Pact in Puerto Rico Focuses on Preventing Chemical, Biological Exposures
OSHA has renewed an alliance with the University of the Sacred Heart and the Puerto Rico Occupational Safety and Health Administration to enhance the safety and health of USH employees and students.
The alliance seeks to provide information, guidance, and access to training resources to USH members and others that will help them reduce and prevent their exposure to physical, chemical and biological work hazards. OSHA, USH, and the Puerto Rico OSHA also vowed to work together on specific issues and projects regarding construction and general industry safety and health that are developed and addressed through the alliance.
"The original alliance resulted in education, training, and outreach activities that benefited workers and students," said Robert Kulick, OSHA's regional administrator in New York. "Now, we will build on that earlier alliance to reach more workers, students, and others with important safety and health information."
Among the goals of the renewed alliance are the development of a public service announcement for the Hispanic community that will emphasize a preventive approach to safety and health risks, delivery of OSHA 10-hour safety courses and the one-day OSHA safety and health management system course, and a series of educational activities to increase awareness about hazards encountered by young workers.
"This alliance emphasizes that knowledge is a key tool in achieving a safe and healthful workplace," said José A. Carpena, OSHA's area director in Puerto Rico. "Those who are able to better identify hazards will be better able to remove those hazards before they result in injury or illness."
Signatories to the alliance are OSHA's Kulick and Carpena; Puerto Rico OSHA Assistant Secretary Gladys Cruz Mercado; and USH President Dr. José Jaime Rivera. Additional information about this and other OSHA alliances in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands may be obtained by calling OSHA's Puerto Rico Area Office in Guaynabo at 787-277-1560.