City Signs Alliance with Oklahoma Department of Labor

1/16/2018

On Jan. 11, the Oklahoma Department of Labor and the City of Tulsa signed an Alliance establishing a cooperative relationship to foster safer and healthier workplaces.

The Alliance is the first-of-its-kind in the state and part of a new effort at the Oklahoma Department of Labor’s Public Employee Occupational Safety and Health (PEOSH) Division to provide free safety and health consultations.

PEOSH Safety Consultations are a new initiative at the Oklahoma Department of Labor, which focuses on partnerships with public sector entities to enhance safety. Modeled after the highly successful OSHA Consultation Program, PEOSH Consultations seek to maximize resources by focusing on best practices and joint training to increase safety in the workplace. These no-cost safety and health consultations identify hazards and offer real solutions so that employers can make safety changes on the front end before an accident occurs.

“We are exceptionally proud to establish a groundbreaking Alliance with the City of Tulsa to improve workplace safety,” said Labor Commissioner Melissa McLawhorn Houston. “Oklahoma is a leader in protecting our public sector employees by continuing to decrease the number of workplace injuries and illnesses to well below the national average. I commend the City of Tulsa for recognizing the importance of worker safety and look forward to our continuing partnership.”

“I’m pleased the City of Tulsa and the Oklahoma Department of Labor have formed this first-ever alliance in the state of Oklahoma focused on promoting and protecting municipal worker safety. Not only will this help us address occupational safety and health issues, but through this valuable alliance we will more effectively share our lessons learned with other public entities across Oklahoma,” said Mayor G.T. Bynum.

“As we begin working with the Oklahoma Department of Labor and receiving feedback on areas that need improvement in our workplace, we will have a tremendous opportunity to bring our injuries down to the single digits, which would be a historic achievement. I greatly appreciate how the Oklahoma Department of Labor has reached out to us. Our investments in safety and health today will create a better and stronger organization for tomorrow,” Bynum added.

This is the first Alliance of this type signed between the Oklahoma Department of Labor (ODOL) and a city in Oklahoma. The Oklahoma Department of Labor and the City of Tulsa intend to work together to develop effective training and educational programs regarding workplace safety and worker rights and to develop communication tools that will better inform employees on recognizing and preventing workplace hazards. The Oklahoma Department of Labor (ODOL) is committed to maintaining an attitude of cooperation and partnering with public entities in order to enhance workplace safety.

ODOL is proud of the progress Oklahoma is making in public sector workplace safety. Public sector illnesses and injuries are down 47 percent over the last 16 years and the incidence rate in Oklahoma is 3.8 per 100 public sector workers, compared to the national average of 5.0 per 100 workers.