DOL WEB CASTS GLIMPSE OF FUTURE

The Department of Labor jumped headlong into the future of communications Dec. 7 with an eye-catching series of real-time Web chats outlining its regulatory priorities for 2010. So remarkable was this display of social-media transparency and participation that, in some respects, it overshadowed the actual news of what was contained its full regulatory agenda.

The use of Web chats and other social media devices, such as the department’s employing Twitter, Facebook and You Tube, offers a glimpse of how the government likely will be disseminating news and information to stakeholders and media going forward. As interested parties align to the way the department and staid agencies like OSHA and the Mine Safety and Health Administration want to communicate, the novelty naturally will subside and it will be commonplace.

Labor Secretary Hilda L. Solis opened the programming with a video message outlining regulatory priorities in the various department agencies. That was followed later in the day with the secretary’s own hour-long Web chat. Then acting OSHA administrator Jordan Barab convened another hour-long chat to discuss worker safety regulatory initiatives and receive questions from those on the chat.

Eight Hours of Chats
Altogether, DOL scheduled eight hours of Web chat Q&A sessions over three days on its regulatory agenda. The session with MSHA on mine safety was set for 1:30 p.m. EST on Dec. 8. In addition to live chatting, participants could forward questions in advance via email, and chats are archived for later use.

Both the Solis and Barab chats drew the participation of stakeholders ranging from attorneys, industry representatives, labor-union leaders, citizens and the media. Peg Seminario, AFL-CIO safety and health director, asked Barab a question about OSHA’s peer review of its draft risk assessment on silica exposure in the workplace. Daniel Glucksman of the International Safety Equipment Association asked Solis about new items on the reg agenda. One question to Solis from the press asked whether the secretary supported an airborne infectious diseases standard in the wake of the H1N1 virus. J.J. Keller editor Travis Rhoden asked about a proposed rule on working-walking surfaces. One citizen, who described himself as a deaf American living in San Juan, PR, wanted to know where he could find a federal building in San Juan because he was seeking a federal disabilities and employment program.

While the freshness of such an event itself may have overshadowed the actual news being articulated by Solis and agency heads, Barab on OSHA's behalf did offer important insights on its regulatory timetables for 2010. By law, agencies must publish their regulatory agendas in the Federal Register for public scrutiny, and that was achieved in advance of the event.

Barab Outlines Timelines
Among some of Barab’s key points outlined in his chat were: OSHA is not planning new ergonomics rulemaking despite restoring a column to log musculosketetal injuries on the OSHA 300 log; OSHA expects to issue a final rule on cranes and derricks in construction in July 2010; that OSHA has no immediate plans to pursue a standard on airborne transmissible diseases to combat H1N1 as it is able presently to address issues using existing standards and the Occupational Safety and Health Act’s General Duty Clause; that OSHA expects to begin a peer review and risk assessment for a diacetyl standard in October 2010, and that no date is yet envisioned for a final rule on combustible dust. Additionally, Barab took questions on confined spaces in construction, reactive chemical hazards, recordkeeping, permissible exposure limits, workplace emergency response and preparedness and hearing conservation.

“We encourage you to raise questions, submit views, and otherwise provide input to us on the Department's plans for upcoming regulations,” Barab said in introductory remarks to his chat. “Our main purpose today is to have a dialogue on the overall regulatory priorities reflected in the plan.”

One of the obvious implications of the department’s Web chats is that news and information about agency initiatives are put directly into the hands of stakeholders no matter who they are -- in real-time and without filter.

In the past, when a DOL agency would have news to announce, it would convene a conference call of reporters and others, such as when justifying its new fiscal year budget each February. The reporters would then filter and disseminate the “news” through their prisms, often at odds with the agency’s message.

Going Directly to Stakeholders
This approach of going directly to stakeholders is in line with where communications is moving today, but it also threatens to upset some long-held "apple carts." What it does is eliminate any confusion over what a policymaker or regulator actually is imparting. In the world of occupational safety and health and labor policy, everyone, it seems, is pursuing an agenda – whether labor unions for workers, industry groups for employer clients, non-profit organizations for new members or industry publications for advertising dollars. As more citizens log in directly to mediums like Web chats for information during the social-media age, they will rely less on traditional means of communication dissemination, and that might rub certain organizations the wrong way.

As DOL and OSHA continue to development its new-age communications policies, here is a suggestion that will move the ball forward even more: Why not provide real-time transcripts of key agency meetings, such as advisory committee meetings, forums or public hearings? In those cases, often citizens must wait several weeks for transcripts to be published. While there may be some legal impediments to real-time transcripts, it might be an idea worth pursuing.

More: Department of Labor Web chat page, OSHA regulatory agenda, MSHA regulatory agenda

Photo: Hilda L. Solis (Source: U.S. Department of Labor)