OSHA Trade Release
October 23, 2023
Contact: Office of Communications
Phone: 202-693-1999
OSHA forms a safety, health partnership with M.A. Mortenson Co.
WASHINGTON - The Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration and M.A. Mortenson Co. recently signed a strategic partnership to promote safety and health practices to help in preventing worker injuries and exposure to hazards during the second phase of construction at the Southeast Poultry Research Laboratory campus in Athens, Georgia.
The new research facility will increase the laboratory staff's capabilities to respond to highly pathogenic avian influenza outbreaks as they provide research information for eradication and control, as well as data for control of Newcastle disease, reoviruses, infectious bursal disease, Marek's disease, and other exotic and emerging viruses of poultry and other birds.
The initiative will encourage contractors to develop and improve safety and health programs, and provide required training to employees, employers, and supervisors. The initiative will focus on safe work practices and the use of required personal protective equipment. It will also promote the safe use of hand and power tools, and awareness of common construction hazards associated with heat illness, falls, trench cave-ins, struck-by and caught-in equipment, and unsafe levels of silica dust and noise.
"Public-private sector partnerships provide a proven, collaborative framework for major construction projects that enhance worker safety," said OSHA Area Director Joshua Turner in Atlanta, Georgia. "In fact, strategic partnerships also lead to increased worker involvement, training and education and accountability for safe work practices."
OSHA's Strategic Partnership Program works with employers, employees, professional and trade associations, labor organizations and other interested stakeholders to establish specific goals, strategies and performance measures to improve worker safety and health.