AGREEMENT ESTABLISHING AN ALLIANCE
BETWEEN
NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF HOME BUILDERS
AND
THE OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY AND HEALTH ADMINISTRATION
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

The National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) recognize the value of establishing collaborative relationships to foster safer and healthier American workplaces. NAHB and OSHA hereby form an Alliance to use their collective expertise and efforts to foster a culture of injury prevention and promote safe and healthful working conditions, particularly for the Spanish-speaking workforce of the residential construction industry. Under this Alliance, NAHB and OSHA will:

• Provide NAHB members and others in the residential construction industry with information, training opportunities, and guidance that will help them protect employees' health and safety, particularly in reducing and preventing exposure to residential construction industry hazards.

• Increase the Spanish-speaking workforce's access to and understanding of safety and health information and available training resources.

NAHB and OSHA will work together to achieve the following training and education goals:

• Develop and present training and education programs and workshops on residential construction industry issues, with specific emphasis on the Spanish-speaking work force.

• Explore the feasibility of developing a comprehensive safety training course specific to residential construction that is similar to OSHA's 30-hour construction course.

NAHB and OSHA will work together to achieve the following outreach and communication goals:

• NAHB will assist OSHA in identifying safety and health issues that can be addressed in e-tools and other electronic compliance assistance products specific to the residential construction industry.

• Explore the feasibility of updating, publishing, and distributing OSHA's Selected Construction Regulations for the Home Building Industry (SCOR).

• Develop and disseminate information on residential construction industry issues, with specific emphasis on the Spanish-speaking workforce, through print and electronic media, including NAHB's Nation's Building News and affiliated local associations' newsletters, electronic tools, and links from OSHA's and NAHB's Web sites.

• Share NAHB English/Spanish construction safety publications with OSHA regional and area offices.

• Provide construction safety training and/or presentations on current construction activities within OSHA, and/or host an OSHA informational booth at the International Builders' Show and affiliated local association functions.

• Promote OSHA's free consultation program to businesses, companies, and corporations in the residential construction industry and help them obtain relevant OSHA publications such as posters, fact sheets, compliance guides, and recordkeeping forms.

• Encourage companies or local associations to identify resources for providing training in English as a second language, as appropriate, to the Spanish-speaking workforce in the residential construction industry.

NAHB and OSHA will work together to achieve the following goals related to promoting the national dialogue on workplace safety and health:

• Work with the various Hispanic contractors associations and other alliance program participants to establish a dialogue on residential construction safety issues affecting the Spanish-speaking workforce.

• Work to raise others' awareness of, and demonstrate their respective commitments to, workplace safety and health whenever NAHB and OSHA leaders address groups, with specific emphasis on the Spanish-speaking work force.

An implementation team made up of representatives of both NAHB and OSHA will meet to develop an implementation plan, determine working procedures, and identify and define the roles and responsibilities of the participants. In addition, NAHB and OSHA will meet at least quarterly to track and share information on activities and results in achieving the goals of the Alliance. Team members will include representatives of NAHB and NAHB's Construction Safety & Health Committee and representatives of OSHA's Directorate of Construction, Directorate of Cooperative and State Programs and any other appropriate Directorates. OSHA will encourage State Plan States' and OSHA Consultation Projects' participation on the team.

Any material provided by NAHB and/or its members is for informational purposes only. Information provided by NAHB does not constitute an official statement or position by NAHB and is not intended by the parties to create any legal obligations for NAHB or its individual members. NAHB is not a standard-setting organization, and information provided pursuant to this Alliance Agreement is not intended as a legally binding standard or guideline.

This agreement will remain in effect for two years. Either signatory may terminate it for any reason at any time, provided they give 30 days written notice. This agreement may be modified at any time with the concurrence of both signatories.