- AGREEMENT PARTNERS
- The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA)
- Odom’s Tennessee Pride
- BACKGROUND
The hazards associated with this type industry are well documented. Cuts,
strains, sprains, electrical, and slips are the major hazards in this industry.
The partners’ goals are to reduce and/or eliminate these hazards. In this
regard, the partners recognize the importance and value of exerting leadership
by bringing their respective skills to bear in a cooperative, focused, voluntary
effort to ensure a safe and healthful environment for all personnel involved.
To facilitate OSHA’s goal of reducing occupational-related fatalities and
serious injuries in the industry, as outlined in the Agency’s strategic plan,
OSHA and Odom’s Tennessee Pride have agreed to the joint implementation of this
partnership.
- GOALS
The goals of this partnership are to develop employer/government relationships
that will encourage personnel with Odom’s Tennessee Pride to improve their
safety and health performance; to minimize and//or eliminate the major hazards
(cuts, electrical, strains, sprains, slips hazards), which account for the
majority of fatalities and injuries in this industry; to prevent serious
accidents at this facility through implementation of Safety and Health
Management Systems (SHMS) and increased employee training; to include safety
training in an employee’s primary language for those employees working in
hazardous situations.
- PERFORMANCE MEASURES
- Attain a total case incident rate (TCIR) and days away restricted, transfer
case incident rate (DART) below the 2007 National BLS average for the
appropriate NAICS code.
Strategies:
- Develop a system to track and address incidences related to
amputations, electrical, caught-in/between and struck by hazards.
Measures:
- Total employers and employees hours.
- Total case injury and illness rates.
- AGC will utilize 2007 year to date data as initial
baseline for statistical purposes.
- Improve SHMS for the facility
Strategies:
- Develop criteria for a model SHMS
- Provide safety and health training and educational materials
to all employees, including on-site contractors.
Measures:
- Number of employees trained
- Number of training sessions
- Total training hours
- Number of contractors that implemented or
improved their SHMS.
- PARTNER ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES
OSHA will:
- Provide technical assistance, including interpretations of OSHA standards,
both on and off site, as resources allow, in reviewing site-specific safety
and health management system.
- Help identify, through the review of OSHA 300 data and/or site accident
reports, the primary causal factors in injuries and illnesses, and provide
technical assistance as required to assist in the hazard correction.
- Provide access to training, as resources allow, including available OSHA
training institute courses and information on other available sources for
training.
- Provide or participate in training sessions and meetings, as resources
allow.
- Provide outreach information and assistance during initial implementation,
as resources allow.
- Take steps to ensure OSHA staff who conducts inspections of partnership
sites is familiar with the terms and scope of this partnership.
- Promote the partnership and recognize successful completion of milestones
and accomplishments.
Odom’s Tennessee Pride will:
- Provide OSHA with opportunities to announce and publicize agency
information related to safety and health.
- Ensure that its facility is staffed with safety and health representatives
that will also be the primary partnership contacts. These individuals shall
ensure the work site follows the requirements of the partnership agreement.
- Ensure specific safety and health orientation training is given to new
hires and contractors and have oriented their employees to their work
practices.
- Provide appropriate training to all supervisors to ensure proper
implementation of the company’s safety and health management system.
- Document evaluations and provide to OSHA upon request.
- Provide leadership, guidance and positive example to contractors, and
associates.
- Encourage employee involvement in the day to day implementation of work
site safety and health programs through the site safety and health committee.
- Conduct periodic workplace inspections/audits for the purpose of
identifying and correcting safety and health hazards. Cuts, electrical,
strain, sprain, and slip hazards will be documented and corrected.
- Inspections/audits will be conducted as frequently as deemed necessary by
the company, but in no case less than once each month.
- Maintain records of recordable injuries and illnesses as required by OSHA.
This is an additional requirement placed on partners with less than 10
employees. These partners are not normally required to keep OSHA records.
- Conduct and document safety and health training by, or under the direction
of, a competent or qualified person. Training will integrate safety and health
requirements with upcoming tasks. This shall be accomplished through meetings
and “job safety hazard analysis” (JSHA).
- Periodically assess the results of training conducted to ensure
effectiveness through audits.
- Where workers do not speak English, provide training in the language
understood by the worker.
- BENEFITS
- OSHA Non-Enforcement Benefits
- Outreach, technical assistance, and training (when
resources are available.
- Onsite and offsite activities such as review of
the SHMS and assistance to develop or imp-
rove the system, and guidance in conducting
audits and evaluations.
- Seminars, workshops, and other speaking
events provided to the partnership sites.
- Informational material such as safety and
health brochures, pamphlets and electronic
tools.
- Recognition:
- OSHA will formally recognize partnership
sites for its partnering contributions
including but not limited to certificates
and press releases, OSHA web-site and
Limited Access Page, worksite banners,
letters and plaques.
- OSHA will recognize and highlight the
achievements of partnership sites with
exemplary or novel approaches to
safety and health.
- OSHA Enforcement Benefits
- Where appropriate, OSHA will maximize the resolution
of complaints received against partnership sites
through the use of phone and fax as outlined in OSHA
CPL 02-00-115, Complaint Policies and Procedures.
- Citation Issuance
- For hazards not deemed serious, a citation will not be issued if the hazard
is abated during the inspection.
- In the event that a citation with a penalty is
issued to a participant in this partnership, the Area Director has the authority
to negotiate the amount of penalty reduction as part of the informal conference
settlement agreement.
- When calculating the initial penalty reduction,
OSHA may provide an additional 10% reduct-
ion for good faith beyond the reduction
provided in the Field Operations
Manual (FOM) where the employer, in imp-
lementing the OSHA strategic partnership, has
taken specific significant steps beyond those
provided in the FOM to implement the Act and achieve a high level of employee
protection.
This additional reduction will not apply to high
gravity serious, willful, failure to abate or
repeat citations. In cases where a partner’s
total penalty reduction is 100% percent or
more, the minimum penalty provisions of the
FOM will apply (see CSP 03-02-002, OSHA
strategic partnership program for Worker
Safety and Health at XIV.B.1).
- PARTNERSHIP VERIFICATION
- OSHA will conduct annual, on-site enforcement veri-
fication visits at each participating partnership site
to assess the site’s progress towards the goals of the
partnership agreement.
- The verification will be tailored to address the resources
of the participating OSHA Area Office as well as the
activities at the participating site.
- In addition to the verification of the progress made
towards goals, the visit will also verify whether the site
is operating an effective SHMS management system
adequately protects its employees. The OSHA worksite
observations should be sufficient to confirm the
partner’s worksite is operating a safety and health
management system that adequately ensures the protection of employees.
- Participants agree in advance, prior to the onsite
verification, that they will correct any serious hazards
identified during the visit. If the site management
refuses to correct such serious hazards, OSHA will make
a referral for an enforcement inspection.
- Initial verification visits should be conducted as soon as
possible after a participating site has entered into the
partnership agreement.
- PARTNERSHIP ADMINISTRATION
- Odom’s Tennessee Pride and OSHA will jointly manage the partnership by
determining partnership procedures in addition to tracking, analyzing, and
sharing information on partnership activities and results. OSHA and Odom’s
Tennessee Pride will evaluate the effectiveness of the partnership agreement on
an annual basis and will meet quarterly to discuss agenda items such as:
- Sharing information on current violations and statistics applicable to the
facility, or similar industry groups.
- Clarifying the meaning and application of OSHA standards and policy through
relevant interpretations and compliance directives on standards, proposed
standards, and violations.
- Evaluating data and partnership intact.
- This OSHA and Odom’s Tennessee Pride group operates consistent with the OSHA
instruction, directive number: CSP 03-02-002, OSHA strategic partnership program
for worker safety and health.
- ANNUAL PARTNERSHIP EVALUATION
OSHA will prepare an evaluation of the partnership annually. The evaluation will
review the success of the partnership, lessons learned, and changes that will be
made to meet the goals of the partnership. The annual performance evaluation
report format from Appendix C of the OSHA strategic partnership program (PSPR)
directive CSP 03-02-002 shall be used. Performance measures listed in section IV
of this partnership agreement will be collected and analyzed to determine the
partnership’s progress toward meeting its goals. The annual evaluation will be
completed using information submitted relating to self inspections, OSHA 300 A
data and training records. Odom’s Tennessee Pride will collect data, aggregate
the data and send it to OSHA.
- EMPLOYER/EMPLOYEE RIGHTS
This partnership does not preclude employee and/or employers from exercising any
rights provided under the OSH Act, nor does it abrogates any responsibility to
comply with rules and regulations adopted pursuant to the Act.
This partnership agreement fully endorses and recognizes the value of employee’s
participation. The opportunity for employees to exercise their rights, which are
guaranteed under the OSH Act, will not be infringed upon by this partnership
agreement.
- PARTNERSHIP AGREEMENT TERMS
Modifications and amendments of the partnership agreement can be proposed by any
signatory and they shall be implemented only upon consensus between Odom’s
Tennessee Pride and OSHA. The partnership agreement can be renewed at the end of
the three-year term. The partnership agreement is non-transferable to non-Odom’s
Tennessee Pride controlled entities.
Partnership Review
Partnership agreement will be reviewed in the event of a fatality, catastrophic
event, or poor performance identified in an OSHA evaluation. The review will
determine whether the agreement will continue.
OSHA will terminate the participant’s agreement for any sustained willful
violation or any sustained failure to abate situation.
OSHA will terminate the participant’s agreement for any major identified program
discrepancy that is not improved within a reasonable and agreed upon time frame.
OSHA will terminate the participant’s agreement in the event of proven and
unresolved discrimination against employees who exercise their protected safety
and health rights under the OSH Act.
- TERMINATION
This partnership agreement will terminate three years from the date signed. If
either OSHA or Odom’s Tennessee Pride wishes to withdraw their participation
prior to the established termination date, the agreement will terminate upon
receiving a written notice of the intent to withdraw from either signatory.
If OSHA chooses to withdraw its participation in the partnership, the entire
agreement is terminated. Any signatory may also propose modification or
amendment of the agreement.
SIGNATURE PAGE
Based on a mutual interest to protect construction workers in the State of
Arkansas, the parties below agree to the above terms of an Odom’s Tennessee
Pride/OSHA Partnership Agreement
Signed this ________day of ___________,_________
______________________ Date:________
JAMES P. STONEHOCKER Executive VP/COO
______________________ Date:________
JAMES (JIM) MCCONNELL
Plant Manager
______________________ Date:________
JOHNNY TIPTON
Safety Manager
______________________ Date:________
CARLOS M. REYNOLDS
Area Director
Little Rock Area Office
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