The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has recently announced more alliance efforts to improve workplace ergonomics.
On September 13, The American Furniture Manufacturers Association and the North Carolina Department of Labor signed an alliance designed to produce a voluntary guideline that will help furniture manufacturers reduce ergonomic hazards and injuries in their industry.
Assistant Secretary of Labor for Occupational Safety and Health, John L. Henshaw released a statement congratulating the alliance and offering OSHA support through promotion and publication of the voluntary guideline.
According to Hensahw, “This alliance is unique because it is the first to bring federal and state government together with industry to develop voluntary ergonomic guidelines for a specific industry. It is also the first example of a state stepping forward with an industry group to develop a voluntary ergonomic guideline based on OSHA’s four-pronged approach to reduce [musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs)]”.
Just days later, OSHA and the Society of the Plastics Industry, Inc. (SPI) announced the establishment of an Alliance to promote safe and healthful workplaces.
The Alliance will assist in providing member employers with information and guidance that will help them protect employees, particularly in the identification and elimination of hazards likely to result in amputations, including machine guarding and lockout/tagout; in reducing and preventing exposure to ergonomic hazards; and to provide training to employers in identifying and controlling these and other hazards.
“Alliances such as this one are the cornerstone in our efforts to enlist the business community’s help in making sure workplaces are safe and healthy,” said Henshaw. “We must all work together for the common good – that of reducing injuries and illnesses in the workplace across the board.”
The Alliance will remain in effect for one year, with annual automatic renewals.
Source: www.osha.gov