Strategic Partnerships Overview
The OSHA Strategic Partnership Program for Worker Safety and Health (OSPP), adopted on November 13, 1998, is an expansion and formalization of OSHA's substantial experience with voluntary programs.
- In a Partnership, OSHA enters into an extended, voluntary, cooperative relationship
with groups of employers, employees, and employee representatives (sometimes including
other stakeholders, and sometimes involving only one employer) in order to encourage, assist,
and recognize their efforts to eliminate serious hazards and achieve a high level of worker safety and health.
- Partnering with OSHA is appropriate for the many employers who want to do
the right thing but need help in strengthening worker safety and health at
their worksites. Within the OSPP, management, labor, and OSHA are proving that
old adversaries can become new allies committed to cooperative solutions to the
problems of worker safety and health.
- OSHA and its partners can identify a common goal, develop plans for achieving that goal,
and cooperate in implementation.
- OSHA's interest in cooperative Partnerships
in no way reduces its ongoing commitment to enforcing the requirements of the
Occupational Safety and Health Act. The OSPP moves away from traditional
enforcement methods that target individual worksites and punish employers who
violate agency standards. Instead, in a growing number of local and national
Partnerships, OSHA is working cooperatively with groups of employers and workers
to identify the most serious workplace hazards, develop workplace-appropriate
safety and health management systems, share resources, and find effective ways to reduce
worker injuries, illnesses, and deaths.
- Most of the worksites that have chosen to partner with OSHA are small businesses, with an average employment of
fewer than 50 employees.
- Many Partnerships focus on areas of concern addressed in OSHA's Strategic Plan
for FY2003-2008. These Partnerships are seeking solutions to
the following Areas of Emphasis (AOE) and AOE Targeted Areas and High
Incident/Severity Areas:
- Areas of Emphasis (AOE)
- Construction
- General Industry
- Manufacturing Amputations
- Other
- AOE Targeted Areas and High Incident/Severity Areas
- Amputations
- Landscaping/horticulture
- Oil and gas field services
- Preserve fruits and vegetables
- Concrete, gypsum and plaster products
- Blast furnaces and basic steel products
- Ship and boat building and repair
- Public warehousing and storage
- Egro/musculoskeletal
- Blood lead levels
- Silica-related diseases
- Other
- In addition to the AOE industries mentioned above, OSHA has Partnerships in the
following areas:
- Automotive Manufacturing
- Food Handling
- Foundries
- Garment Manufacturing
- Health Care/Nursing Homes
- Other Federal Agencies
- Power Authorities
- Site Specific Construction Projects
- Telecommunications
- Participating Unions:
- Aerospace Workers
- AFL-CIO
- American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE)
- Boilermakers
- Cement Masons & Plasterers
- Glass, Molders, Pottery, Plastics and Allied Workers
- International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW)
- Industrial Union of Marine and Shipbuilding Workers of America
- International Association of Bridge, Structural, Ornamental and Reinforcing
Iron Workers
- Iron Workers Union
- Longshoremen
- Machinists
- Operating Engineers Union
- Painters & Allied Trades
- Plumbers & Steamfitters Union
- Roofers & Waterproofers Union
- Teamsters Union
- Transportation Workers
- Participating Councils:
- Construction Trades
- Building & Trades
- Logging
- Carpenters
- Building and Construction Trades
- Participating Associations:
- Utility and Transportation Contractors
- Building Trades Employers
- Master Builders
- Contractors
- Construction Employees
- Mechanical Contractors
- Electrical Contractors
- Builders Association
- American Society of Safety Engineers
Elements of Partnerships
Partnerships must include each participating employer's commitment to implement in a timely manner an effective workplace safety
and health management system or to address a specific hazard. The hallmarks of an effective
management system are management leadership and employee involvement, hazard analysis, hazard prevention and control, safety and health training, evaluation, and compliance with applicable OSH Act requirements.
Partnerships also must contain all the Core Elements discussed in the policy
(Summary
of Core Elements, CSP 03-02-001 (TED 8-0.2): Appendix B):
Core Elements
- Identification of Partners
- Purpose/Scope
- Goals/Strategies
- Performance Measures
- Annual Evaluation
- Incentives
- OSHA Verification
- OSP Management and Operation
- Employee and Employer Rights
- Term of OSP
- Signatures
Partnership Review And Approval
- Area Office Partnerships are reviewed and approved by the Regional Administrator with consultation from the Regional Solicitor.
- Regional Office Partnerships are reviewed by the appropriate National Office
Directorates and by the Director of Cooperative and State Programs. Approval
comes from the Deputy Assistant Secretary with consultation from the National Office Solicitor.
- Partnerships developed at the National Office are reviewed by the Director of
Cooperative and State Programs and other affected Offices and Directorates. Approval by the Assistant Secretary with consultation from the National Office Solicitor.
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