Region 4 - Alliance Agreement - March 31, 2023
AGREEMENT ESTABLISHING AN ALLIANCE
BETWEEN
THE FORT LAUDERDALE AREA OFFICE
OF THE
OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY AND HEALTH ADMINISTRATION
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF LABOR
AND
WECOUNT!
The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), Fort Lauderdale Area Office and WeCount! recognize the value of establishing a collaborative relationship to foster safety and health practices and programs to improve American workplaces. To that end, OSHA and WeCount! hereby form an Alliance to provide WeCount! members and the public with information, guidance, and access to training resources that will help them protect vulnerable1 workers by reducing and preventing exposure to hazards in the agricultural2 and construction3 industries and understand the rights or workers and the responsibilities of employers under the Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSH Act).
This Agreement provides a framework and objectives for the Alliance's activities. Alliance participants also agree to meet 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 available injury, illness, and hazard exposure data, when appropriate, to help identify areas of emphasis for Alliance awareness, outreach, and communication activities. The Alliance will explore and implement selected options, including but not limited to member surveys, to evaluate the Alliance and measure the Alliance’s impact on improving workplace safety and health. In developing this Alliance, OSHA and WeCount! 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 information4 on occupational safety and health laws and standards, including the rights and responsibilities of workers and employers.
-
Develop information on the recognition and prevention of workplace hazards, and communicate such information (e.g., print, and electronic media, electronic assistance tools and OSHA and the WECount! websites) to employers and workers in the agricultural and construction industries.
-
Speak, exhibit, or appear at OSHA and WECount! conferences, local meetings, or other WECount! events5.
-
Convene or participate in forums, roundtable discussions, or stakeholder meetings on agricultural and construction industry hazards to help forge innovative solutions in the workplace or to provide input on safety and health issues.
-
Share information among OSHA personnel and industry safety and health professionals regarding WECount! good practices or effective approaches through training programs, workshops, seminars, and lectures (or any other applicable forum6).
-
Encourage worker participation in workplace safety and health by soliciting direct feedback on OSHA’s print and online materials from agriculture and construction workers in an effort to enhance outreach and communication materials. As needed, WeCount! will survey members and host one-to-ones and listening sessions with members to gather helpful feedback and recommendations.
-
Encourage other community and labor partners in South Florida to build relationships with OSHA’s Regional and Area Offices to address health and safety issues, including agricultural and construction industry hazards.
Training and Education
The Participants intend to work together to achieve the following objectives:
-
Develop effective training and education programs for the agricultural and construction regarding prevailing industry hazards, and to communicate such information to constituent employers and workers.
-
Deliver or arrange for the delivery of WeCount! courses.
-
Develop effective training and education programs for WeCount! To promote understanding of workers’ rights, including the use of the OSHA complaint process, and the responsibilities of employers and to communicate such information to workers and employers.
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, communications, training, and education. These Alliances have proven 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 will meet one to two times per year to track and share information on activities and results in achieving the goals of the Alliance. OSHA team members will include representatives of the Ft. Lauderdale Area Office and any other appropriate offices. OSHA will encourage State Plans' and OSHA On-Site Consultation program' 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 written concurrence of both signatories.
Signed at Homestead, Florida, this 31st day of March 2023.
Condell Eastmond
Area Office Director
Occupational Safety and Health Administration
Oscar Londoño
Co-Executive Director
WeCount!
Homestead, Florida
Claudia Navarro
Co-Executive Director
WeCount!
Homestead, Florida
1 Vulnerable Workers include low-wage and immigrant workers.
2 Agricultural Hazards include falls, amputations, suffocations, burns, toxic exposure, struck-by, and heat illness.
3 Construction Hazards include falls, struck-by, electrical, caught-in and heat illness.
4 OSHA and WeCount! will share information regarding OSHA’s Heat Illness Prevention Campaign in South Florida, OSHA’s National Emphasis Program (NEP) on Outdoor and Indoor Heat Hazards, as well as OSHA’s General Duty Clause and Section 11(c) of the OSH Act.
5 Other Events such as the development of radio PSAs for community radio station, such as Radio Poder 97.7 FM. As feasible, WeCount! will recruit members to interpret radio PSAs to the Mayan languages and dialects.
6 Other applicable forum such as OSHA’s annual campaigns and initiatives, e.g., Workers Memorial Day, Stand-Downs, Labor Rights Week, and Safe + Sound.