OSHA Alliance Looks to Promote Safety of New England Workers During Disaster Recovery Operations

Providing employers with information that will help enhance worker safety and health during emergency preparedness and disaster recovery operations is the goal of a newly-signed alliance between the New England regional office of the U.S. Labor Department’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and the New England Disaster Recovery Information X-Change (NEDRIX).

OSHA health and safety alliances are part of U.S. Labor Secretary Elaine Chao’s ongoing efforts to improve the health and safety of workers through cooperative partnerships with employers, trade associations and labor. NEDRIX is a voluntary non-profit organization for disaster recovery and business continuity planning professionals from the six New England states.

It also operates NEDRIX Notify, an e-mail system that provides real-time notification of events, such as severe weather alerts, cyber threats and evacuations, to business continuity professionals across New England.

Under the alliance, OSHA and NEDRIX will work together to develop and communicate information on emergency preparedness and reducing and preventing workers’ exposure to occupational hazards during disaster recovery operations. They will share information among OSHA staff and safety and health professionals regarding best practices, effective approaches and the NEDRIX Notify system, and will participate in forums or stakeholder meetings on homeland security issues.

“This alliance will allow us to work jointly with NEDRIX to educate ourselves and New England’s employers about our respective roles and services in emergency preparedness and disaster response,” said K. Frank Gravitt, OSHA’s deputy regional administrator for New England. “Our goal is to supply the region’s employers with vital information that will help them protect their workers during times of crisis and recovery.”

OSHA has created more than 350 alliances with organizations committed to fostering safety and health in the workplace.