Background:

In December 2000, the Ford Motor Company entered into a Partnership with the International Union, United Automobile, Aerospace and Agricultural Implement Workers of America (UAW) and OSHA, which was the first of its kind between an automotive manufacturer, employee union, and government agency. This Partnership covers twelve Ford Motor Company manufacturing facilities within the United States. The Partnership's key goal is to continuously reduce work-related injuries and illnesses at the company's manufacturing locations by optimizing the resources of the three partners in the development and administration of plant health and safety management systems (SHMS).

Success Impact:

Injury and Illness Rates Decline

Since the Partnership was implemented, injury and illness rates have significantly declined in Ford's North America facilities by 77 percent. For example, in 2006:

• Thirteen out of 14 sites reduced their one-year Total Case Incident Rate (TCIR);
• Eleven of 14 sites reduced their one-year Days Away, Restricted and Transferred (DART) - a significant improvement compared with 2005's results where only five out of 15 participating sites reduced their one-year DART rate;
• Twelve of 14 sites evaluated reduced their one-year Lost Time Case Rate (LTCR) - a significant improvement compared with 2005's results where only four out of 15 participating sites reduced their one-year LTCR; and
• Twelve of 14 sites reduced their one-year Severity Rate - a significant improvement compared with 2005's results where only six out of 15 sites reduced their one-year Severity Rate.

Partnership Objectives:

The primary goal of this Partnership is to reduce injuries and illnesses year-over-year from baseline OSHA log summary data at each Ford through the creation of a pro-active health and safety culture and a cooperative non-adversarial relationship that optimizes the resources of all parties. Performance metrics used to monitor and track health and safety process performance shall include TCIR, DART, and LTCR.

• Origin: National
• Partners: United Automobile, Aerospace, and Agricultural Implement Workers of America, the International Union, the Ford Motor Company, Automotive Component Holdings - Limited Liability Corporation (ACH-LLC)
• Partnership Signed: Partnership renewed November 2007
• Industry: Manufacturing (SIC Code 3465)
• Employees: 21,914
• Employers: 1
• Source and Date: Christian Wojnar, OSHA's National Office / June 2007