PARTNERSHIP AGREEMENT
BETWEEN
THE DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE
DEPARTMENT OF THE AIR FORCE
AND
THE DEPARTMENT OF LABOR OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY AND HEALTH ADMINISTRATION

IDENTIFICATION OF PARTNERS

The partners to this Agreement are:

The Department of Labor, Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA)
The Department of Defense, Department of the Air Force (Air Force)

PURPOSE, SCOPE

In the spring of 2006, the Air Force approached OSHA with a desire to improve their proactive approach to safety and health at their installations. The Air Force recognized that OSHA had valuable expertise in workplace safety and health, and could offer useful tools, such as the Voluntary Protection Programs (VPP) and OSHA Challenge, to help achieve that goal.

In return, OSHA recognizes that a partnership with the Air Force covers a diverse spectrum of hazards, challenges, best practices and overall safety and health management systems. OSHA will share the knowledge gained both with their own staff, and with other employers and industries. Additionally, lessons learned from participating sites will benefit employee safety and health at all Air Force installations.

By entering into this Agreement, the Air Force and OSHA formalize their commitment to improve safety and health and reduce injuries and illnesses. This agreement supports the goals of the President's Safety, Health, and Return-to-Employment (SHARE) Initiative.

This agreement in no way supersedes OSHA's authority with respect to Federal agencies under EO 12196, nor will the partnership collect illness, injury or other data related to military personnel to determine VPP status.

GOALS, STRATEGIES AND MEASURES

The Air Force and OSHA will work in partnership to accomplish three key goals:

Reduce civilian and military workforce injuries, and illnesses at each participating Air Force installation by at least 3% per year consistent with SHARE goals.
Expand Air Force participation in VPP and increase awareness of the value of effective safety and health management systems.
Provide mechanisms for promoting contractor safety and health.

The Partnership will achieve and measure these goals using the strategies and measurements listed in Appendix A.

PARTNERSHIP BENEFITS

OSHA will offer the following benefits for Air Force installations participating in the Partnership:

Six month deferral from programmed inspections upon entry into the partnership; the entry date for each installation is the date of the kick-off visit.
During enforcement inspections, a notice will not be issued for hazards not citable as serious if the hazard is abated during the enforcement inspection.
OSHA recognition for partnership success, including, promotion at Regional conferences and postings on OSHA's web.

PARTNERSHIP MANAGEMENT

A Partnership Management Team (PMT) will facilitate the direction and management of the Partnership. The PMT will consist of Air Force and OSHA representatives as follows:

OSHA National Office representation from the Directorate of Cooperative and State Programs and the Directorate of Enforcement Programs
OSHA Regional and/or Area Office representatives
Headquarters, Department of the Air Force representatives
Air Force representation from participating installations
VPP mentors as needed

The PMT will perform a variety of activities to facilitate the success of the Partnership, including:

Determine Partnership procedures.
Hold quarterly conference calls.
Track, analyze, and share information on Partnership activities and results.
Meet at least annually to jointly evaluate the effectiveness of the Partnership.
Prepare an annual evaluation report with final approval by OSHA. The evaluation will be due each year on the effective date of the Partnership, and will follow the written format listed in the OSHA Directive on Strategic Partnerships, Appendix C.
Ensure that issues and concerns, as well as best practices and successes, are appropriately communicated.

Additionally, the Air Force and OSHA agree to work in partnership to improve safety and health performance at participating installations.

The Air Force agrees to:

Identify Air Force installations to participate in the Partnership.
Promote the establishment and/or improvement of safety and health management systems, and the integration of those systems into the overall Air Force management system
Conduct employee surveys to measure levels of safety and health awareness, including a baseline survey.
Promote the benefits of VPP to Air Force installations.
Support participating installations in working toward VPP participation.
Support Air Force employees who perform activities similar to those of Special Government Employees (SGEs).
Support an overall workplace culture that values safety and health as part of daily business operations.
Share baseline and ongoing measurement data with OSHA.
Solicit OSHA participation in Air Force-sponsored safety and health training events.
Facilitate communication among all Air Force installations to share best practices and lessons learned.
Serve as the OSHA Challenge Administrator for the Air Force.
Where established, support and be involved in the Federal Safety and Health Council.

OSHA agrees to:

Work cooperatively with the Air Force to provide safety and health information, technical assistance, and training (as resources allow), to facilitate safety and health management systems improvements.
Ensure that affected OSHA staff, including Compliance Safety and Health Officers (CSHOs), are familiar with Partnership requirements and objectives, and encourage them to provide assistance as requested by the Air Force.
OSHA will maximize the resolution of complaints received against participating Air Force installations through the use of phone and fax, consistent with OSHA's Field Instruction Reference Manual (FIRM), Complaint Policies and Procedures Directive (CPL 02-00-140) and Federal Agency Safety and Health Programs Directive (FAP 01-00-003H.4).
As resources allow, participate in Air Force conferences and professional functions.
Establish an OSHA partnership contact for each Air Force installation to enhance the local working relationship between OSHA and the Air Force.
Support and encourage mentoring opportunities.
Facilitate communication with participating OSHA field staff to resolve issues and share partnership results.
Support Partnership goals through the use of OSHA Challenge, the SGE Program, and other cooperative approaches.

VERIFICATION

Verification that the Air Force and participating installations are operating in good faith and in accordance with the agreement will be effected through both off-site and on-site methods.

OSHA will conduct at least one on-site non-enforcement verification visit at each participating site. The purpose of these visits is to support the installation's efforts to attain VPP status. The Partnership Management Team will determine the scope and develop guidelines for the on-site verification visits. Visits will be scheduled to best accommodate both the installation and OSHA. Once a site has achieved VPP status, they will be removed from the partnership.
OSHA will conduct offsite verification annually at each participating installation in conjunction with the annual evaluation. During the offsite verification, OSHA will review documentation to determine whether participants are implementing agreement provisions. The documentation selected for review will relate to the agreement goals, objectives and stated measures and will include, at a minimum, illness and injury data, survey results, VPP related activity, and contractor safety and health activities measures.

EMPLOYEE AND EMPLOYER RIGHTS

This partnership is an agreement between OSHA and the Air Force. It does not create any new substantive or procedural rights on the part of employees. This partnership, however, does not preclude employees and/or employers from exercising any right provided under the OSH Act or 29 CFR Part 1960, nor does it abrogate any responsibility to comply with rules and regulations adopted pursuant to existing law or regulations.

ENFORCEMENT

Participating Air Force sites will remain subject to OSHA enforcement inspections and sanctions except as specified under Section IV (Benefits) of this agreement.

FUNDING

Each party shall fund its own participation in this Agreement, and each agency's participation shall be subject to the availability of appropriated funds. No provision of this Agreement shall be construed to require provision of resources in violation of the Anti-Deficiency Act, 31 U.S.C. 1341 et seq. or any other applicable statute or regulation.

MODIFICATIONS

Either party may propose modification or amendment of the agreement. Any agreement modifications or amendment must be in writing, signed by both parties and follow the approval requirements listed in Section XII of the OSHA Directive on Strategic Partnerships. An amendment or modification is effective upon the mutual agreement of both parties, as reflected by the date of the last party to sign any amendment or modification. Any amendment or modification shall be attached to, and incorporated into, this partnership agreement.

DURATION OF AGREEMENT AND TERMINATION

This Agreement shall be effective when signed by the authorized representatives of both agencies. This agreement will terminate on August 29, 2010, which is three years from the date of signing. If either OSHA or the Air Force wishes to withdraw their partnership prior to the established termination date, the agreement will terminate upon receiving a written notice of the intent to withdraw from either signatory.

SIGNATORIES

OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY HEALTH ADMINISTRATION

Edwin G. Foulke, Jr.
Assistant Secretary of Labor for
Occupational Safety and Health Administration

Date:

AIR FORCE

William C. Anderson
Assistant Secretary of the Air Force (Installations, Environment and Logistics)

Date:

Appendix A - Goals, Strategies, and Objectives

Goals	Strategies	Objectives
1) Reduce civilian and military workforce injuries and illnesses at participating Air Force installations by at least 3% per year	a) Identify top injury and illness causal factors at each installation through review of injury and illness data and other supporting documentation b) Develop protocols to address top causal factors and abate hazards c) Develop a system for tracking, reporting and recording near misses	i) Total Case Incidence Rate (TCIR) ii) The Days Away, Restricted, Transferred Case Incidence Rate (DART) iii) Track ,measure, and evaluate near misses
2) Expand participation in VPP and increase awareness of the value of effective safety and health management systems	a) Complete a baseline assessment for each installation using OSHA's Challenge tools b) Conduct employee awareness surveys (baseline and after one year) c) Expand and improve tools to promote safety and health and share best practices (i.e. web site, newsletter, VPP meetings) d) Increase training/events to promote safety and health (ex: luncheons, award presentations) e) Facilitate the use of mentors and Special Government Employees to help participating sites apply for and achieve VPP status	i) Number or percentage of sites moving forward through the OSHA Challenge stages ii) Level of awareness as rated by employee surveys iii) Number of best practices and successes identified and shared iv) Percentage of monthly safety meetings conducted and percent of workforce participating v) Number/percent of sites using SGEs/mentors vi) Number /percent of sites that achieve VPP and number of employees covered
3) Provide mechanisms for promoting contractor safety and health	a) Provide guidance to contractors to improve their safety and health performance b) Require contract work statements to address safety and health requirements and training as appropriate (see Air Force Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement) c) Track contractor safety and health performance	i) Percent of new, renewed or recompeted contractor agreements modified to include specific safety and health requirements ii) For applicable contractors as defined in the CSP, monitor safety and health performance via submitted injury and illness data

Appendix B - Air Force Participating Installations

OSHA Region	Installation	State
I	Hanscom AFB	Massachusetts
II	McGuire AFB	New Jersey
IV	Eglin AFB Hurlburt Field Robins AFB	Florida Florida Georgia
V	Wright Patterson AFB	Ohio
VI	Kirtland AFB Holloman AFB Altus AFB Tinker AFB	New Mexico New Mexico Oklahoma Oklahoma
VII	Whiteman AFB	Missouri
VIII	Buckley AFB	Colorado
IX	Travis AFB Edwards AFB David Grant (Travis AFB) Edwards AFB Los Angeles AFB Hill AFB	California California California California California Utah
X	Elemendorf AFB Eielson AFB	Alaska Alaska

Installations may be added or deleted from participation without modification to the agreement if both parties agree. Once an installation has moved from the Partnership to the Voluntary Protection Programs, it is removed from the list of active Partnership installations and is no longer subject to Partnership verification.