NTA Personnel Policy Committee Meeting

Wednesday, April 28, 1999

10:00 a.m.

Best Western, Lord Wakefield Hotel

Wakefield, MA

The NTA Personnel Policy Committee met on April 28, 1999 in Wakefield, MA. In attendance were: Irene Niemi and Alexis K. Paskevich, Dorr Woolen Company; Bill Caron, Engineered Yarns Company; Tami Boyd and William Noble, Intermark Fabric Corporation; Dan Brown, L.W. Packard & Co., Inc.; Peg Monahan, Troy Mills, Inc.; and David Trumbull, Northern Textile Association

David Trumbull reported on recent and expected upcoming legislative activity involving international trade. Of particular interest to NTA members are the sub-Saharan Africa bill, the Caribbean Basin bill, the proposed wool fabric tariff cuts, and China's WTO accession.

The program speaker--Mr. Roman Krochmalnyckyj, Industrial Hygienist, Federal State Operations, Occupational Safety and Health Administration--presented some background information on OSHA's recently released Draft Ergonomics Program Standard. The Draft is expected to be made into a formal Proposed Rule in September 1999, with expectation that the new Rule will enter into force in 2000. The text of the Draft Ergonomics Program Standard, as well as related materials, may be found at the OSHA web site at http://www.osha-slc.gov/SLTC/ergonomics/index.html. NTA members with questions or comments about the Draft may contact Mr. Krochmalnyckyj directly at 617-565-9833 or they may direct their inquiries to OSHA through NTA.

There was interest in finding for the next program a speaker on retirement planning. The next meeting of the Personnel Policy Committee was set for August 11, 1999 in Wakefield, MA.

Respectfully submitted,



David Trumbull