uation responsibilities; OSHA verification proce-dures; and participant benefits. Finally, thePartnership agreement must be signed by OSHAand its partners.

BenefitsBenefits offered through an OSHA Partnership arecommensurate with participating partners’ com-mitment to and success in providing safe andhealthy working conditions for their employees.Certain benefits require verification of the part-ner’s worksite by OSHA to ensure that agreementobjectives are being met. Benefits to employerpartners may include outreach, technical assis-tance and training such as the free on-site servic-es of OSHA Consultation Projects; citation penaltyreductions; deferral or deletion from OSHA pro-grammed inspection lists; and/or programmedinspections with a limited scope that focus onspecific workplace hazards.

OSHA ResponsibilitiesContact PersonA primary OSHA contact is designated for eachPartnership. The primary contact communicatesregularly with the person(s) responsible for themanagement of the Partnership.

VerificationVerification is OSHA’s process for determiningwhether Partnership participants are upholdingtheir responsibilities under the agreement. Threepossible verification methods exist —offsite, on-

How Partnerships WorkWorking together, OSHA, employers, employees,and other stakeholders identify workplace safetyand health issues and develop strategies, goalsand performance measures to address theseissues. Partnerships are established through awritten, signed agreement which usually laststhree to five years. The agreement may be nation-al, regional, or local in scope.

PartnersPartners may include professional or trade associ-ations such as: building contractors or nursinghomes; unions such as The United Automobile,Aerospace and Agricultural Implement Workers ofAmerica or The International Brotherhood ofElectrical Workers; and employers in industriessuch as construction, food processing or publicwarehousing and storage. Partners may be largeentities, but most often are small businesses aver-aging fewer than 50 employees. Other stakehold-ers may include local/state governments, stateConsultation Projects and insurance companieswhich often contribute expertise and resources.

RequirementsAll Partnership agreements must contain core ele-ments such as Partnership purpose, goals andstrategies; identification of partners and geo-graphic boundaries; Partnership timeframe orterm; Partnership management and operation;effective quantitative and qualitative performancemeasures linked to Partnership goals; annual eval-

FactSheetOSHA’s Strategic Partnership ProgramCreated in 1998, OSHA’s Strategic Partnership Program is an extended, voluntary,cooperative relationship between OSHA and groups of employers, employees,employee representatives and other interested stakeholders. Partnerships aredesigned to encourage, assist and recognize efforts to eliminate serious hazards, cre-ate effective safety and health management systems, measure results and achieve ahigh degree of worker safety and health. Partnerships are flexible in design so thatemployers’ unique operational and workplace needs can be considered. Employersinvolved in Partnerships may reduce illness and injury rates, workers’ compensationrates, absenteeism and other costs. Employees benefit from safer workplaces,increased safety and health knowledge and skills, and improved morale.

site non-enforcement, and on-site enforcementinspection— one of which is necessary to meetthe requirements of the Partnership agreement.

EvaluationOSHA coordinates the annual Partnership evalua-tion with input from its partners, to assess howwell the Partnership has worked toward meetingits goals.

InspectionsOSHA conducts enforcement inspections inresponse to formal complaints, workplace acci-dents or fatalities, chemical leaks and spills, andother significant events.

This is one in a series of informational fact sheets highlighting OSHA programs, policies or

standards. It does not impose any new compliance requirements. For a comprehensive list of

compliance requirements of OSHA standards or regulations, refer to Title 29 of the Code of Federal

Regulations. This information will be made available to sensory impaired individuals upon request.

The voice phone is (202) 693-1999; teletypewriter (TTY) number: (877) 889-5627.

Employee/Employer Rights and Responsibilities Participation in Partnerships does not eliminatethe rights or responsibilities of employers oremployees under the Occupational Safety andHealth Act.

More InformationFor national Partnerships, contact OSHA’s Office ofPartnerships and Recognition at 202-683-2213. Forregional or local Partnerships, contact your OSHARegional Office by calling 800-321-OSHA.

U.S. Department of Labor

www.osha.gov(800) 321-OSHA

For more complete information:

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