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Washington, D.C.—As part of the Roadway Work Zone Safety and Health Partners, the Associated General Contractors of America (�ԹϺ�����) today signed an alliance with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) to establish a collaborative relationship to protect workers in highway work zones.

“Protecting our workers is always a top priority,” said �ԹϺ����� COO David Lukens at an event today at the Department of Labor in Washington, D.C. “This new alliance reinforces our commitment to the safety of our men and women working to improve the nation’s highway infrastructure.”

OSHA, NIOSH and The Roadway Work Zone Safety and Health Partners will work to provide the alliance program participants and other government and non-government organizations with information, guidance and access to training resources that will help protect employees from general health and safety hazards. The program is aimed at reducing and preventing exposures to roadway work zone safety and health hazards. The alliance will focus on flagger safety, safer deployment of traffic control devices, positive protection, night work, reduction of speeding in work zones and runovers/backovers.

The alliance partners will work together to achieve the following goals:

• Provide expertise to develop training and education programs on work zone safety and health issues targeted to Spanish-speaking and other high-risk or vulnerable "hard-to-reach" highway construction workers;

• Provide expertise to develop specific workplace safety and health curricula on roadway work zone safety and health hazards;

• Provide expertise to develop and disseminate information through print and electronic media, outreach through alliance partners’ conferences, local meetings or other events;

• Develop and disseminate case studies illustrating the business value of safety and health and publicize results; and

• Convene or participate in forums, roundtable discussions, or stakeholder meetings on work zone safety and health issues to help forge innovative solutions in the workplace or to provide input on safety and health issues.

The Roadway Work Zone Safety and Health Partners recognize the value of establishing a collaborative relationship to foster safer and more healthful American workplaces and include: the Associated General Contractors of America, the American Road and Transportation Builders Association, the National Asphalt Pavement Association, the Laborers International Union of North America and the International Union of Operating Engineers.

The Associated General Contractors of America (�ԹϺ�����) is the largest and oldest national construction trade association in the United States. �ԹϺ����� represents more than 32,000 firms, including 7,000 of America’s leading general contractors, and over 11,000 specialty-contracting firms. More than 13,000 service providers and suppliers are associated with �ԹϺ����� through a nationwide network of chapters. Visit the �ԹϺ����� Web site at . �ԹϺ����� members are "Building Your Quality of Life.”