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UNITED STATES
DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

AGREEMENT RENEWING AN ALLIANCE
BETWEEN
THE OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY AND HEALTH ADMINISTRATION
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF LABOR
AND
INTERNATIONAL SAFETY EQUIPMENT ASSOCIATION

The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and International Safety Equipment Association (ISEA) continue to recognize the value of maintaining a collaborative relationship to foster safety and health practices and programs to improve American workplaces. To that end, OSHA and ISEA hereby renew the Alliance signed June 21, 2018, with a continued emphasis on providing ISEA members and the public with information, guidance, and access to training resources that will help them protect the health and safety of workers and understand the rights of workers and the responsibilities of employers under the Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSH Act). Specifically, the organizations will continue to address best practices in industry sectors that use personal protective and other safety equipment. Through the Alliance, OSHA and ISEA will focus on developing content, workshops, and other training resources on proper selection, use, maintenance and storage of personal protective and safety equipment, and other related OSHA standards and regulations; and sharing information on national consensus standards for personal protective and other safety equipment.

This agreement provides a framework and objectives for the Alliance’s activities. Alliance participants also agree to meet the requirements for program participation laid out in the “Fundamental Requirements for OSHA Alliance Program Participants” and the “Guidelines for OSHA’s Alliance Program Participants: Alliance Products and Other Alliance Projects.”

Through the Alliance, the organizations will use relevant injury, illness, and hazard exposure data, when appropriate, to help identify areas of emphasis for Alliance awareness, outreach, and communication activities. The Alliance will also explore and implement selected options, such as soliciting input from the Laborers’ International Union of North America (LIUNA) representatives, to evaluate the Alliance and measure the impact on improving workplace safety and health. In renewing this Alliance, OSHA and ISEA recognize that OSHA’s State Plan and On-Site Consultation Program partners are an integral part of the OSHA national effort, and that information about the products and activities of the Alliance may be shared with these partners for the advancement of common goals.

Raising Awareness: Outreach and Communication

The Participants intend to work together to achieve the following objectives:

• Share information about OSHA’s priority goals, national initiatives (Emphasis Programs, Regulatory Agenda, Outreach), compliance assistance products, and opportunities to participate in initiatives and the rulemaking process, including those relevant to ISEA and the use of appropriate safety equipment.
• Share information about occupational safety and health laws and standards, including the rights and responsibilities of workers and employers.
• Encourage worker participation in workplace safety and health by engaging LIUNA representatives as active participants in the Implementation Team and in all projects, as well as working with them to disseminate information to their memberships.
• Develop information on the use of appropriate personal protective (PPE) equipment and communicate such information (e.g., print, electronic (newsletters, emails)) and social media (blogs, Facebook, Twitter, etc., utilizing OSHA campaign #hashtags), electronic assistance tools, OSHA and ISEA websites, and scheduled calls/meetings) to employers and workers who use PPE in their workplaces.
• Educate the broader safety equipment industry about OSHA’s initiatives, campaigns, and resources that promote a safe working environment.
• Speak, exhibit, or appear at OSHA, ISEA or industry conferences, local meetings, or other events.
• Encourage ISEA membership and their downstream user networks to build relationships with OSHA’s Regional and Area Offices to address health and safety issues relevant to the safety equipment industry.

Training and Education

The Participants intend to work together to achieve the following training and education objectives:

• Work with safety equipment professionals, LIUNA, and other worker representatives, to develop content, workshops, and other training resources on proper selection, use, maintenance, and storage of personal protective equipment and personal safety equipment, such as creating an infographic on the differences between leading-edge self-retracting lanyards (SRL) and non-leading-edge SRLs.
• Share information with industry safety and health professionals regarding developments in national consensus standards for personal protective equipment and personal safety equipment, such as ANSI/ISEA 107-2020 ed. High-Visibility Safety Apparel standard, and other best practices in fall protection use.

OSHA’s Alliances provide organizations an opportunity to participate in a voluntary cooperative relationship with OSHA for purposes such as raising awareness of OSHA’s initiatives, outreach, communication, training, and education. These Alliances have proved to be valuable tools for both OSHA and Alliance participants. By entering into an Alliance with an organization, OSHA is not endorsing or promoting, nor does it intend to endorse or promote, any of that organization’s products or services.

An implementation team made up of representatives of each organization, as well as LIUNA, will meet one to two times per year to discuss the responsibilities of the participants, to share information on activities, and to track results in achieving the goals of the Alliance. OSHA team members will include representatives of the Directorate of Cooperative and State Programs, Directorate of Construction, Directorate of Standards and Guidance, Directorate of Technical Support and Emergency Management, and any other appropriate offices. OSHA will encourage State Plans’ and OSHA On-Site Consultation programs’ participation on the team.

This agreement will remain in effect for a period of five 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 written concurrence of all signatories.

Signed this 8^th day of April, 2021.