YNOT – An adult industry-wide meeting scheduled to take place Thursday in the Los Angeles area will reveal the basic skeleton of Free Speech Coalition’s new workplace health and safety venture. Earlier this month, the adult industry trade association announced plans to create Adult Production Health and Safety Services in order to fill a gap left by the permanent closure of AIM Medical Associates PC, formerly the industry’s foremost source of health testing and certification.

During the meeting, FSC Executive Director Diane Duke will explain the APHSS rollout, and FSC board members Peter Acworth (Kink.com) and Christian Mann (Evil Angel) will discuss aspects of the new database, APHSS advisory board, testing facilities and health protocols. Performer privacy issues also will be addressed.

Also expected to attend the meeting is Gary A. Richwald, MD MPH, who has been proposed to assume the position of APHSS Medical Consultant. Richwald is a public health and communicable disease expert who served 12 years (from 1989 to 2000) as the director and chief physician of the Los Angeles County STD Program, the largest provider of sexual health and disease prevention-related services in California.

Attorney Karen Tynan is among APHSS consultants, as well. She will serve on the APHSS advisory board as its workplace safety attorney. Tynan has extensive expertise in the area of OSHA litigation and for the past two years has worked with adult production companies, agents and others to defeat subpoenas, appeal citations and litigate injunctions related to workplace health and safety within the adult industry.

The meeting will begin at 1 p.m. at the Sportsmen’s Lodge located at 12833 Ventura Blvd. in Studio City, Calif. Only industry members will be allowed to attend, but all producers, performers and other insiders with concerns about production health and safety issues are invited to participate.

“We encourage industry members to attend Thursday’s meeting and learn about the new program, as well as ask questions,” Duke said. “Performers and producers will have a chance to fill out applications for the database.

“This meeting is also important because we will have information about the [California Division of Occupational Safety and Health] Advisory Committee meeting to be held in Los Angeles on June 7,” Duke added. “That may be the last public Cal/OSHA meeting to discuss adult production health and safety before the committee makes suggestions for new regulations that are expected to be handed down in September. We encourage industry members to attend that meeting also.”

For more information, email FSC Membership Director Joanne Cachapero.