CAOHC Strategic Meeting

Here’s the CAOHC Council Minutes from the 2009 Strategic Meeting.

Executive Summary of Minutes

Council for Accreditation in Occupational Hearing Conservation
Wednesday-Thursday, November 10-11, 2009 ~ Radisson Warwick Hotel
Philadelphia, PA

In Attendance:

  • Mary McDaniel (ASHA), Chair
  • Tom Hutchison (MAA) Vice Chair
  • James Banach (AIHA), Immediate Past Chair
  • Robert Bruce (INCE)
  • Secretary/Treasurer; Vickie Tuten (MAA)
  • Vice Chair Education; Chandran Achutan, (AIHA)
  • Diane DeGaetano (AAOHN)
  • Lee Hager (AIHA)
  • Madeleine Kerr (AAOHN)
  • David Lee (ASSE)
  • Ted Madison (ASHA)
  • Kimberly Lefkowitz (INCE)
  • Robert Sataloff (AAO-HNS)
  • Theresa Schulz (AAA)
  • Laurie Wells (AAA)
  • Bruce Kirchner (ACOEM)
  • Eric Evenson (ACOEM)
  • James Crawford (AAO-HNS)

Executive Director: Kim Breitbach, CAE, Kay Whalen, MA, CAE (Consulting Partner) EDI

Excused Absence: Ron Schaible (ASSE)

Summary of Key Events Resulting from the CAOHC Council Meeting

The majority of this meeting focused on Strategic Planning which was facilitated by Kermit Eide of Tecker Consultants. The following Mission, Vision, and Goals were generated from discussion at the November 2009 meeting. These goals will be presented for final approval during the May 2010 Council meeting in Milwaukee, WI.

External Vision
Occupational hearing loss will be reduced through quality occupational hearing conservation practices.

Internal Vision
CAOHC will be the “go to” resource for occupational hearing conservationists for education, knowledge, and best practices related to quality hearing loss prevention programs.

Mission
The Mission of CAOHC is to promote the conservation of hearing by enhancing the quality of occupational hearing conservation practices, with particular focus on:

  • Providing oversight and support of those who train hearing conservationists (Course Directors), those who practice hearing conservation (OHCs) and those who supervise OHCs and interpret problem audiograms (Professional Supervisors).
  • Increasing quality and consistency among hearing conservation programs.

Best At…

  • The Council believes that CAOHC is uniquely positioned to:
  • Establish education standards for hearing conservation practitioners;
  • Influence the education and knowledge of Occupational Hearing Conservationists (OHCs) by providing resources to design/develop educational materials and the delivery structure with the assistance of credentialing experts; and
  • Establish best practice performance criteria for hearing conservation programs.

Goal 1

Certification/Accreditation
CPOs, regulation agencies and companies/industry will continue to recognize CAOHC as the accreditation/certifying body in occupational hearing conservation practices and personnel.

Discussion:
This goal is based on the importance of aligning the perceived CAOHC certification to a standardized assessment based certificate process, thus being more focused on the outcome of the instruction rather than the delivery of instruction itself.

Goal 2

Outcomes for Educational Programs
CAOHC’s educational programs will be quantifiably valid and effective.

Discussion:
CAOHC needs ways to determine/verify that its educational programs are successful, that is, that education results in meaningful improvement in hearing conservation. The information would be helpful to CDs. It would be helpful to be able to provide external validation, and to know the level of knowledge retention among OHCs. Consideration should be given to pre and post course training.

Goal 3

Accessibility of CAOHC Products/Courses
CAOHC products/courses will be accessible in ways that meet the expectations of the consumer and maintain quality/integrity. (Worldwide)

Discussion:
CAOHC courses need to be responsive to changes in how consumers want/expect access to educational programs, increasingly using online technologies. Key drivers are economics and access. Determinations to be made include: a) which programs and which curriculum pieces are best suited to online access, b) individual vs. group access, and c) vehicles of delivery. Ultimately, there may be value in conforming to ICE/ANSI requirements.

Goal 4

Quality Hearing Conservation Programs
Hearing conservation programs will be of high quality and will effectively protect the hearing of workers.

Discussion:
Hearing conservation programs are highly variable in quality. No organization/entity has established or implemented an educational and verifiable quality assurance protocol. A resource is needed to develop HC benchmarks in order to optimize worker protection and minimize liability.

Conclusion
As previously stated these goals will be finalized and approved during the May Council meeting in Milwaukee. In addition strategies and action plans that were generated for each goal will be refined and approved as well.

CAOHC decided that a priority in 2010 would be to expand upon our existing resources. CAOHC will be inviting course directors, OHCs and Professional supervisors to help them on the several projects they will be trying to execute between 2010 and 2012. Those projects include:

  • Standardization of the OHC certification exam
  • Continued development and deployment of an on-line Noise Measurement course as well as additional OHC, CD and PS on-line courses
  • Improvement of existing quality assurance measures for CD curriculum and hearing conservation programs
  • Continued enhancement to our existing publications

New committees/task forces will be established and old committees will be disbanded based on the approval of the new plan.

Council Business Meeting

  • We all said good bye to one of our longest tenured Council members Jim Banach who served for 12 years as a Council member and CAOHC chair.
  • We installed a new Executive Committee
    • Lee Hager (AIHA)—Chair
    • Madeleine Kerr (AAOHN)—Vice Chair
    • Bob Bruce (INCE)—Treasurer/Secretary
    • Laurie Wells (AAA)—Vice Chair Education
  • We welcomed five new members to the Council
    • Chandran Achutan (AIHA)
    • James Crawford (AAO-HNS)
    • Eric Evenson (ACOEM)
    • Kimberly Lefkowitz (INCE)
    • Theresa Schulz (AAA) Theresa is welcomed back to the Council and fulfilling the remaining portion of the term for Mark Stephenson who resigned from the Council in 2009.

Respectfully submitted by:
Kim Breitbach, CAE
Executive Director