AGREEMENT ESTABLISHING AN ALLIANCE
BETWEEN
KANSAS CITY, OMAHA, ST. LOUIS, WICHITA AND DES MOINES AREA OFFICES
OF REGION VII
THE OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY AND HEALTH ADMINISTRATION
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF LABOR
AND
IOWA OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY AND HEALTH
DIVISION OF LABOR, IOWA WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT
AND
THE UNIVERSITY OF IOWA on behalf of its COLLEGE OF PUBLIC HEALTH,
HEALTHIER WORKFORCE CENTER OF THE MIDWEST

The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) Kansas City, Omaha, St. Louis, Wichita, and Des Moines Area Offices, and Iowa Occupational Safety and Health Division of Labor, Iowa Workforce Development (Iowa OSHA), and the Healthier Workforce Center of the Midwest (HWC) in the University of Iowa College of Public Health 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 HWC and Iowa OSHA hereby form an Alliance to provide HWC members and the public with information, guidance, and access to training resources that will help them protect workers by reducing and preventing exposure to workplace hazards and addressing behavioral health issues, and understand the rights of 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 also explore and implement selected options, including but not limited to participant surveys, to evaluate the Alliance and measure the impact on improving workplace safety and health. In developing this Alliance, OSHA and HWC 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 on OSHA’s Regional and Local Initiatives to address behavioral health (including both mental health and substance abuse) topics in the workplace and opportunities to participate in initiatives and the rulemaking process.
• Share information on workplace policies that support behavioral health, including the rights and responsibilities of workers and employers.
• Use existing surveillance to examine impact of behavioral health on workplace injury and illness, the need to reduce stigma associated with behavioral health and treatment, and identify programs, practices, and policies that can be used to address these topics. Communicate such information (e.g., print and electronic media, electronic assistance tools, and OSHA and the HWC websites) to employers and workers in the industry.
• Speak, exhibit, or appear at OSHA and HWC conferences, local meetings, or other events promoting behavioral health in the workplace.
• Convene or participate in forums, roundtable discussions, or stakeholder meetings on behavioral health in the workplace to help forge innovative solutions in the workplace or to provide input on safety and health issues.
• HWC will share summary information among OSHA personnel and industry safety and health professionals regarding good practices or effective approaches to address behavioral health in the workplace through training programs, workshops, seminars, and lectures (or any other applicable forum).
• Collaborate with other Alliance participants on specific issues and projects addressing behavioral health in the workplace.
• Encourage HWC to build relationships with OSHA’s Regional and Area Offices to address health and safety issues, including behavioral health.
• Launch a suicide prevention campaign at regional events, e.g., Hawkeye on Safety.

Training and Education

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

• Develop programs, practices and policies and materials to be delivered at the workplace (e.g., Toolbox Talks) addressing the impact of behavioral health on workplace injury and illness, the warning signs of suicide, and the need to reduce stigma associated with behavioral health and treatment.

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. HWC will retain ownership of the data and underlying materials developed and created through their research and scholarly efforts.

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. Federal OSHA team members will include representatives of the Kansas City, Omaha, St. Louis, Wichita, and Des Moines Area Offices, and any other appropriate offices. OSHA will encourage the Iowa OSHA On-Site Consultation program’s participation on the team.

This agreement will remain in effect for two years. Any 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.

This Alliance agreement will become effective once all signatories have signed the agreement.

Signed this 10^th day of March, 2021