By Hector L. Rivero, President & CEO Texas Chemical Council and Association of Chemical Industry of Texas
2012 marks the 25h Anniversary of the Texas Chemical Council’s Environmental Health and Safety (EHS) Seminar. Be sure to register for and attend the 25th Annual EHS Seminar next month (June 4th - 7th) at the beautiful Moody Gardens Resort and Conference Center in Galveston, Texas.
The seminar is hosted by the Texas Chemical Council (TCC), Association of Chemical Industry of Texas (ACIT), the Louisiana Chemical Association (LCA) and the Louisiana Chemical Industry Alliance (LCIA).
This is the second year that LCA and LCIA have partnered with TCC as co-hosts of the EHS Seminar, expanding the opportunities for safety training and excellence to owner company employees and contractors in Louisiana, Texas and across the Gulf Coast region.
The Texas/Louisiana EHS Seminar provides a great opportunity to enhance regulatory knowledge, learn best practices, network with industry peers, and hear from recognized safety experts. Whether you are an operator, engineer, or manager, the seminar provides knowledge to foster attendee’s personal growth and professional development for your organizations, while enhancing excellence in safety within the chemical industry.
The Seminar’s success is due in large part to the volunteers from member companies who invest hundreds of hours in planning and coordinating the seminar and securing expert presenters from all aspects of the industry. A special thanks goes to our Seminar Chair Maria Gallegos of Texas Brine Company. The EHS Seminar planning committee works hard to provide attendees with informative sessions and quality training programs.
Distinguished Guest Speakers
This year, distinguished guests will include OSHA’s Regional Administrator John Hermanson, and safety expert and author, Professor E. Scott Geller, Ph.D.
With OSHA’s chemical national emphasis program on process safety now underway, and initiatives addressing PELs, recordkeeping, the globally harmonized system for chemical labeling and communicating hazard information, Administrator Hermanson’s remarks will be of considerable and timely interest to all.
Dr. Geller is a world-renowned behavioral safety expert and author and recognized expert in helping organizations understand and manage human behavior in order to reduce workplace injuries.
Also, the Houston Business Roundtable & Houston Area Safety Council Contractor Safety Excellence Awards Program Winners will present their best practices.
Attendees can choose different tracks of training each of the four days, with topics varying from security and safety, to sustainability and energy management.
Register On-Line
Attendees are encouraged to register on-line before May 25th at: http://ehs-seminar.com/. In addition to normal attendee registration, single day vouchers are available for advance purchase. Site leaders often use vouchers as a safety incentive or as an award to employees or contractors.
The TCC, ACIT, LCA and LCIA are committed to helping members enhance the safety of their employees, neighbors and communities. Nationwide, the chemical industry spends more than $2 billion each year improving worker health and safety for its own employees.
As a result, the chemistry industry has reduced process safety incidents by nearly 60 percent over the past decade, and the illness and injury rates for the chemistry industry are one-quarter of the average rate for manufacturing, according to the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Workers in the chemistry industry are safer than those in many other industries including retail, agriculture, food stores, and general merchandising. The chemical industry is very proud of its workplace safety record, and the EHS Seminar concludes with the TCC/ACIT Awards Banquet on June 7th, where TCC recognizes facilities that have demonstrated commitment and exemplary results toward safe operations throughout the previous year.
For more information about registering for (and/or sponsoring) the Texas/Louisiana EHS Seminar on June 4-7th, please click on: http://ehs-seminar.com/. We hope to see you there.
By Hector L. Rivero, President & CEO Texas Chemical Council and Association of Chemical Industry of Texas
Americans are recognizing that manufacturing is crucial to the economic and national security of our country. Manufacturing jobs are particularly important because they have a high economic multiplier effect resulting in exponential job growth for capital investment.
The attention on these jobs is timely, because we are on the cusp of a manufacturing renaissance, due in large part to the shale gas boom in Texas and other states. This abundant, affordable and clean-burning energy source enables the chemical industry an opportunity to compete globally, and proudly say “Made in the USA”.
But disturbingly, 83 percent of U.S. manufacturers report a moderate or serious skills gap: they can’t find qualified workers. It’s estimated that 5% of factory jobs remain unfilled – that’s 600,000 open positions nationwide.
The shortage of skilled labor is having an impact on Texas chemical manufacturers resulting in poor workmanship, decreased operational efficiency, and increased costs to employers for skills training and retraining. Coupled with an aging and increasingly retirement-eligible workforce, workforce development must be a priority for legislative leaders and our public school system. Considering that Texas leads the nation in the percentage of high school dropouts, it’s clear our public education system is off-track.
Our education system should not be one-size-fits-all. It must be better aligned to prepare students for both college and the workplace. Texas can step in line with the reality of today’s competitive job market by embracing a more flexible school system that provides multiple education options, including those found in career and technical education (CTE) programs.
80 percent of the fastest growing jobs today don’t require a traditional baccalaureate degree but do require technical skills. Yet Texas public schools offer little in the way of skills development for students who won’t pursue a four-year college degree. Some school districts recognize the workforce needs in their community and the diverse interest of their students, but find it difficult to offer CTE courses with existing state curriculum mandates.
CTE programs expose students to skills required for many high-paying jobs after high school by providing hands-on apprenticeships that lead to professional certifications and job placement. But most CTE courses are considered electives or “enrichment” classes and don’t offer credit toward a student’s degree plan. Studies show that students find academic courses more relevant when curriculum is taught in an applied manner, like that found in many CTE courses.
Despite instances of excellence, the quality of those offerings varies widely and the state lacks a systemic approach to encourage quality CTE programs statewide.
While all students need a common core of essential knowledge and skills, different students find alternative delivery methods and subject matter both relevant and rewarding. Quality CTE improves attendance, lowers dropout rates, increases graduation rates, and improves scores on standardized tests; and quality CTE also prepares students for future workforce opportunities.
Texas Workforce Commission Chairman Tom Pauken recently told a Texas House committee that public schools should offer more courses in skilled trades and create separate performance tests – one for students who plan to attend college and one for students in skilled trades.
According to Chairman Pauken, school administrators are constrained because performance and financial incentives imposed by the state are so linked to their students’ performance on the TAKS (Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills) test and the recently introduced (and now deferred) STAAR (State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness) test.
“So much of our educational system is driven these days by this ‘teaching to the test’ mentality from the third grade through high school,” he added. “Resources, both dollars and time, are devoted to those classes which correspond to the subject matter tested by the TAKS and STAAR tests. However, vocational and technical classes remain largely neglected.”
And high school counselors should provide students and parents with information about high-paying career opportunities in their communities, not just information about college. TWC can easily provide school districts with regional job forecasts based on employer-provided data.
The Texas chemical industry desperately needs more skilled workers. The state can respond to this crisis and put a serious dent in the drop-out rate by: a) recognizing that not all students are 4-year university bound; b) emphasizing access to CTE programs in public schools; and c) requiring school counselors to provide data about high-paying jobs and career paths that may require a four-year degree, an associates degree or skills training.
We need you to speak out and help rebuild America. Tell your elected officials, your school board members, your principals, teachers, and friends that it’s time for our schools to provide real life curriculum to get America working again!