AGREEMENT RENEWING AN ALLIANCE
BETWEEN
ALLENTOWN AREA OFFICE
THE OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY AND HEALTH ADMINISTRATION
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF LABOR
AND
THE PENNSYLVANIA OSHA CONSULTATION PROGRAM
AND
UPPER BUCKS COUNTY TECHNICAL SCHOOL

The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) Allentown Area Office (AAO), the Pennsylvania OSHA Consultation Program and Upper Bucks County Technical School (UBCTS) continue to recognize the value of maintaining a collaborative relationship to foster safety and health practices and programs to improve American workplaces. To that end, OSHA and UBCTS hereby renew the Alliance signed September 17, 2015 and renewed September 14, 2017, with a continued emphasis on outreach and education for your/student workers. Specifically, all organization(s) are committed to providing UBCTS students, faculty, administration members Occupational Advisory Council members and others with information, guidance, and access to training resources that will help them protect workers and understand the rights of workers and the responsibilities of employers under the Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSH Act). Through the Alliance, the organizations will continue to address workplace hazard awareness, safety and health program management and implementation and the hierarchy of controls to reduce or prevent workplace hazards.

This agreement provides a framework and objectives for the Alliance’s activities. Alliance participants also agree to meet the requirements for program participation laid out in 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 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, including but not limited to member surveys, to evaluate the Alliance and measure the impact on improving workplace safety and health. In renewing this Alliance, OSHA and UBCTS recognize that OSHA’s State Plan and On-Site Consultation Program 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:

• Share information on OSHA’s National/Regional/Local Initiatives (Emphasis Programs, Regulatory Agenda, Outreach).
• Share information on occupational safety and health laws and standards, including the rights and responsibilities of workers and employers.
• Speak, exhibit, or appear at UBCTS and PA Dept. of Education conferences, local meetings, or other Career Technical Center Educational events.
• Convene or participate in forums, roundtable discussions, or stakeholder meetings on youth (young worker) safety to help forge innovative solutions in the workplace or to provide input on safety and health issues.

Training and Education

The Participants intend to work together to achieve the following objectives:

• To review and provide input on effective training and education curricula for youth entering the workforce 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.
• To deliver various safety and health related training and education on topics including but not limited to: understanding worker rights; hazards associated within the construction trades, specifically: falls, struck-by conditions, caught-in/between hazards, and electrical hazards; hazards associated within the healthcare industry, material handling hazards, use of personal protective equipment and hazards associated with chemicals.

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 initiatives, outreach, communication, training, and education. These Alliances have proven to be valuable tools for both OSHA and 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 organization’s products or services.

An implementation team made up of representatives of each organization will meet one to 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 Allentown Area Office. OSHA will encourage State Plans’ and OSHA On-Site Consultation programs’ participation on the team.

This agreement will remain in effect for a period not to exceed five 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 written concurrence of all signatories.

Signed this 17th day of September, 2020.