OSHA and American Pyrotechnics Association (APA) Alliance
Close-Out Report

On June 9, 2004, OSHA and APA formed an Alliance to focus on providing APA members, OSHA personnel, and others, including small businesses, with information, guidance, and access to training resources to help them protect employees' health and safety, particularly in reducing and preventing accidents involving the manufacturing, transportation, storage, sale, and handling of commercial display fireworks and consumer fireworks and the use of commercial display fireworks. The Alliance was renewed on June 22, 2006.

Because APA has decided to focus on other projects and priorities, OSHA and APA agreed to conclude the Alliance as of June 9, 2008. Through the organizations' work together to meet the agreement's goals, a number of successes resulted from the Alliance, including:

• On October 5, 2007, Ron Tom, Manager, Occupational Safety and Health On-site Consultation Program, Texas Department of Insurance, Workplace Safety, Austin, Texas presented the OSHA short course, "Introduction to OSHA for Small Businesses," to APA's members at the 59th Annual Convention in Dallas, Texas.
• Through the Alliance, Gregg Smith, Safety Program Manager, APA provided "Manufacturer, Consumer and Display Site Training" Seminars for OSHA staff, local fire and public enforcement officials. Topics discussed at the seminars included the sale, manufacture, storage and transportation of consumer fireworks and industry best practices at public fireworks display sites. More than 440 attendees participated in the seminars.
• On September 14, 2006, Garret Rea, Industrial Hygiene Supervisor, Consultative Services, Tennessee Department of Labor Workforce Development presented "OSHA Consultation Services Workshop" at the 58th Annual APA Meeting and Convention in Nashville, Tennessee.
• On September 23, 2005, Emil Golias, Senior Industrial Hygienist, Salt Lake Technical Center, USDOL-OSHA and Gregg Smith, Safety Manager, APA staffed an Alliance Program exhibit booth at the 15th Annual APA Trade Show in San Francisco, California
• On September 29-30, 2004, Lee Smith, then Director of the Office of Safety Systems, Directorate of Standards and Guidance, USDOL-OSHA and Mat Chibbaro, Fire Protection Engineer, Directorate of Standards and Guidance, USDOL-OSHA participated in panel discussions on display operators and consumer retail fireworks sales at the 56th Annual APA Meeting and Convention in Orlando, Florida.
• APA members helped develop and served on the editorial board of the Pyrotechnics Industry Safety and Health Topics page on the OSHA Web site.

Report Prepared by: Adam Brumbergs, Research Assistant, Office of Outreach Services and Alliances, June 4, 2008.