THE OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY and Health Administration (OSHA) and the Integrated Waste Services Association (IWSA), both based in Washington, have formed a partnership to promote worker safety in the solid-waste-to-energy field.

“Safety and health in the workplace is our top priority,” Acting Assistant Secretary of Labor for OSHA Jonathan Snare said in a press release announcing the partnership. “Our alliance with IWSA will help equip employees with the knowledge, skills and ability to identify and eliminate hazards before they cause injury or illness.”

“This cooperative OSHA-IWSA alliance is the natural outgrowth of the excellent safety programs developed by the men and women who work at our waste-to-energy facilities,” said IWSA Chairman Stephen Passage in the same press release.

The partnership will develop training and education programs that will address such issues as lead exposure, confined working areas, and unsafe walking and working surfaces. IWSA and OSHA also will seek to help waste-to-energy companies distribute information on workplace hazards through print and electronic media and the organizations' Web sites.

The two organizations will conduct forums, roundtable discussions and stakeholder meetings to address safety issues in the waste-to-energy field.

Under the terms of the partnership, IWSA also has agreed to share with OSHA best practices information from IWSA members and to share information generated through IWSA training programs, workshops, seminars and lectures.