The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and the
Brick Industry Association (BIA)

1. Alliance Background
   
   Date Signed
   
   March 20, 2006
   
   Date Renewed
   
   March 27, 2008
   
   Evaluation Period
   
   March 20, 2008 - March 19, 2009
   
   Overview
   
   Through the OSHA and BIA Alliance, OSHA and BIA are working together to provide BIA's members and others with information, guidance, and access to training resources to help them protect employees' health and safety, particularly in reducing ergonomics injuries, and preventing exposure to hazardous levels of silica.
   
   Implementation Team Members
    

   OSHA:
   Neal Davis, Office of Chemical Hazards (OCH), Directorate of Standards and Guidance (DSG) Tony Mapes, Office of Outreach Services (OOSA), Directorate of Cooperative and State Programs (DCSP) Lisa Ramber,* OOSA, DCSP Loretta Schuman, OCH, DSG Joanna Sznajder, Office of Physical Hazards, DSG Elizabeth (Bea) Way, OOSA, DCSP
   BIA:
   Tom Brown, Environment, Health and Safety (EHS) Task Force Joseph Casper,** Former Vice President, Environmental Health and Safety Davis Henry, EHS Task Force Susan Miller,*** Current Vice President, Environmental Health and Safety Mike Patterson, EHS Task Force Michaela Rydstrom, Assistant, Environmental Health and Safety * Lisa Ramber is no longer with OSHA as of August 2008. ** Joseph Casper is no longer with BIA as of October 2008. *** Susan Miller replaced Joseph Casper as the Vice President, Environmental Health and Safety in December 2008.

   
    
2. Implementation Team Meetings
   • April 29, 2008 Implementation Team Meeting
   • August 25, 2008 Implementation Team Meeting
   • January 27, 2009 Implementation Team Meeting
   In addition to these formal meetings, the Alliance coordinators from the groups maintained regular contact throughout the reporting period to monitor the Alliance's progress and results.
   
    
3. Results
   1. Events and Products
      
      Outreach and Communication Goals
      • Work with OSHA to provide expertise in developing information on the recognition and prevention of workplace hazards, and to provide expertise in developing ways of communicating such information (e.g. print and electronic media, electronic assistance tools, and OSHA's and the BIA's Web sites) to employers and employees in the industry.
        
        Products
        
        "Occupational Health Program for Exposure to Crystalline Silica in the Brick Industry" Manual
        
        Through the OSHA and BIA Alliance, BIA developed the "Occupational Health Program for Exposure to Crystalline Silica in the Brick Industry" manual. The manual provides employers guidelines to monitor occupational exposures and associated respiratory health effects of crystalline silica exposure. BIA provided each of its members with a copy of the manual and it is posted on the BIA and OSHA Alliance Web page. OSHA placed a link to the manual on the OSHA and BIA Alliance Web page on the OSHA Web site.
        
        OSHA Safety and Health Topic Pages
        
        Representatives from BIA serve on the editorial boards of the following OSHA Safety and Health Topics pages, providing OSHA with their expertise and technical review:
        • Confined Spaces
          • Tom Brown, Director of Occupational Safety & Health, Acme Brick Company, BIA, Fort Worth, Texas
        • Control of Hazardous Energy (Lockout/Tagout)
          • Tom Brown, Director of Occupational Safety & Health, Acme Brick Company, BIA, Fort Worth, Texas
        • Heat Stress
          • Tom Brown, Director of Occupational Safety & Health, Acme Brick Company, BIA, Fort Worth, Texas
        • Machine Guarding
          • Tom Brown, Director of Occupational Safety & Health, Acme Brick Company, BIA, Fort Worth, Texas
          • Mike Patterson, Regional Safety and Health Manager, Boral Bricks Inc., BIA, Pelham, Alabama
        • Silica, Crystalline
          • Tom Brown, Director of Occupational Safety & Health, Acme Brick Company, BIA, Fort Worth, Texas
        OSHA and BIA Alliance Web page
        
        OSHA is continuing to update the OSHA and BIA Alliance Web page that is posted on the OSHA Web site. It includes the OSHA and BIA Alliance agreement, renewal agreement, news releases, products and resources, activities and events and milestones and successes.
        
        BIA and OSHA Alliance Web page
        
        BIA is continuing to update the sections on its Web site that contain information on the OSHA and BIA Alliance. The sections include links to the Alliance agreement, links to information on OSHA's cooperative programs and Safety and Health Topic pages, activities of the OSHA and BIA Alliance, and Alliance-developed products.
        
        Publications and Newsletters
        
        Information on the activities of the OSHA and BIA Alliance have appeared in a number of print and online publications, including: BIA's Brick News Online enewsletter, and OSHA's Alliance Program's Alliance Quarterly Review. For more information on the articles, see the "Alliance Program Reach" table.
        • Speak, exhibit or appear at OSHA's or BIA's conferences, local meetings or other events such as BIA's Brick Show.
          
          Events
          
          2008 North American Occupational Safety and Health (NAOSH) Week, May 4-10, 2008, Washington, DC
          
          BIA joined with more than 50 other Alliance Program participants to support 2008 NAOSH Week. NAOSH Week, sponsored by the American Society of Safety Engineers, an Alliance Program participant, focuses on increasing the understanding of the positive benefits of investing in occupational safety, health and environmental programs among employers, employees and the public; raising awareness of the role and contribution of safety, health and environmental professionals; and reducing workplace injuries and illness by encouraging new safety and health activities at all companies and organizations. In addition, Michaela Rydstrom, Assistant, Environmental Health and Safety, attended the 2008 NAOSH Week Kick-off event on May 5 at the Frances S. Perkins building in Washington, DC.
          
          Brick Show Conference and Trade Show, April 17-19, 2008, San Antonio, Texas
          
          Through the Alliance Program, OSHA provided BIA with compliance assistance publications for distribution at the Brick Show Conference and Trade Show, April 17-19, 2008 in San Antonio, Texas. BIA included the publications in attendees' registration packets.
        • Share information among OSHA personnel and industry safety and health professionals regarding BIA's best practices or effective approaches and publicize results through outreach by BIA and through OSHA- or BIA-developed materials, training programs, workshops, seminars, and lectures (or any other applicable forum).
          The OSHA and BIA Alliance Implementation Team have not started work on programs or projects to address this goal.
        • Promote and encourage BIA members' or worksites' participation in OSHA's cooperative programs such as compliance assistance, the Voluntary Protection Programs, and the Consultation Program, and its Safety and Health Achievement Recognition Program.
          The OSHA and BIA Alliance Implementation Team have not started work on programs or projects to address this goal.
           
   2. Executive Summary
      
      As a result of the Alliance's successes in its' first two years, OSHA and BIA signed an Alliance renewal agreement on March 27, 2008. OSHA and BIA will continue to work together to increase employer and employee access to training resources that address ergonomic injuries and exposure to hazardous levels of silica. The positive and collaborative relationship has led to the development of the many programs and projects that the OSHA and BIA Alliance Implementation Team are currently working on or has produced. For example, through the OSHA and BIA Alliance, BIA developed the "Occupational Health Program for Exposure to Crystalline Silica in the Brick Industry" manual. The manual provides employers with guidelines to monitor occupational exposures and associated respiratory health effects of crystalline silica exposure.
      
      As part of their outreach efforts, BIA joined with 50 other Alliance Program participants to support 2008 NAOSH Week, May 4-10, 2008. In addition, BIA representatives are sharing their expertise and technical review by serving on the editorial boards of the following OSHA Safety and Health Topics pages:
      • Confined Spaces
      • Control of Hazardous Energy (Lockout/Tagout)
      • Heat Stress
      • Machine Guarding
      • Silica, Crystalline
         
   3. Alliance Program Reach
       

      Type of Activity (Conference, Training, Print and Electronic Distribution, etc.)	Number of Individuals Reached or Trained
      OSHA and BIA Alliance Web page on the OSHA Web site	1,477
      BIA and OSHA Alliance Web page on the BIA Web site	Data not available
      OSHA Confined Spaces Safety and Health Topics Page	63,204
      OSHA Control of Hazardous Energy (Lockout/Tagout) Safety and Health Topics Page	56,148
      OSHA Heat Stress Safety and Health Topics Page	52,600
      OSHA Machine Guarding Safety and Health Topics Page	23,849
      OSHA Silica, Crystalline Safety and Health Topics Page	28,011
      April 8, 2008 - "OSHA renews Alliance with the Brick Industry Association," OSHA News Release	69 News Services
      April 8, 2008 - "OSHA Renews Alliance with Brick Industry Association," US Federal News	Data not available
      April 10, 2008 - "OSHA Renews Alliance with Brick Industry Association," ThomasNet - Industrial Newsroom	Data not available
      April 10, 2008 - "NAOSH Week," Brick News Online	2,587
      May 8, 2008 - "Making the Business Case for Safety and Health," Brick News Online	2,587
      December 10, 2008 - "Making Sure Workers Come Home Safely," The Virginia Engineer	Data not available
      TOTAL	230,532

      
       
4. Upcoming Milestones
   
   In the upcoming year, the OSHA and BIA Alliance Implementation Team will continue to work together to develop resources for BIA members and others to help them protect their employees' health and safety. For example, the Implementation Team will finalize two draft silica best practices fact sheets, "Silica Dust Results - Calculations and what they mean," and "Silicosis - What you need to know." In addition, the OSHA and BIA Alliance Implementation Team will work together to conduct an ergonomics best practices seminar during the next reporting period.
   
   As part of the Alliance's outreach efforts, BIA representatives will be joining with other Alliance Program participants to support 2009 North American Occupational Safety and Health Week, May 3-9, 2009.
   
   Report prepared by: Tony Mapes, Safety and Occupational Health Specialist, Office of Outreach Services and Alliances, April 17, 2009