OSHA Renews Ground Crew Safety Alliance
The partnership will focus on preventing injuries during the operation of ground support equipment, the use of seat belts, slips and falls, ergonomic hazards, and extreme temperatures.
OSHA announced it has renewed its alliance with the Airline Ground Safety Panel in order to continue providing information and training resources to members, ground crew unions, contract firms, and workers. The announcement said the alliance will address worker injuries that occur during operation of ground support equipment; use of seat belts; new and emerging hazards; slips, trips and falls; ergonomic hazards; extreme temperatures; and understanding the rights and responsibilities of workers and employers under the OSH Act.
The panel's representatives come from leading U.S. airlines, such as American, Delta, JetBlue, Southwest, and United; Airlines for America (A4A, formerly the Air Transport Association of America, Inc.); DAL Global Services, LLC, which provides aircraft ground handling services such as ramp and passenger handling, cabin and cargo services, operations and load control, and aircraft and ground support equipment maintenance, at some 140 locations within the United States, Canada, and the Bahamas with more than 14,000 employees; the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers; Menzies Aviation, a global provider of ramp and cargo handling services; and the AFL-CIO's Transportation Trades Department and the Transport Workers Union.
"OSHA and members of the airline industry have worked together in recent years to address safety issues among ground personnel," said Assistant Secretary of Labor for Occupational Safety and Health Dr. David Michaels. "The efforts of our continued alliance with AGSP will go a long way toward keeping workers across the country safe and healthy at the end of every workday."
The alliance will develop toolbox talks on extreme temperatures and a case study on emerging workplace hazards, review existing best practice facts sheets with a focus on the use of seat belts in all ground support equipment, and incorporate ergonomic guidance in existing toolbox talks, case studies, and other guidance resources, according to OSHA.
"Our member airlines are very pleased with the progress that the OSHA Alliance with the Airline Ground Safety Panel has produced over the past seven years," said Airlines for America Vice President and Assistant General Counsel Rob DeLucia. "We look forward to continuing our voluntary, cooperative program with OSHA to further enhance employee safety with our labor union partners and the companies that service our aircraft."