National Association of Occupational Safety and Health Consultation Programs (OSHCON)
Welcome to the OSHCON feature webpage, sponsored by UA SafeState.
The National Association of Occupational Safety and Health Consultation Programs,
also known as OSHCON, is a professional resource for the OSHA Consultation programs
and the small employers they serve. OSHCON was formed in 1985 to provide a united
voice to address issues and challenges that face OSHA Consultation programs nationwide.
OSHCON’s membership consists of OSHA Consultation program management from every U.S.
state and territory.
To better understand what OSHCON is all about, it’s important to see the “big picture”
as it applies to the OSHA Consultation programs. The OSH Act of 1970 created the
onsite consultation programs to help small businesses better understand OSHA regulations
and find feasible compliance solutions. Because small businesses frequently lack
the expertise and resources necessary to properly identify and remedy serious safety
and health problems in their workplaces, the free, confidential help provided by OSHA-funded
consultation programs are tremendously important to the ultimate goal of protecting
America’s workers. The onsite consultation programs operate independently from OSHA
enforcement and are facilitated via cooperative grants between OSHA and one designated
agency in each state, all operating under the federal regulation 29 CFR 1908.
In Alabama, the University of Alabama has proudly provided this free onsite assistance
to small businesses since 1978 through the Office of Teaching Innovation and Digital Education’s UA SafeState
Program.
Over the decades, the onsite consultation programs have matured and evolved to meet
the changing needs of America’s employers. In FY 2014, your onsite consultation programs
made nearly 27,000 visits to small companies in need of safety and health assistance.
To help the onsite consultation programs achieve maximum effectiveness, OSHCON was
created with these goals and objectives:
- To enhance the ability of State safety and health consultants to provide quality services
to employers. - To foster cooperation and consistency among State consultation programs.
- To assure that the unique needs of small businesses are considered in all legislation
and regulations that address worker safety and health. - To provide a forum for the exchange of information concerning occupational safety
and health consultation.
UA SafeState is very proud of its long and distinguished history of OSHCON leadership.
Our former Executive Director, Dr. William Weems, was President of OSHCON for four
years. Currently, Associate Director Matt Hollub is the OSHCON Past President, having served as President from 2012-2018, and as Vice President in 2010-2012.
For more information on OSHA Consultation programs across the U.S., visit the Onsite Consultation page on the OSHA website.
For more information on OSHCON and we can help advance the growth of workplace safety
and health programs through cooperative approaches, please contact Matt Hollub, mhollub@ua.edu .