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Partnership hopes to limit theatrical injuries

On Behalf of | Mar 14, 2018 | Workers' Compensation

New Jersey workers in the entertainment industry may be interested in learning the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has renewed a partnership focused on improving safety for those employed on theater and movie sets. A five-year alliance with the International Alliance of Theater Stage Employees (IATSE) and the United States Institute for Theater Technology (USITT) was set to expire later this year but has now been extended through 2023.

As part of OSHA’s Alliance Program, the federal agency works with industry partners to improve workplace safety through education and awareness programs as well as taking a collaborative approach to fostering improved environments for work safety. Specifically, the partnership with the entertainment industry groups will seek to reduce falls, electrical hazards, ergonomic, and other factors considered hazardous to workers. Both USITT and IATSE will help educate OSHA and other government officials as well as industry consultants regarding best practices for fall prevention and power distribution in theatrical settings.

The original partnership agreement, which was adopted in 2013, stated that all parties to the plan would work to improve systems to recognize and prevent workplace hazards as well as cooperate in cross-platform communications to employers and workers within the industry regarding safety initiatives. Falls and electrical injuries have been a focus in the partnership and the parties seek to provide training and standardization of best safety practices to reduce work injuries in the construction, maintenance, and use of entertainment sets.

Work injuries can cause confusion and stress regarding options and strategies for injured workers of all industries. Being injured in the course of employment can result in missed paydays, medical bills and economic hardship for workers who fail to assert their rights under worker’s compensation laws. Consulting an experienced and qualified injury lawyer may help identify the best way forward for injured workers.

Additional unlinked source: (2013, July 16) United States Department of Labor ‘Agreement Establishing An Alliance Between the Occupational Safety and Health Administration and the United States Institute for Theater Technology, the International Alliance of Theater Stage Employees, Moving Picture Technicians, Artists and Allied Crafts of the United States, its Territories, and Canada, AFL-CIO” Recovered from https://www.osha.gov/dcsp/alliances/usitt_iatse/alliance_agreement.html