the common drugs and levels tested for and why. Examples of the types of tests commonly used in our area and the reasons behind those choices.

A case study of the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality's role in disaster aftermath.  Jeffrey Meyers will cover hazard determination, developing an assessment strategy, resources needed, communications and termination of assessments. 

What is considered 100% compliance with OSHA regulations when it comes to hand protection?  How do you know you have selected the proper glove for the job? Ken Rogus from Protective Industrial Products will share everything you need to know about what hazards exist and how you can prevent and/or reduce the possibility of one of your employees injuring their hands.

Do I need to get a doctor's prescription before purchasing an AED?  What type of training is required? Is a written plan a necessity?  If you need answers to these questions, join Dana Cash from Zoll Medical as she fills you in on the whys, the whens and the hows of setting up an AED program.

Current industry data suggests that not only is proper occupational medical surveillance the legally and morally correct action, but the result can be big savings for today's businesses. Do you have the deficiencies in your medical surveillance program?  Do you know the requirements?  Find out from Ron Torres from Comprehensive Occupational Services where you can go to get the required information and learn about some best practices when setting up a medical surveillance program.

Join Ronnie Meyers from Motiva Enterprises in this interactive session that will help you understand OSHA's new final rule on Employer-paid PPE. Come test your knowledge and understanding of the new rule.  After this session you will have a general understanding of OSHA's new PPE rule, know the purpose of the rule, who is affected by this rule, what PPE must be paid for by employers and what PPE must be paid for by employees.

As of 2008 the oldest baby boomers are now 62. You don’t have to look far in most work locations to see gray hair and reading glasses. As we age, our ability to heal and recover from injuries can become reduced. Wear and tear becomes cumulative and can result in serious injury. How do we mitigate these affects on our employee population? What strategies can we use to assist our staff (and ourselves) to slow the aging process and reduce its affects on our bodies? How can we promote healthy worksite practices and use practical ergonomics to reduce injury potential? Attend this seminar and find out how. - Presented by Maria W. Adams of Professional Therapy Services, Inc.

What if the world – as you currently know and see it – isn’t the way you believe? What if there really isn’t such a “thing” as safety? What if the way you see the world (and define the word “safety”) hurts your incidence rate instead of helping it? Would you be willing to change if doing so improved your company’s incidence rate? Join Training Matters’ Ron Bayless for an experiential exploration into these and other questions related to the way we use (misuse!!!) language – and how doing so keeps us from achieving what we claim we want more often than we realize.

Robert Rhodes of the Council for Accreditation in Occupational Hearing Conservation will give you an introduction to industrial hearing conservation, a quick review of the anatomy of the ear, sound physics, hearing protection devices and the OSHA standard.