ORC EHS CENTER OF EXCELLENCE CHARTER
OBJECTIVE: To contribute to safety and health excellence by creating a dynamic and generally accessible repository of critical safety and health research findings and best practice information to assist users in developing and administering effective safety and health programs. Center content would stem from a variety of sources, including the ORC safety, health, and environmental practice and from the relationships associated with that practice. Built on a wiki platform, the Center is intended to foster collaboration among all employers, safety and health professionals, academicians, government, labor, and workers as a place where anyone can contribute.
DESCRIPTION: The ORC EH&S Center of Excellence will be "virtual;" a living warehouse of important safety and health information that is maintained on an ORC web site, with information accessible to ORC members and the general public. ORC members, researchers, and others will be encouraged to contribute to the Center.
The Center of Excellence will be dynamic. Originators of material will have different options for posting information. They can post material in a locked format that will remain unmodified, but will allow others to post comments on it; or they can post material in an unlocked format that supports an integrated continuous improvement process. Using a wiki platform allows for collaboration and as such the posted material will evolve by incorporating reader modifications.
The ORC Center of Excellence will be easy to access and have broad application; the Center will be hyper-linked with other safety and health related sites, such as sites for professional associations, academic institutions, government agencies, and others.
The Center will be administered by ORC staff, and guided by an Advisory Board comprised of ORC member companies and others. The Board will help determine categories of content and the appropriate standards for quality of the material that will be posted. Items listed on the site will be reviewed by ORC, the Advisory Board, and/or external sources.
It is ORC's hope that the ORC EHS Center of Excellence will eventually become a widely used resource.
RELATIONSHIP TO ORC RESEARCH CONSORTIUM: ORC has successfully launched a Research Consortium; a venue where members can benchmark each others existing or planned safety and health research, and where member companies, federal agencies, and research organizations can come together to discuss methodologies, set priorities, and hopefully reach consensus and join forces on needed S&H research.
The ORC Center of Excellence is linked to the Research Consortium. Research issues that surface in the Center will be evaluated by Consortium members for further consideration. Research findings from the Consortium will be posted in the Center of Excellence.
