The U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration recently announced a partnership with the National Institutes of Health, The Whiting-Turner Contracting Co. and the Jacobs Project Management Co. to promote workplace safety and health, and to provide guidance and training for workers involved in the expansion of the Porter Neuroscience Research Center in Bethesda.

"This partnership strengthens OSHA's commitment to keep these workers safe," said Michael Walterschied, director of OSHA's Baltimore Area Office, who represented the agency at a recent signing ceremony at NIH in Bethesda. "With fall hazards a leading cause of death in the construction industry, we look forward to working closely with our partners to identify methods for reducing falls and other hazards."

The partnership aims to reduce the number of at-risk conditions and behaviors that could result in worker fatalities, injuries or illnesses, especially those relating to falls, struck-by, caught-in and electrical accidents. For more information about this partnership, call OSHA's Baltimore Area Office at 410-865-2057.

The OSHA Strategic Partnership Program provides the opportunity for OSHA to partner with employers, workers, professional or trade associations, labor organizations and other interested stakeholders. OSHA Strategic Partnerships are formalized through unique agreements designed to encourage, assist and recognize partner efforts to eliminate serious hazards, and achieve model workplace safety and health practices. Each partnership establishes specific goals, strategies and performance measures to improve worker safety and health. OSHA Strategic Partnership models are focused on improving safety and health in major corporations/government agencies, on at large construction projects and for entire industries. The OSPP is available to private sector industries and government agencies in locales where OSHA has jurisdiction.