What Is OSHA’s Strategic Partnership Program?
OSHA's mission is
to send America's workers home whole and
healthy every day. Traditionally, the
agency's strategy has been to promulgate and
enforce workplace safety and health
standards. With only 1,200 compliance
officers and more than seven million workplaces,
the challenge is significant.
In contrast, the OSHA Strategic Partnership
Program (OSPP) moves away from traditional
enforcement methods and embraces
collaborative agreements. Through OSPP, OSHA
and its partners agree to work cooperatively
to address critical safety and health
issues. This very different approach is
proving to be an effective tool for reducing
fatalities, injuries, and illnesses in the
workplace.
How Do Partnerships Work?
Working together, OSHA, employers, and employees identify the safety and health
problem they will address and begin to craft a Partnership agreement. The agreement may be national,
regional, or local in scope. Partners agree upon individual responsibilities,
identify strategies, establish goals and performance measures to verify results.
Other interested parties, including unions,
trade associations, local/state governments, |
OSHA Signs Strategic Partnership with Electrical Contractors, Labor, Industry
Associations.
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OSPP
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the Consultation Projects, and insurance companies, are often
brought into the Partnership to contribute their expertise and resources. The
resulting agreement maximizes the use of non-OSHA resources to accomplish tasks
such as training employees and developing site-appropriate safety and health
management systems. OSHA serves mainly as a technical resource and facilitator.
Who Are The Partners?
Partners can be associations, unions and councils, and industries. Partner
worksites may be very large, but most often they are small
businesses averaging 50 or fewer employees. All Partnerships emphasize sustained
efforts and continuing results beyond the typical 3-year duration of the
agreement. By involving employers and workers in combating the hazards in their
workplaces, and by encouraging the sharing of success stories and best
practices, OSHA Strategic Partnerships (OSPs) instill pride and commitment in
participants.
What Is The Current State Of The Partnership Program? |
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Associations
such as Associated Builders and Contractors, Nursing Homes, and Telecommunications. |
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Unions and Councils
such as
International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, United Auto Workers, and Building and Construction Trades. |
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Industries such as Shipbuilding, Meat Packaging, Landscaping |
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As of June 2004, OSHA has participated in a total of 319 Partnerships. Of these,
209 are currently open while 110 have reached their established termination date.
OSHA signed 55 new Partnerships during FY 2003 for a 24% growth increase. Over
80% of active Partnerships supported OSHA’s Strategic Plan by targeting high
hazard industries or serious types of injuries and illnesses identified in the plan.
What Makes Partnerships Unique And Innovative?
The Partnership program's most significant feature is its flexibility. This
flexibility allows OSHA and its partners to work together to assess a mutual
concern and create a customized agreement that will improve worker safety and
health in a way that serves the needs of all Partnership participants.
The Partnership program is also unique among OSHA's cooperative programs, in
that each Partnership is intended to impact multiple worksites or employers.
This is a departure from the focus on individual worksites that characterizes
the OSHA Consultation Program and the Voluntary Protection Programs (VPP).
Why Is The Partnership
Program Valuable To OSHA?
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“Our relationship with OSHA has never been better. They respect us for the very
high standards we’ve set in the Partnership. So when OSHA comes onto one of our
sites, there’s no nitpicking. They recognize the effort we’re making and we know
they have an important job to do, too. We’re partners, not adversaries.”
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Tommy Lee
Safety Director
W.S. Bellows Construction Company |
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OSHA and its partners benefit every time a
Partnership demonstrates the value of
cooperation among employers, workers, and
other stakeholders. These experiences are
excellent industry models to encourage
other employers to take a proactive
approach.
Additionally, the collaborative nature of
the Partnership program allows OSHA to
communicate its message and leverage its
resources to reach a greater number of
employers and employees more consistently,
effectively, and efficiently than ever
before. As a result, OSHA's enforcement
program efforts can then be focused where
they are needed most - on employers who
violate the OSHA Act and disregard the
safety and health of their employees.
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How Has The Partnership Program Impacted Worker Safety And
Health?
OSHA's Partnership program benefits
workers by reducing their risk of death,
injury, and illness on the job, by
increasing practical safety and health
knowledge and skills, by empowering them
to take an active role in their own
protection, and by enhancing the quality
of their work life.
More than 559,000 employees and 13,000
employers have participated in OSHA
Partnerships since the program began in 1998. These
Partnerships have addressed
serious workplace safety and
health issues, the reduction of
fatalities, injuries and illnesses in a
myriad of industries. Partnerships have
sought to improve worker protection by
implementing meaningful safety and health
management systems and by tackling occupational
hazards such as lead and silica exposure,
falls, electrocution, and
muscular-skeletal disorders.
How Does An Employer Benefit From The Partnership Program?
The Partnership program benefits employers
by helping them develop practical skills
to identify and abate hazards and
establish effective safety and health
management systems. These management
systems serve to continually improve
worker protections and create a corporate
culture that values worke safety as
much as production and profit. The
Partnership program also
offers employers access to technical assistance,
educational resources, and training. Employers benefit further from reduced
workers' compensation rates and other costs, lower absenteeism, and increased
productivity and employee morale.
Through mentoring and the sharing of lessons learned, Partnerships foster
enhanced relationships for employers within their industries and communities.
Additionally, Partnerships help transform the relationship employers
have with OSHA. Instead of viewing OSHA as an adversary, employers within OSP's
learn that OSHA can be a willing listener and useful ally.
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ConAgra Refrigerated Food/UFCW (Multi-Regional)
A key objective of the Partnership was to change the safety and health
culture at ConAgra Refrigerated Foods. The Partnership directly impacted 30,000
employees, with an opportunity to indirectly impact approximately 90,000
employees throughout the entire corporation. Additional objectives included:
- Improving the relationship between OSHA, ConAgra and the United Food and
Commercial Workers (UFCW)
- Improving overall safety and health in the meat processing industry using
the ConAgra "turn-around" story as a model.
The Partnership reported the following results:
- All of the facilities made progress in improving Management Commitment
and Employee Involvement. Many of the facilities have implemented new
management and supervisor accountability programs, management and union safety
committees, ergonomics committees, and VPP steering committees.
- Five facilities experienced a decrease in workers compensation costs
ranging from 42% to 93%, with an average reduction of 62%. Brown N' Serve in
St. Charles Illinois, a VPP site, reduced their worker compensation costs by
93%, saving over $200,000 total since 1997.
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For More Information
For more information on entering into a
Strategic Partnership with OSHA, contact
OSHA's Office of Partnership and
Recognition at (202) 693-2213 or the
Partnership Coordinator at your OSHA Regional
Office.
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