Portland event will offer educational opportunities to increase worker safety, health in pulp, paper, forest products, and other industries

Improving worker safety and health in Oregon’s pulp, paper, and forest products industries will get the spotlight during a conference held Dec. 2-5 in Portland. Attendees will have opportunities to connect with each other, discuss new or emerging topics, and to refresh their safety and health knowledge. Topics include chemical safety, effective communication, safety leadership, electrical safety, air monitoring, and control of hazardous energy.

Although the 33rd annual Western Pulp, Paper & Forest Products Safety & Health Conference focuses on safety and health issues in the pulp, paper, and forest products 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; heat-illness prevention; root cause analysis; and resources for improving driver safety.

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 a keynote presentation Tuesday, Dec. 3. Matt Pomerinke, safety specialist for Smurfit WestRock in Longview, Washington, will address how workplace accidents and injuries go well beyond immediate outcomes, with long-lasting effects for everyone, including family, friends, and co-workers.

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

Sessions include:

• Planning for Emergencies for Our Daily Lives
• Trust Me – It’s Safe! Psyching You Out With Psychological Safety
• Hand Safety
• Hazardous Line Breaking: Program Overview and Best Practices
• Health Impacts of Occupational Exposures in the Wood Products Industry: Evaluating Risk
• So You Think You Know OSHA Codes – Test Your Safety Knowledge!
• Fundamentals of Keeping Steam and Condensate
• Synthetic Ropes in the Forest 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 safetyseries.cventevents.com/wppfp25.

If you have questions or need help registering, call the Oregon OSHA Conference Section at 503-947-7411, or email oregon.conferences@dcbs.oregon.gov.

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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 oregon.gov/dcbs.

Contact information

Aaron Corvin,
public information officer
971-718-6973
Aaron.corvin@dcbs.oregon.gov