AGREEMENT ESTABLISHING AN ALLIANCE
BETWEEN
THE SIOUX FALLS AREA OFFICE OF
THE OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY AND HEALTH ADMINISTRATION
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF LABOR
AND
SOUTH DAKOTA STATE UNIVERSITY ENGINEERING EXTENSION PROGRAM
AND
SOUTH DAKOTA ONE-CALL NOTIFICATION BOARD

The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) Sioux Falls Area Office, the South Dakota State University Engineering Extension Program and the South Dakota One-Call Notification Board recognize the value of establishing a collaborative relationship to foster safety and health practices and programs to improve American workplaces. To that end, they hereby form an Alliance to provide employers and employees conducting excavation work with information, guidance, and access to training resources that will help them protect workers by reducing and preventing exposure to hazards related to trenching activities, and understand the rights of workers and the responsibilities of employers under the Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSH Act).

This agreement provides a framework and objectives for the Alliance’s activities. Alliance participants also agree to 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 available 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.

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), and 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 particularly through Spring Damage Prevention Meetings.
• Develop information on the recognition and prevention of workplace hazards, and communicate such information in conjunction with the South Dakota 811 Certification Program to employers and workers in the industry.
• Speak, exhibit, or appear at OSHA and South Dakota 811 conferences, local meetings, or other events.
• Convene or participate in forums, roundtable discussions, or stakeholder meetings on excavation and trench safety to help forge innovative solutions in the workplace or to provide input on safety and health issues particularly through Spring Damage Prevention Meetings.
• Share information among OSHA personnel and industry safety and health professionals regarding South Dakota One-Call Notification Board’s good practices or effective approaches through training programs, workshops, seminars, and lectures (or any other applicable forum).
• Encourage worker participation in workplace safety and health through the Spring Damage Prevention Meetings and the South Dakota 811 Certification Program.
• Collaborate with other Alliance participants on specific issues and projects on trench safety.
• Share case studies on excavation mishaps and publicize their results via South Dakota 811 website.
• Encourage South Dakota One-Call Notification Board’s customers to build relationships with OSHA’s Regional and Area Offices as well as SDSU Engineering Extension Program to address health and safety issues, including excavation safety.

Training and Education

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

• Develop effective training and education programs for the excavation industry in South Dakota regarding Excavation Safety and to communicate such information to constituent employers and workers.
• Deliver or arrange for the delivery of courses.
• Develop effective training and education programs for excavators 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 initiatives, outreach, communications, 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 Sioux Falls Area Office and any other appropriate offices.

Entering into this agreement does not establish an expectation that SD One Call board members would provide expert testimony or otherwise routinely participate in OSHA litigation.

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 written concurrence of all signatories.

Signed this 19^th day of February, 2021.

Sheila Stanley
Area Director
Occupational Safety and Health Administration

Greg DeRynck
Director
SDSU Engineering Extension Program

Larry Janes
Executive Director
South Dakota One-Call Notification Board