ISFA-OSHA Alliance for Workplace Safety
INGOMAR, Pa. – The International Surface Fabricators Association (ISFA) is forming an alliance with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA).
The voluntary, cooperative partnership is designed to elevate workplace safety, training and safety culture across the surface fabrication industry.
OSHA’s Alliance Program framework was established in 2004 and revised in 2015 and again in 2020. It enables organizations to collaborate with OSHA in delivering training, outreach and resources to improve workplace safety and health nationwide.
The OSHA-ISFA Alliance will focus on three key areas:
- Joint development of training and education materials with an emphasis on silica dust prevention;
- Outreach and communications designed to advance safety awareness through ISFA membership and the broader surfacing community, and;
- Promotion of a national dialogue on shop safety culture, encouraging leadership commitment, shared best practices and employee engagement.
OSHA and ISFA will convene a team made up of members of both groups to meet regularly to ensure progress and coordination. The alliance will also create annual reports to evaluate results.
The alliance also aligns with ISFA’s existing safety focus, including its widely used silica-trailing tools, which are available to members on its website, www.ISFAnow.org.
Those tools also include the second installment of a two-part study on silica exposure and health risks in the surface-fabrication industry. Yale Literature Review: Medical Studies, from ISFA in collaboration with the Natural Stone Institute (NSI). It offers a deep analysis of peer-reviewed medical research on the impacts of respirable crystalline silica.
ISFA also recently recognized a significant training milestone, with more than 1,100 industry employees enrolled in its online silica-safety course.
ISFA Board President Ted Sherritt stresses that safety is core to the organization’s mission, and he cites its comprehensive silica dust and safety compliance resources as examples.
“The ISFA-OSHA alliance will amplify these efforts through co-branded programs and expanded access,” he says.
