AGREEMENT ESTABLISHING AN ALLIANCE
BETWEEN
BILLINGS AREA OFFICE
OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY AND HEALTH ADMINISTRATION
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF LABOR
AND
MONTANA LOGGING ASSOCIATION

The U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) Billings Area Office and the Montana Logging Association (MLA) recognize the value of maintaining a collaborative relationship to foster safer and more healthful American workplaces. To that end, OSHA and the MLA hereby form an Alliance to provide the MLA members and others with information, guidance, and access to training resources that will help them protect the health and safety of workers, particularly by reducing and preventing exposure to the hazards associated with logging operations and understand the rights of workers and the responsibilities of employers under the Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSH Act). The hazards that will be focused on are:

• Moving or falling trees, logs, and branches
• Contact with dangerous moving and rotating machinery or equipment parts
• Repetitive motion, overexertion, awkward postures, heavy lifting, and other physical stressors
• Vehicles and heavy equipment
• Heat and other adverse environmental conditions
• Noise

This agreement provides a framework and objectives for the Alliance's activities. Alliance participants also agree that activities associated with this Alliance will meet the "Fundamental Requirements for OSHA Alliance Program Participants” and the “Guidelines for OSHA's Alliance Program Participants: Alliance Products and Other Alliance Projects."

Through the Alliance, the organizations will use relevant injury, illness, and hazard exposure data when appropriate to help identify areas of emphasis for Alliance awareness, outreach, and communication activities. The Alliance will also explore and implement selected options to evaluate the effectiveness of the Alliance and measure the impact of its overall effort on improving workplace safety for employers and workers. In developing this Alliance, OSHA and the MLA recognize that OSHA's State Plan and On-site Consultation Project partners are an integral part of the OSHA national effort, and that information about the products and activities of the Alliance may be shared with these partners for the advancement of common goals.

Raising Awareness: Outreach and Communication

The Participants intend to work together to achieve the following objectives related to raising awareness of OSHA's rulemaking and enforcement initiatives:

• Share information on OSHA's National/Regional/Local Initiatives (Emphasis Programs, Regulatory Agenda, Outreach), and provide opportunities to participate in initiatives and the rulemaking process.
• Share information on occupational safety and health laws and standards, including the rights and responsibilities of workers and employers.
• Convene or participate in forums, roundtable discussions, or stakeholder meetings on addressing the hazards associated with logging and log transportation operations, to help forge innovative solutions in the workplace or to provide input on safety and health issues such as:
  • adequate Personal Protective Equipment,
  • falling, rolling, and sliding trees and logs,
  • uneven, unstable, and rough terrain,
  • inclement weather,
  • remote and isolated work sites where health care facilities are not immediately accessible,
  • moving trees and logs from the stump to the point of delivery,
  • transporting machines, equipment, and personnel to and from and between logging sites,
  • hazards associated with marking danger trees and,
  • felling, limbing, bucking, debarking, chipping, yarding, loading, unloading, and storing logs.
• Encourage worker participation in workplace safety and health by participating in annual conferences, National Safety Stand-Downs, and Workers Memorial Day.
• Develop information on the recognition and prevention of workplace hazards and identify and implement ways of communicating such information (e.g., print and electronic media, electronic assistance tools, and OSHA's and the MLA's websites) to employers and workers in the industry.
• Speak, exhibit, or appear at OSHA's or MLA's conferences, local meetings, or other National Safety Stand-Down events.

Training and Education

The Participants intend to work together to achieve the following training and education objectives:

• Develop effective training and education programs for loggers and Compliance Safety and Health Officers regarding the recognition and prevention of workplace hazards associated with logging and log transportation.
• Develop effective training and education programs for small employers to promote understanding of workers' rights, including the use of the OSHA complaint process, and the responsibilities of employers and to communicate such information to workers and employers.

OSHA's Alliances provide organizations an opportunity to participate in a voluntary cooperative relationship with OSHA for purposes such as raising awareness of OSHA's rulemaking and enforcement initiatives, training and education, and outreach and communication. These Alliances have proven to be valuable tools for both OSHA and its Alliance participants. By entering into an Alliance with an organization, OSHA is not endorsing or promoting, nor does it intend to endorse or promote, any of that party's products or services.

An implementation team made up of representatives of each organization will meet to develop a work plan, determine working procedures, and identify the roles and responsibilities of the participants. In addition, the implementation team will meet at least two times per year to track and share information on activities and results in achieving the goals of the Alliance. OSHA team members will include representatives of the Billings Area Office and any other appropriate offices. OSHA will encourage the Montana Department of Labor and Industry to participate on the team.

This agreement will be in effect from March 15, 2023, through March 15, 2025. 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 written concurrence of both signatories.