Safety and health conference for pulp, paper, and forest products industry coming to Portland with many learning opportunities

Salem, OR - Improving worker safety in Oregon's pulp, paper, and forest products industries will take center stage during a conference held Dec. 3-6 in Portland that will highlight key safety and health topics. Those topics include everything from fall protection and potential equipment failures to starting and expanding safety programs.

Although the 32nd annual Western Pulp, Paper, and Forest Products Safety and Health Conference delves into safety and health issues in those industries, the event also offers learning opportunities that apply to many other workplaces. Those sessions include nutrition and wellness in the workplace; tools for creating effective safety committees; root cause analysis; and making an emergency plan for your household.

The Oregon Occupational Safety and Health Division (Oregon OSHA) is one of several partners presenting the four-day conference at the Holiday Inn Portland - Columbia Riverfront in Portland.

The conference will feature three keynote and general session speakers:

• On Tuesday, Dec. 3, Ron Heagy, a quadriplegic painter, author, and motivational speaker, will deliver the keynote presentation "Life is an Attitude!"
• On Wednesday, Dec. 4, Rachel Walla-Housman, a certified safety professional, certified industrial hygienist, and founder of Ally Safety, will give the general session presentation "The Undeniable Appeal of Risk."
• On Friday, Dec. 6, Jesus Villahermosa Jr., president of Crisis Reality Training Inc., will give the general session presentation "Surviving the Active Lethal Threat Event."

The conference will include exhibits, company safety meetings, roundtable discussions, and numerous workshops.

Sessions include:

• You and Your Safety Around Heavy Equipment: The Role You Play in Your Safety
• Managing Change Safely in Today's Dynamic Work Environments
• Constructive Alcohol and Substance Misuse Prevention Strategies: Tools for Building Better Conversations
• Managing Our Driving Behaviors
• Lockout/Tagout
• Life Safety and Rescue Ready in Forestry
• Incident and Accident Analysis
• Chronic Impacts of Occupational Exposures in the Wood Products Industry

The registration fee is $450 to attend the full conference. The fee to attend one day - Tuesday, Wednesday, or Thursday - is $150. It is $50 for Friday. To register, go to https://safetyseries.cventevents.com/event/wppfp24/.

If you have questions or need help registering, call the Oregon OSHA Conference Section at 503-947-7411, or email [email protected].

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About Oregon OSHA:

Oregon OSHA, a division of the Department of Consumer and Business Services, enforces the state's workplace safety and health rules and works to improve workplace safety and health for all Oregon workers. For more information, go to osha.oregon.gov.

The Department of Consumer and Business Services is Oregon's largest business regulatory and consumer protection agency. For more information, go to www.oregon.gov/dcbs/.