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Environmental and Public Protection Cabinet
22nd Annual Governor's Safety and Health Conference and Exposition Set for May 9-12
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (May 5, 2006) - Bird flu, distracted drivers and drinking on the job - just some of the subjects to be covered during the Governor's Safety and Health Conference and Exposition, being held May 9-12 at the Galt House East Hotel in Louisville.
The theme of the conference, "Highways to Safety," was crafted to illustrate the many and varied avenues available to employers and employees who strive for improved health and safety in the work place.
The conference, which drew about 700 participants in 2005, is cosponsored by the Kentucky Department of Labor and the Kentucky Safety and Health Network (KSHN) Inc. One-day, pre-conference certification courses will be offered. More than 75 exhibitors will display safety and health products and services. The conference itself will include 72 concurrent workshops led by experts in accident, injury and illness prevention.
"Governor Ernie Fletcher has been working to prepare Kentucky to compete and prosper in the new economy," said LaJuana S. Wilcher, secretary of the Environmental and Public Protection Cabinet, which contains the Department of Labor. "That requires human and intellectual capital, and for that reason the health and safety of Kentucky workers has been a priority of this administration from Day 1."
Issues to be covered in conference workshops run the gamut - infectious diseases, ergonomics, explosive dust and aggressive prevention of accidents, to name a few.
Kentucky’s commissioner of public health, Dr. William Hacker, will lead sessions on pandemic influenza. His presentation will describe current planning and provide estimates of the effect of a pandemic on Kentucky and its work settings.
Dr. Kathleen MacMahon, a veterinarian from the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, will lead a workshop on diseases such as West Nile Virus and "bird flu" - avian influenza - and ways to protect workers from exposure.
Two other presenters - Kathleen Lusby-Treber and Tom Walsh - will team up for workshops on "problem drinking" and its cost to business, plus the highway menace posed by employees who try to drive while eating, checking e-mail, reading a map, conducting business by cell phone or being otherwise distracted.
Lusby-Treber is executive director of NETS - the Network of Employers for Traffic Safety. Walsh, a safety consultant, formerly was director of corporate health and safety for UPS.
Another workshop led by Jonathan Brown, a consultant with Advanced Safety and Health LLC, in Louisville, will be devoted to reducing the No. 1 cause of work-related fatalities - motor-vehicle crashes.
Secretary Wilcher, KSHN President Debbie Chavis and the KSHN membership invite participation in the region's most exciting and informative safety and health conference. Participants will enjoy a unique opportunity to exchange ideas with hundreds of leading safety and health professionals.
For hotel registration attendees may contact the Galt House East at 1-800-THEGALT. Conference information is available on the Web at www.kshn.net or <http://www.labor.ky.gov/osh/educationtraining/safetyconference.htm>.
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