Blog Archives - IAMU Informer

IAMU’s 28th Annual Water & Wastewater Operator’s Training Workshop

11/16/2022

Join us for a three-day workshop for water and wastewater operators featuring both basic and advanced topics for Water Treatment, Water Distribution, and Wastewater (1.2 CEUs) at Prairie Meadows Events Center in Altoona, IA December 6 – 8, 2022.

Registration is live! Click HERE now!

Early registration through November 22, 2022!

Questions? Contact Steve Marsh at smarsh@iamu.org or (515) 210-8156.

IAMU OSHA 300 Log Illness & Injury Recordkeeping & Reporting Workshop (Dec 8)

11/16/2022

10:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m.

Lunch and breaks included

*** A certificate with 4 contact hours will be awarded ***

You should attend if…

You are responsible for the entry of employee illness or injuries on the OSHA 300 log
Your signature is on the 300A form
You have 11 or more employees at any time throughout the year (the threshold for reporting)
You have 20 employees in your utilities (water, electric, sewer, gas) departments (threshold for electronic reporting)
You are the person that needs to report a recordable injury to the staff person managing the OSHA 300 log

Click HERE to register.

Recordable, Reportable or Neither?
When must a laceration be entered on the OSHA 300 log? When must a laceration be reported to Iowa OSHA? What information must be given to Iowa OSHA when self-reporting? How soon must an incident be recorded on the OSHA 300 log? Do the Iowa Worker’s Compensation laws and the OSHA recording regulations overlap?

What does the OSHA log have to do with employee medical records?
Do I really have to keep my Safety Data Sheets for 30 years? Can safety data sheets potentially be considered medical records? Is my first aid log a medical record?

If you feel even a little unsure of answering these questions or if you are confused about medical records and maintenance times, you will want to attend this Recordkeeping workshop. Workshop activities include hands-on practice completing the log, using OSHA’s 3 key pieces of information to determine recordability and how to ensure that each potentially recordable incident is reported to you in a timely manner.

Workshop discussion will include first aid, employee involvement in your reporting system, and how to inform employees of their right to report work-related injuries, or illnesses, free from retaliation. The workshop will also include electronic reporting requirements, applicability, and updates to the standard. Attendees will also learn how to complete the OSHA 300, 301, and 300A forms and whose signature must be on the annual summary.

Registration is OPEN!

Click HERE to register.

Note: This is an in person workshop. No webinar will be offered.

If you have any questions, please reach out to IAMU Safety Outreach Coordinator and workshop instructor, Margret Meade, at mmeade@iamu.org or (515) 210-6617.

Save the Date: IAMU Energy Conference is March 1 – 3, 2023

11/9/2022

Join other municipal energy professionals for the annual IAMU Energy Conference on March 1-3, 2023, at the Hilton Garden Inn, West Des Moines. Learn more about the latest happenings in the industry and network with others during this much anticipated yearly event. The annual Legislative Reception is also planned for this time, taking place on March 1 at Ken’s – a not so speakeasy, in Des Moines’ East Village.

Mark the dates on your calendar. Registration will open closer to the event date.

This year’s keynote speaker, who will kick off the Energy Conference’s first full day (March 2) – is Kent Stock. Teacher, coach, principal, husband, banker, parent, and powerful speaker, Kent is also the man who coached the 1991 Norway High School baseball team during their now-famous final season. As depicted in the 2007 film The Final Season, the nationally recognized Norway baseball team came together under inauspicious circumstances. They defied the odds under Kent’s leadership to win Norway’s 20th state title. To learn more about Kent, check out this video.

IAMU OSHA 300 Log Illness & Injury Recordkeeping & Reporting Workshop (Dec 8)

11/9/2022

10:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m.

Lunch and breaks included

*** A certificate with 4 contact hours will be awarded ***

You should attend if…

You are responsible for the entry of employee illness or injuries on the OSHA 300 log
Your signature is on the 300A form
You have 11 or more employees at any time throughout the year (the threshold for reporting)
You have 20 employees in your utilities (water, electric, sewer, gas) departments (threshold for electronic reporting)
You are the person that needs to report a recordable injury to the staff person managing the OSHA 300 log

Click HERE to register.

Recordable, Reportable or Neither?
When must a laceration be entered on the OSHA 300 log? When must a laceration be reported to Iowa OSHA? What information must be given to Iowa OSHA when self-reporting? How soon must an incident be recorded on the OSHA 300 log? Do the Iowa Worker’s Compensation laws and the OSHA recording regulations overlap?

If you feel even a little unsure of answering these questions or if looking at all of the log columns makes you woozy, you will want to attend the Recordkeeping workshop. Workshop activities include hands-on practice completing the log, using OSHA’s 3 key pieces of information to determine recordability and how to ensure that each potentially recordable incident is reported to you in a timely manner.

Workshop discussion will include first aid, employee involvement in your reporting system, and how to inform employees of their right to report work-related injuries, or illnesses, free from retaliation. The workshop will also include electronic reporting requirements, applicability, and updates to the standard. Attendees will also learn how to complete the OSHA 300, 301, and 300A forms and whose signature must be on the annual summary.

Registration is OPEN!

Click HERE to register.

Note: This is an in person workshop. No webinar will be offered.

If you have any questions, please reach out to IAMU Safety Outreach Coordinator and workshop instructor, Margret Meade, at mmeade@iamu.org or (515) 210-6617.

Open IAMU Position - Electric Training Specialist for Power Lineman

11/9/2022

IAMU currently has a career opening for anyone looking to join our talented staff. For more information and to apply, click the link or submit resume to:

Laura DeBartolo-Tow, HR Specialist, at laurad@iamu.org

Electric Training Specialist for Power Lineman

Attention Compliance Reporters! Call for Feedback on IUB’s EFS

11/9/2022

Last week, IAMU sent out a survey to folks who use the IUB EFS (Electronic Filing System) for compliance reporting. The survey is SHORT, and should only take 3 minutes. Please fill out the survey at this link:

https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/62FLPNG

“Why should I care about this survey?”
This survey is a crucial chance for IAMU members to impact how the IUB EFS functions in the future, and to make changes that better suit the folks who actually use the EFS (that’s you!). IUB is making a concerted effort to improve the process – this is your chance to help improve the system. Here is a link to the EFS, if you’re wondering which system that is: https://efs.iowa.gov/efs/

Here is a brief message from IUB about why we’re doing this work:
“EFS is currently undergoing an upgrade to bring it to a modern application development base. As part of this modernization, we have the opportunity to address the user interface and experience for our users. The user interface of EFS is everything you see and interact with, including the web pages displayed to you, the font size and layout on screens, the information and columns displayed in search results tables, the buttons used to move around the system, and pretty anything a user does while interacting with the system (viewing, searching, clicking, etc.)”

Pre-employment Investigations for Drug and Alcohol Program Violations

11/9/2022

Beginning January 6, 2023, a pre-employment Clearinghouse query will satisfy the requirement to investigate a prospective driver's previous drug and alcohol program violations, as established by 49 CFR 391.23(e).

Employers of CDL drivers are required to conduct background investigations before hiring a driver. This process includes determining if the driver has violated the drug and alcohol regulations of any Department of Transportation (DOT) mode within the past three years (see 49 CFR 391.23(e)). Currently, this requires employers or their designated consortia/third-party administrators (C/TPAs) to conduct both electronic queries in the Clearinghouse and manual inquiries with previous employers to meet the three-year time frame.

Beginning January 6, 2023, when three years of violation data is stored in the Clearinghouse, prospective employers must not conduct manual inquiries. In accordance with §§ 382.413(b) and 391.23(e)(4), beginning January 6, 2023, prospective employers must conduct a pre-employment query of the Clearinghouse, as set forth in § 382.701(a), to comply with the inquiry requirement in § 391.23(e) as it pertains to FMCSA-regulated employers.

NOTE: The Clearinghouse contains only information about drivers employed by FMCSA-regulated employers. If a prospective employee was employed by an employer regulated by a DOT agency other than FMCSA (such as the Federal Railroad Administration, Federal Transit Administration, Federal Aviation Administration, etc.) during the three-year time frame, prospective employers will still be required to directly request drug and alcohol violation information from those DOT-regulated employers in accordance with 391.23(e)(4)(ii), since this information is not reported to the Clearinghouse.

Annual query requirements have not changed.
Employers of CDL drivers must conduct a query in the Clearinghouse at least once a year for each CDL driver they employ (see § 382.701(b)). This annual query requirement applies on a rolling 12-month basis, which means that if you conducted your last annual queries in December 2021, it is time to conduct the next round of annual queries.

Employers must obtain general consent from CDL drivers they employ before conducting limited queries in the Clearinghouse to view these drivers’ information (you can download a sample limited query consent form).

Are you up-to-date on your annual queries?
Log in to the Clearinghouse and visit your Query History page to see if your annual queries are due. For instructions on conducting annual queries, download the How to Conduct a Limited Query job aid.

Questions?
To learn more about queries and consent requests, browse the Clearinghouse FAQs or download the Queries and Consent Requests Factsheet. This is also available in the Clearinghouse Learning Center.

If these materials do not cover your question, you can also contact the Clearinghouse Team.

Jim Silvers Scholarship Awarded

11/9/2022

Last week during the 51st annual Iowa Governors Safety & Health Conference held in Altoona; Jim Silvers was honored. Jim worked in the safety profession for 35 years in the state of Iowa. He worked for the Iowa Association of Municipal Utilities, Iowa Illinois Safety Council, Hach Company, and the Pella Corporation. He was affiliated with several community-based organizations.

His wife, Maria, and son, Jordan, attended the awards ceremony to remember Jim and his passion for safety and care for others. We lost Jim in January of this year. He was an avid Iowa State University fan since his son went to ISU. IAMU staff collected funds to offer a one-time $1,000 safety scholarship to an ISU safety student. Tavion Yrjo was the winner of the scholarship and was very grateful. He has been working on virtual reality (VR) technology to enhance employee safety, knowledge retention, and risk assessment skills.

Natural Gas Pressure Regulation and Over-Pressure Protection Workshop - Nov. 9

11/2/2022

Presented by Nelson Technologies

Click Here – Registration is Open!

Understanding basic principles, proper installation, maintenance, and testing of pressure regulation and over-pressure protection devices is a key component in providing the safe and effective delivery of natural gas to customers. This workshop is designed to provide natural gas personnel with the opportunity to gain knowledge and provide hands-on training from industry experts specific to Mooney and BelGas pressure regulation and over-pressure protection devices.

If you have any questions, please contact Nick Vandegriff, IAMU Gas Services Compliance Specialist at nvandegriff@iamu.org, or (641) 919-8411.

IAMU’s 28th Annual Water & Wastewater Operator’s Training Workshop

11/2/2022

Join us for a three-day workshop for water and wastewater operators featuring both basic and advanced topics for Water Treatment, Water Distribution, and Wastewater (1.2 CEUs) at Prairie Meadows Events Center in Altoona, IA December 6 – 8, 2022.

Registration is live! Click HERE now!

Early registration through November 22, 2022!

Questions? Contact Steve Marsh at smarsh@iamu.org or (515) 210-8156