NSC Renews Alliances with OSHA, MSHA
At the conclusion of the Occupational Keynote last week in Chicago, NSC President and CEO Alan C. McMillan joined MSHA's Richard Stickler, OSHA's Edwin G. Foulke Jr., and NIOSH's Dr. John Howard on stage, pen in hand. It was time to renew alliances, and although NIOSH wasn't involved in the signings, McMillan asked Howard to join the others at the lectern "because we're all in this together, and it's appropriate."
One goal of the council's renewed two-year alliance with OSHA is to continue providing health and safety information to the construction and general industries, focusing specifically on encouraging motor vehicle safety and drug-free workplaces. It also will address first aid training in the workplace, including cardiopulmonary resuscitation, and the use of automated external defibrillators.
"The National Safety Council and OSHA have a long-standing relationship based on our organizations' missions to reduce occupational injuries," McMillan said. "Renewing this alliance further facilitates our mutual promotion of safety in the workplace while giving special attention to driving safety and drug-free workplaces, both significant occupational safety issues."
In renewing the MSHA alliance, which will likewise remain in effect until 2009, McMillan said the two organizations share a passion for mine safety. NSC will collaborate with MSHA to advance the "Stay Out-Stay Alive" public awareness campaign, which unites more than 70 federal and state agencies, private organizations, businesses, and individuals in the effort to promote safe practices around mines. As a partner, NSC will aid in the development of educational materials and Web-based programs, provide conference speakers on mining safety and health, and collect and present accurate statistical information on U.S. mining and minerals operations, he said.
NSC's renewed alliance with MSHA comes at a time when, despite notable 2007 mining tragedies, safety education and new technologies are helping to reduce the rate of accidental deaths for the U.S. mining industry, the council said. While mining employs more than 530,000 workers nationwide, MSHA and NSC also are reaching out to the public, particularly children, with warnings about the dangers surrounding active and abandoned mines.