IWCA - Alliance Annual Report - June 18, 2013

ALLIANCE ANNUAL REPORT
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA)
and the International Window Cleaning Association (IWCA)
June 18, 2013

  1. Alliance Background

    1. Date Signed

      June 10, 2010

    2. Dates Renewed

      October 31, 2012

    3. Evaluation Period

      June 10, 2011 - June 9, 2013

    4. Overview

      The OSHA and IWCA Alliance provides IWCA members and others, with information, guidance, and access to training resources that will help them protect the health and safety of workers. Through the Alliance, the organizations will continue to address slips, trips, falls from heights, and issues related to the safe use of high-reach access equipment, including ladders and scaffolding, in the window cleaning industry. The Alliance will also address the safety and health challenges of small business owners and low literacy and limited English speaking workers in the window cleaning industry.

  2. Implementation Team Members

    OSHA:

    Morgan Seuberling
    Safety and Occupational Health Specialist, Office of Outreach Services and Alliances, Directorate of Cooperative and State Programs (DCSP)
    Dominique Smith*
    Program Manager, Office of Small Business Assistance (OSBA), DCSP
    Ginny Fitzner
    Office of Safety Systems, Directorate of Standards and Guidance
    Christian Wojnar
    Program Manager, OSBA, DCSP
    Laura Kenny**
    Occupational Safety and Health Specialist, Office of Safety Systems, Directorate of Standards and Guidance
    Sherman Williamson
    Occupational Safety and Health Specialist, Office of General Industry Enforcement, Directorate of Enforcement Programs
    Laura Kenny
    Labor Liaison, Region II, New York Regional Office

    IWCA:

    Deb Nemec***
    Director, IWCA
    Mandie Bannwarth****
    Associate Director, IWCA
    Mark Bennett
    Executive Director, IWCA
    Stefan Bright
    Safety Director, IWCA
    Noa Pedersen
    General Window Cleaning; Board, IWCA
    Matt Pierce
    Fish Window Cleaning; Board, IWCA
    Coby Powell
    Red Rock Window Cleaning; Board, IWCA
    Alan Burton
    Everclear Enterprises, Inc.; Past-President, IWCA
    Eli Schmoeger
    American Cleaning Service; Education and Industry Relations, IWCA
    Jack Evans
    20/20 Window Cleaning of NC, Inc.; President, IWCA
    Mark Reinhart
    Award Window Cleaning; President-elect, IWCA

    Service Employees International Union (SEIU)

    Orlando Gonzalez - Service One; SEIU Representative

    *Dominique Smith served on the OSHA and IWCA Alliance Implementation Team until May 13, 2012.

    ** Ginny Fitzner served on the OSHA and IWCA Alliance Implementation Team until October 15, 2012.

    ***Deb Nemec served on the OSHA and IWCA Alliance Implementation Team until March 20, 2012.

    ****Mandie Bannwarth served on the OSHA and IWCA Alliance Implementation Team until December 31, 2012.

  3. Implementation Team Meetings

    • June 14, 2012
    • October 3, 2012
    • February 6, 2013

    In addition to these formal meetings, the Alliance coordinators from both groups maintained regular contact throughout the reporting period to monitor the Alliance's progress and results.

  4. Results

    The following table summarizes the Alliance's activities in support of the goals in the Alliance agreement.

    Raising Awareness of OSHA's Rulemaking and Enforcement Initiatives Goal 1: To share information on OSHA's National Emphasis Programs, Regulatory Agenda, and opportunities to participate in the rulemaking process.
    Activity Type Activity Name/Summary OSHA Initiative Supported Number Reached
    Other

    OSHA's 2012 Falls in Construction Initiative

    IWCA linked their Alliance Web page to OSHA's Website on Falls in Construction, with links to OSHA's Falls in Construction Fact Sheet and Poster.

    		 Falls in Construction

    Data Not Available
    Other

    August 2012: The Professional Window Cleaner Magazine

    IWCA published an article entitled focusing on "OSHA's Falls in Construction Campaign."

    		 Falls in Construction

    2,500
    Other

    OSHA's 2012 Heat Illness Prevention Initiative

    IWCA linked their Alliance Web page to the OSHA's Website on Heat Illness Prevention.

    		 Heat Illness Prevention

    Data Not Available
     

    Raising Awareness of OSHA's Rulemaking and Enforcement Initiatives Goal 2: To convene or participate in forums, roundtable discussions, or stakeholder meetings on fall, caught-in-between, and other scaffolding related hazards to forge innovative solutions in the workplace or to provide input on safety and health issues.
    Activity Type Activity Name/Summary OSHA Initiative Supported Number Reached
    Event

    OSHA Alliance Program Construction Roundtable Meeting, Department of Labor, September 12, 2012, Washington, DC

    Representatives from the IWCA Alliance participated in the OSHA Alliance Program Construction Roundtable meeting in Washington, D.C. During the meeting, Alliance Program participants discussed products developed through the Roundtable, including the Construction Workplace Design Solutions, and identified potential projects and compliance assistance resources to help address safety and health hazards in the construction industry.

    		 Falls in Construction

    Data Not Applicable
    Event

    OSHA Alliance Program Construction Roundtable Meeting, Department of Labor, March 28, 20132, Washington, DC

    Representatives from the IWCA Alliance participated in the OSHA Alliance Program Construction Roundtable meeting in Washington, D.C. During the meeting, Alliance Program participants discussed products developed through the Roundtable, including the Construction Workplace Design Solutions, and identified potential projects and compliance assistance resources to help address safety and health hazards in the construction industry.

    		 Falls In Construction

    Data Not Applicable
    Event

    2013 North American Occupational Safety and Health Week (NAOSH), May 5-11, 2013

    The IWCA Alliance and a number of other Alliance Program participants supported 2013 NAOSH Week. Sponsored annually by the American Society of Safety Engineers (ASSE) and the Canadian Society of Safety Engineering, the Week focuses on the importance of preventing injuries and illnesses in the workplace. 2013 Theme: "Worker Safety Works for Everyone."

    To help support the event, IWCA linked to the 2013 NAOSH Week Web page from the IWCA Website, issued a 2013 NAOSH Week press release on March 1, 2013, and published an article on IWCA's News Web page entitled "IWCA Promotes North American Occupational Safety and Health Week."

    		  

    237
     

    Training and Education Goal: To develop effective training and education programs for window cleaning contractors with low literacy and limited English speaking workers, regarding the recognition and prevention of workplace accidents due to slips, trips and falls, working from heights, and the use of specialized window cleaning and high-rise access equipment, and to communicate such information to constituent employers and workers.
    Activity Type Activity Name/Summary OSHA Initiative Supported Number Reached
     

    During the reporting period, the OSHA and IWCA Alliance Implementation Team have not completed work on programs or projects to address this goal.

    		  

     
     

    Outreach and Communication Goal 1: To develop information on the recognition and prevention of workplace hazards, and to develop ways of communicating such information (e.g., print and electronic media, electronic assistance tools, and OSHA's and the IWCA's Web sites) to employers and workers in the industry.
    Activity Type Activity Name/Summary OSHA Initiative Supported Number Reached
    Product

    Spanish Version of the Water-Fed Pole Safety Quick Card

    Through the OSHA and IWCA Alliance, IWCA translated the Water-Fed Pole Safety Quick Card to provide Spanish workers in the window cleaning industry with information on safe use of water-fed poles. The document contains practical precautions to help reduce the hazards at job sites for workers in the window cleaning industry and provides a quick reference to safe practices. The product was linked to OSHA's Web pages in June, 2012.

    		  

    Data Not Available
    Product

    IWCA and OSHA Alliance Web Page

    1. IWCA maintains the IWCA and OSHA Alliance Web page on its Website. Information includes links to the Alliance agreement and OSHA's electronic assistance tools. In addition, the page features links to products developed by IWCA through the Alliance Program, including the Water-fed Pole Training Program and Quick Cards. IWCA also includes OSHA initiatives on the Web page such as the Falls in Construction initiative and Heat Illness Prevention, with resources, information, and links to the OSHA Web pages.
    		 Falls in Construction and Heat Illness Prevention

    684
    Product

    OSHA and IWCA Alliance Web Page

    OSHA maintains the OSHA and IWCA Alliance Web page that is posted on the OSHA Website. The page includes the Alliance agreement, the renewal agreement, annual reports, news releases, information on activities and events, and links to resources developed by IWCA through the Alliance Program.

    		  

    2,864
    Other

    September 30, 2012: Alliance Quarterly Review.

    Stefan Bright authored an article entitled "International Window Cleaning Association Alliance Develops Two New Compliance Assistance Resources."

    		  

    36 National Alliances
    Other

    November 8, 2012: IWCA Press Release

    IWCA issued a press release entitled "OSHA and IWCA Renew Alliance to Protect Workers From Industry Hazards" to IWCA's members.

    		  

    Data Not Available
    Other

    January 2013: The Professional Window Cleaner Magazine

    IWCA published an article entitled "IWCA, OSHA Renew Alliance On Safety Awareness."

    		  

    2,500
    Other

    February 2013: The Professional Window Cleaner Magazine

    IWCA published an article entitled "Don't Get Caught Hanging Around."

    		 Falls in Construction

    2,500
     

    Outreach and Communication Goal 2: To speak, exhibit, or appear at OSHA's or IWCA's Annual Conferences, local meetings, or other regional events.
    Activity Type Activity Name/Summary OSHA Initiative Supported Number Reached
    Speaker

    2012 IWCA Regional Safety Training, October 12, 2012, Detroit, Michigan

    Robert Bonack, Area Director, Region V, Lansing, Michigan Area Office, USDOL-OSHA, gave a presentation entitled "OSHA Updates."

    		 Falls in Construction

    62
    Speaker

    2013 IWCA Annual Conference and Tradeshow, February 13-16, 2013, St. Pete Beach, Florida

    On February 13, 2013, Joan Spencer, Compliance Assistance Specialist, Region IV, Tampa, Florida Area Office, USDOL-OSHA, gave a presentation entitled "OSHA Fall Protection & Work Plan."

    		 Falls in Construction

    60
    Exhibit

    2013 IWCA Annual Conference and Tradeshow, February 13-16, 2013, St. Pete Beach, Florida

    OSHA staffed an Alliance exhibit and distributed OSHA publications and products developed through the OSHA and IWCA Alliance to industry safety and health professionals that attended the exhibit booth during the conference.

    		  

    100
     

    TOTAL

    		    

    11,543

  5. Upcoming Milestones

    In the upcoming year, OSHA and IWCA will continue work together to provide IWCA's members and others with guidance and access to information and training resources that will focus on reducing and preventing exposure to slips, trips and falls, and issues related to the use of high-reach access equipment including ladders and scaffolding equipment in the window cleaning industry.

    For example, IWCA will translate the Water-fed Pole Safety Training Program into Spanish and develop the first two sections in IWCA's "Safe Practices Manual for Window Cleaners." The resources will be posted on the IWCA Alliance-related Web page and OSHA will link the resources to the OSHA and IWCA Web page, the Alliance Program Participants Developed Products Web page, and other appropriate locations on the Agency Web site.

    In addition, IWCA will continue to participate in the Alliance Program Construction Roundtable, when scheduled, and contribute to the development of Construction Workplace Design Solutions. For completing their outreach goals, IWCA will provide OSHA with an Alliance exhibit at their Annual Conference and Tradeshow.

    Finally, IWCA representatives will be joining with other Alliance Program participants to support the 2014 NAOSH Week, May 4-10, 2013.

    Report prepared by: Morgan Seuberling, Safety and Occupational Health Specialist, Office of Outreach Services and Alliances, June 18, 2013.