Restaurant Association Announces Industry Resource for Oregon OSHA-mandated Safety Committees/Meetings

April 9, 2009 - Wilsonville, Oregon

The Oregon Restaurant Association (ORA) today announced its development of a resource guide for Oregon-based foodservice establishments to help them meet Oregon OSHA requirements for Oregon businesses to conduct monthly safety meetings or establish staff safety committees.

Coming out of the 2007 legislative session and following development of administrative rules, Oregon OSHA earlier announced that all Oregon businesses will be required to have safety committees or conduct safety meetings. Businesses with 10 or fewer employees have the option for either having a safety committee or holding safety meetings. Businesses with more than 10 employees have somewhat different sets of criteria regarding meeting/committee options, based on numbers of locations, and employees at those locations. Additionally, smaller businesses (10 or fewer employees) have until September 19, 2009 for complying; larger businesses (more then 10 employees) had until January 1, 2009 to comply.

Leveraging Oregon OSHA-developed guidelines, ORA developed and is now making available the foodservice industry’s Guide to Safety Committees and Safety Meetings in electronic format, available through its website.

ORA Member Services President Bob Petow made the announcement today noting that while larger foodservice establishments or multiple unit operations most likely have safety programs in effect that meet Oregon OSHA requirements, many smaller establishments – of which more than 85% of restaurants fall in this category – may not have the resources or understanding related to mandated requirements going into effect this fall.

"Operations of smaller businesses tend more toward getting customers in the front door, deliveries in the back door, staffing, and food preparation and service. The establishment of committees tends to be a bit further down the priority list," Petow said. "We've prepared this guide to help the industry meet an important requirement that will need the attention of all foodservice establishments, with the intent of minimizing time requirements, and keeping owner/operators focused on their core business of serving customers, safely."

The guide outlines in a simple, quick and easy to read format, answers to questions such as "Do I need to start a safety committee or optionally, hold safety meetings?" or "What are the full Oregon-OSHA mandated requirements of having committees or holding meetings?"

Additionally, ORA is partnering with Liberty Northwest in the development of a resource page on its website to provide the industry further information on the legal and administrative requirements for safety committees/meetings; topics and teaching aids to help meet the requirements of holding safety meetings; learning resources such as webinars and other aids to strengthen staff understanding and importance of safety within the workplace. Liberty Northwest partners with ORA in providing workers' compensation and property and casualty insurance services to ORA members.

Interested businesses wanting to download a copy of the 40-page guide can go to ORA's website, at www.ora.org/pdfs/oraosha_guide.pdf.

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The Oregon Restaurant Association is the leading business association for the restaurant industry in Oregon, which is comprised of over 9,000 restaurant and foodservice outlets, a work force of 120,000 employees, and a total economic impact of $9.7 billion - making it the cornerstone of the economy, career opportunities and community involvement. The Association works to represent, train and promote the rapidly growing industry.