AGREEMENT ESTABLISHING AN ALLIANCE
BETWEEN
THE OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY AND HEALTH ADMINISTRATION
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF LABOR
AND
THE NATIONAL CHICKEN COUNCIL
AND
THE NATIONAL TURKEY FEDERATION

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), the National Chicken Council (NCC) and the National Turkey Federation (NTF) recognize the value of establishing a collaborative relationship to better use their collective expertise to help foster safe and healthful American workplaces and a culture of prevention. OSHA, NCC and NTF hereby form an Alliance to provide NCC's and NTF's members and others with information, guidance and access to training resources that will help them protect the safety and health of employees, including those who speak languages other than English. In particular, the Alliance will address sharing best practices and technical knowledge on safety and health issues, including how to reduce and prevent exposure to ergonomic hazards associated with poultry processing. In developing the Alliance, OSHA, NCC and NTF recognize that OSHA's State Plan and Consultation Project partners are an integral part of the OSHA national effort.

OSHA, NCC and NTF will work together to achieve the following training and education goal:

• Work with OSHA to provide expertise to develop training and education programs for the poultry industry on ergonomics techniques, program structure and applications in the poultry industry, and to provide expertise in communicating such information to employers and employees in the industry.

  • NCC and NTF will hold ergonomics training sessions at the annual National Safety Conference for the Poultry Industry.

OSHA, NCC and NTF will work together to achieve the following outreach and communication goals:

• Develop and disseminate information and guidance in English, Spanish and other languages through print and electronic media, including electronic assistance tools and links from OSHA's, NCC's and NTF's Web sites.

• Speak, exhibit or appear at OSHA's, NCC's or NTF's conferences, local meetings or other events such as the annual National Safety Conference for the Poultry Industry, the annual International Poultry Exposition and regular meetings of the Joint Poultry Industry Safety and Health Committee.

• Share information among OSHA personnel and industry safety and health professionals regarding NCC's and NTF's best practices or effective approaches and publicize results through outreach by NCC and NTF and through OSHA-, NCC- or NTF-developed materials, training programs, workshops, seminars and lectures (or any other applicable forum).

• Promote and encourage NCC and NTF 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.

• Encourage NCC's and NTF's members to build relationships with OSHA's Regional and Area Offices to address health and safety issues, including ergonomics hazards in the poultry industry.

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

• Develop and disseminate case studies illustrating the business value of safety and health and publicize their results.

• Convene or participate in forums, round table discussions or stakeholder meetings on ergonomic issues to help forge innovative solutions in the workplace.

OSHA's Alliances provide parties an opportunity to participate in a voluntary cooperative relationship with OSHA for purposes such as training and education, outreach and communication, and promoting a national dialogue on workplace safety and health. These Alliances have proved to be valuable tools for both OSHA and its Alliance participants. By entering into an Alliance with a party, OSHA is not endorsing any of that party's products or services; nor does the Agency enter into an Alliance with the purpose of promoting a particular party's products or services.

An implementation team made up of representatives of all signatory organizations will meet to develop a plan of action, determine working procedures, and identify the roles and responsibilities of the participants. In addition, they will meet at least three times per year to track and share information on activities and results in achieving the goals of the Alliance. Team members will include representatives of OSHA's Directorate of Cooperative and State Programs and any other appropriate offices. OSHA will encourage State Plan States' and OSHA Consultation Projects' participation on the team.

This agreement will remain in effect for two years. Any 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 all signatories.