AGREEMENT RENEWING AN ALLIANCE
BETWEEN
THE OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY AND HEALTH ADMINISTRATION
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF LABOR REGION I OFFICE
AND
AMERICAN FOUNDATION FOR SUICIDE PREVENTION NORTHEASTERN DIVISION, NEW ENGLAND CHAPTERS
AND
OSHA REGION I 21(d) CONSULTATION PROGRAMS

The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) Region I Office, American Foundation for Suicide Prevention Northeastern Division, New England Chapters (AFSP), and the OSHA Region I 21(d) Consultation Programs, including, the Connecticut Department of Labor Division of Occupational Safety and Health, Maine Bureau of Labor Standards Workplace Safety & Health Division, Massachusetts Department of Labor Standards/OSHA Consultation Program, WorkWISE NH, Rhode Island Department of Health Office of Healthy Housing & Environment OSHA Consultation Program, and Vermont Department of Labor Project WorkSAFE (OSHA Region I Consultation Programs) 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, AFSP, and the OSHA Region I 21(d) Consultation Programs hereby renew the Alliance signed September 11, 2018, with a continued emphasis on providing healthcare professionals, businesses, trade organizations and others with information, guidance, and access to training resources to help protect workers, particularly by raising awareness of well-being and mental health issues related to occupational deaths by suicide in all industries. Specifically, each organization is committed to providing AFSP and OSHA Region I Consultation Programs members and others with information, guidance, and access to training resources that will help them protect workers and understand the rights of workers and the responsibilities of employers under the Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSH Act). Through the Alliance, the organizations will continue to provide guidance, and access to prevention training and services, to help prevent suicide and suicide attempts in the workplace.

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 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 other activities, including but not limited to member surveys, to evaluate the Alliance and measure the impact on improving workplace safety and health. In renewing this Alliance, OSHA and AFSP recognize that OSHA’s State Plan 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:

• Raise awareness of and demonstrate how a commitment to workplace safety and health has a direct connection to overall well-being of the person and include an occupational component when AFSP leaders address groups at membership meetings, training, conferences and trade shows.
• Develop and disseminate information through print and electronic media, including electronic assistance tools and links from OSHA’s and AFSP’s websites.
• Speak, exhibit, or appear at OSHA’s or AFSP’s conferences, local meetings, or other events.
• Promote and encourage participation in OSHA’s cooperative programs such as compliance assistance 21(d) Consultation Programs.

Training and Education

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

• Work with OSHA to disseminate training and education materials and on various topics, including, but not limited, to occupational deaths by suicide, and to communicate such information to small businesses, trade organizations, healthcare service providers, construction related organizations and others.
• To deliver or arrange for the delivery of AFSP prevention and awareness trainings such as “Talk Saves Lives™” including “Talk Saves Lives™: Suicide Prevention Education for Workplace Settings” and “Healthcare Professional Burnout, Depression and Suicide Prevention.”

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 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 a representative(s) from OSHA Region I. OSHA will encourage State Plans to participate on the team.

This agreement will remain in effect for five years. Any signatory may terminate it for any reason at any time, provided that signatory gives 30 days’ written notice to the others. This agreement may be modified at any time with the written concurrence of all signatories.

Signed this 7 day of March 2022.