In February of 2013, I received a phone call from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration. The call delivered an urgent request for a
meeting with the head of OSHA, David Michaels,
Ph.D., MPH, assistant secretary of labor for occupational safety and health. The timing of the call
was not coincidental. That same day, OSHA had
issued a news release about the death of a temporary
worker at a Bacardi bottling plant.
In that release, Michaels is quoted as saying, “A
worker’s first day at work shouldn’t be his last day on
earth.” When ASA general counsel Stephen Dwyer
and I met with Michaels and a large group of OSHA
officials, we told them we agreed wholeheartedly
and promised to demonstrate to them just how
important employee safety and the promotion of
employee safety are to ASA and its member staffing companies.
Advocating for Worker Well-Being
As many ASA members will remember, in
October of 2010 newly elected ASA chairman Bill
Yoh, TSC, CSP, announced that his top priority—
and that of the ASA board of directors—would be
a new talent advocacy initiative focused on developing best practices to promote the interests and well-being of staffing employees. Employee safety was,
and is today, at the heart of that ongoing initiative.
The initiative launched with the formation of an
employee safety committee comprised of individuals
from member firms of all sectors and sizes as well as
several safety and risk management experts. Working
closely with ASA staff liaisons Dwyer and Kelly
Verberg, vice president of membership and sections,
the committee developed safety best practices that
were published in 2011. That year ASA also produced
the first in an ongoing series of safety-focused webinars, designed for both staffing firms and their clients.
Safety committee members and ASA staff
continue to dedicate significant time and effort
to safety education, which includes promoting
client awareness of employee safety issues and
accident prevention.
During the past two years, committee members
have traveled to Washington, DC, on several occasions at their own expense to participate in ongoing
meetings with OSHA, the National Institute for
Occupational Safety and Health, and the Advisory
Committee on Construction Safety and Health. The
staffing industry and ASA member companies are
fortunate to have such a dedicated group of professionals working on their behalf.
Collaborating for Tangible Results
The formal alliance agreement signed by ASA and
OSHA earlier this year is the most concrete example
of how far the two organizations have come in aligning themselves around a common goal. As a result of
that alignment, ASA has played a key role in shaping
OSHA products, including the agency’s new
record-keeping bulletin and new recommended
safety practices document. For its part, OSHA is
reviewing new employee safety language that will be
included in updated ASA model contracts.
Michaels says OSHA has been impressed by the
results of the ASA–OSHA alliance, and that he and
his team look forward to working with ASA on
finding new avenues for advancing workplace safety
at staffing client worksites.
The ASA safety committee, board of directors,
and staff are proud of what has been accom-
plished but also recognize that a lot of hard work
lies ahead. As ASA immediate past chairman Dan
Campbell, CSP, so aptly put it earlier this year:
“When it comes to safety, there’s no finish line.”
On behalf the ASA board and staff, thank you
for your commitment to employee safety and well-
being. Thank you for helping ASA deliver on its
promise to OSHA. Best wishes for a prosperous and
safe year ahead. n
The formal alliance
agreement signed
by ASA and
OSHA earlier this
year is the most
concrete example
of how far the two
organizations have
come in aligning
themselves around
a common goal.
The Voice of Staffing
By Richard Wahlquist, President and CEO
Safety: There’s No Finish Line