AGREEMENT ESTABLISHING AN ALLIANCE
BETWEEN
THE OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY AND HEALTH ADMINISTRATION
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF LABOR
AND
THE AMERICAN ACADEMY OF ORTHOPAEDIC SURGEONS

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS) recognize the value of establishing a collaborative relationship to foster safer and more healthful American workplaces. OSHA and AAOS therefore agree to form an Alliance to use their collective expertise to help foster a culture of prevention while sharing best practices and technical knowledge, especially in the area of ergonomics.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and AAOS agree to establish an Alliance to promote safe and healthful working conditions for industries and workers by educating and serving as a resource to AAOS members, industries, workers, and OSHA personnel to help them protect workers' health and safety, particularly in reducing and preventing exposure to ergonomic hazards.

OSHA and AAOS will work together to achieve the following outreach and communication goals:

• Seek opportunities to jointly develop and disseminate information at conferences, events, or through print and electronic media, including links from OSHA's and AAOS' Web sites.
• Seek opportunities to speak and exhibit at conferences or other events, such as the AAOS Annual Meeting or AAOS Workers' Compensation Course, to promote the effectiveness of OSHA's approach to addressing ergonomics.
• Seek opportunities to educate OSHA personnel on current research initiatives and identifying workplace hazards.
• OSHA will work with AAOS as AAOS develops a clearinghouse of training and education information on ergonomic issues.

OSHA and AAOS will work together to achieve the following goals related to promoting the national dialogue on workplace safety and health:

• Encouraging AAOS members to act as liaisons and resources for OSHA's cooperative programs.
• Share information supporting the solutions to ergonomic hazards developed by AAOS, as well as examples of hazard recognition strategies and analytical tools with OSHA and others to encourage wide implementation. Promote their implementation through print or electronic media, promotion at conferences, or other means of reaching out to other constituents.
• Convene or participate in forums and roundtable discussions on ergonomic problems to help forge innovative solutions to ergonomic issues in the workplace.

An implementation team made up of representatives of both organizations will meet to develop a plan of action, determine working procedures, and identify the roles and responsibilities of the participants. In addition, they will meet at least quarterly to track and share information on activities and results in achieving the goals of the Alliance. Team members will include representatives of OSHA's Directorate of Cooperative and State Programs and any other appropriate offices. OSHA will encourage State Plan States' and OSHA Consultation Projects' participation on the team.

This agreement will remain in effect for two years. Either signatory may terminate it for any reason at any time, provided they give 30 days written notice. This agreement may be modified at any time with the concurrence of both signatories.