OSHA and ASSE’s Renewed Alliance Program

In line with its Alliance program, an initiative to promote best practices to reduce and, if possible, to prevent worker exposures to health and physical hazards, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has renewed its partnership with the American Society of Safety Engineers (ASSE). The alliance continues where the old one left off: addressing awareness of workplace safety and health for public-sector employees, workplace safety issues involving non-English or limited-English-speaking workers, and motor vehicle safety.

Across most industries today employers look for OSHA courses, such as OSHA 10 training and OSHA 30 training (both online OSHA training) in employee CVs as a hedge against worksite injuries. OSHA’s Alliance program complements in a big way this de facto employment requirement.

"Our most recent alliance with the American Society of Safety Engineers has focused on preventing falls, sprains and strains in construction, distracted driving and hazards in shipyard employment," stated David Michaels, the assistant secretary of Labor for OSHA. "Our continued alliance with ASSE will help ensure that workers are aware of on-the-job hazards and help reduce occupational illnesses and injuries." ASSE counts as members over 34,000 safety, health and environmental practitioners worldwide.

The two-year agreement will see, among others, OSHA coordinating with ASSE's Safety Professionals and the Latino Workforce group to translate Alliance-developed materials for use by workers who are not English speakers. Among the projects of the alliance will be promoting the annual North American Occupational Safety and Health (NAOSH) Week. The 2012 NAOSH Week, themed "Safety, What Every Business Needs," will be held from May 6 to May 12.

OSHA, meanwhile, has updated its Hazard Communication Standard to keep it abreast of the United Nations' global chemical labeling system. The revised standard, says OSHA, is expected to redound to better protection for workers from hazardous chemicals, to $475.2 million in increased productivity for U.S. businesses and to 43 less fatalities due overexposure to hazardous chemicals every year.

"Exposure to hazardous chemicals is one of the most serious dangers facing American workers today," warned Secretary of Labor Hilda L. Solis. "Revising OSHA's Hazard Communication Standard will improve the quality, consistency and clarity of hazard information that workers receive, making it safer for workers to do their jobs and easier for employers to stay competitive in the global marketplace."

According to OSHA, the new standard, which will come into effect in 2016, will clearly label chemicals according to their health and physical hazards, benefitting workers by lessening confusion over chemical dangers in the workplace, enhancing understanding of hazards especially among workers who are not fully literate, and improving safety training. By doing so, OSHA believes that the new standard can prevent up to 585 injuries and illnesses per year. The new standard is also expected to result in savings of $32.2 million for American businesses that regularly update safety data sheets and labels for chemicals under the new standard.