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Archived News Release--Caution:
information may be out of date.
For more information call: (202) 219-8151
National Park Service (NPS) employees will enjoy greater safety and
health on the job as a result of an agreement signed today between the park
service and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA).
National Park Service Director Robert Stanton and Assistant Secretary of
Labor for Occupational Safety and Health Charles N. Jeffress signed the
agreement today at the historic Thomas Jefferson Memorial in Washington, D.C.
Secretary of Labor Alexis M. Herman said, "One of our top goals at the
Department of Labor is to provide quality workplaces for America's workers. The
National Park Service is committed to developing quality workplaces for the
public servants who staff our nation's parks, recreation areas and seashores.
The agreement stresses the importance of providing a safe and healthful working
environment for park service employees." Deputy Secretary of Labor Kathryn
Higgins represented Herman at the signing.
In an unprecedented move, the National Park Service approached OSHA for
assistance in improving safety and health programs for its employees at 10
selected park sites. These sites will later serve as models for the entire park
service.
"We are confident that this agreement will result in a far safer working
environment for our employees, better employee training and a more focused
safety and health program," Stanton said. "The National Park Service has a
serious problem. Our employees are getting hurt on the job in record numbers. I
am determined to turn this terrible trend around. It is taking a tremendous
toll in terms of human suffering, workers' compensation costs and lost
productivity."
Deputy Secretary Higgins said, "The safety and health of federal workers
is just as important as the safety and health of their counterparts in the
private sector. The best way to protect them is an effective safety and health
program to find and fix hazards."
Jeffress added, "Central to our agreement with the NPS is the commitment
to establish or improve the health and safety program at each site. The
benefits of this agreement will accrue to all Park Service employees."
In recent years, the NPS has experienced the highest employee accident
rates of all Interior Department bureaus. To address this problem, the NPS is
exploring several new approaches to managing worksite safety and health. Some
key strategies include: complying with OSHA standards; addressing unsafe work
practices, which accounts for approximately 90 percent of all employee
accidents; using consultants to provide assistance to selected parks to help
them develop and manage an effective and comprehensive safety program; managing
workers' compensation cases and helping employees who are temporarily disabled
to return to work when they are physically capable; investigating suspected
cases of fraud and abuse of workers' compensation benefits; and providing
safety and health training for managers, supervisors and employees.
"It is also our intent that every NPS office and site eventually
qualifies for OSHA's Voluntary Protection Program," said Stanton. "The criteria
for this program is a prescription for safety excellence. We have already
adopted that criteria as the basis of our servicewide safety effort in our risk
management program."
The 10 parks named in the agreement are: Cape Cod National Seashore,
Mass.; Fire Island National Seashore, N.Y.; National Capital Parks-Central,
D.C.; Rock Creek Park, D.C.; Cape Hatteras National Seashore, N.C.; Isle Royale
National Park, Mich.; Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore, Mich.; Padre
Island National Park, Texas; Golden Gate National Recreation Area, Calif. and
Yosemite National Park, Calif. These parks were selected on the basis of the
high number of lost-time accidents, category of park and geographical
distribution.
Archived News Release--Caution:
information may be out of date.
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